Dresden Feb 28
Dresden
Tuesday, Feb 28
There will only be a few odd pictures for now; will add and update when i have fast and cheap connection, neither of which i have had since Berlin.
Left Berlin – bleak and cold with a forecast of snow. The ride was uneventful until about 35 m from Dresden when it started to snow really hard – at one point very big flakes. We saw several areas out in the dingles that had been used to house large numbers of people – complete with some old decrepit towers. The autobahns are the best…our freeways aspire but aren’t quite there. I sort of like the NYT subway system tho – not as clean or nice but I like their feel and coverage – perhaps Paris or London are as good.
Really snowing now!!~! 1230pm on the road to Dresden.
We’re just outside Dresden and the snow has stopped and I’m starting to plot out the GPS routing to our hotel searching area.
The snow stopped and the GPS found us direct to the Ibis hotel; we got a room for 2 nites with fruhstock for 178E. Luggage to the room and a quick picture of the pedestrian walk
and then a walk along the shopping/pedestrian mall (tue 2) down to the old town where it was easy to see all the steeples and older buildings. Dresden suffered a dreadful and many claim unnecessary, all out bombing late in the war – Dresden had no military related installations. It was said to be punitive and necessary by the Allies. In any event, Dresden, once under communist rule, is now renewing itself with restorations and new department stores, schools and apartments. And it’s cold!!! Dresden is full out under construction to get ready for its 800th birthday in October of this year – as commemorated by this horse. (tue 3)
We ate in a new mall
of about 100 stores – I had a very traditional German bean soup mit brot and Kathi had a Berliner. Back to the room and watched some quiz shows and similar in German on the TV. Watched a little of the Simpson’s and tried to find some news and weather in English, but alas, nothing.
An aside; in Berlin (UBahn and Sbahn) there are no ticket takers and very few ticket sellers – you can buy tickets at the hotels, in automats, etc, etc. Every so often these plain clothes guys sweep thru the cars and check your tickets – if you have no valid ticket you can pay a fine of about 40e on the spot or they take you to nearest police station and the fine is doubled….so, in the three times I was asked over a period of 6 days, I never saw anyone have to pay – so I guess it works. I can just imagine such a system in NY – it would be chaos.
Dresden
Wednesday, Mar 1
I looked out the window and saw nothing but snow.
Big flakes falling at a 45d angle, white steeples, white everywhere. Up and having breakfast by 830. I can get on the internet but at 30E a day it’s way too expensive, so I’ll make notes and catch up later with the blog. We walked around taking some snow pictures as we worked our way to the Zwinger.
We were at the Zwinger,
a massive Dresden Museum, by 10. I spent about an hour in the part that had weapons 
from the primitive spears thru the armored horses and cavalry and knights…with all manner of swords, mace and so forth; the final exhibit was very early flintlocks and blunderbuss and muskets. All very impressive.
The second are was the porcelain collections dealing with China and Japan from the very first imports (1600s but porcelain dating to the very old dynasty’s). The marvelous Meissen porcelains were also in this collection. By 1230 I needed a kaffee and a sit down.
I then wandered along the legendary Elbe river viewing the historical buildings on both sides of the river,
sometimes snow and sometimes no snow but always cold. I walked to the Neu Museum and the Synagogue and the Freunkirsche….all very beautiful buildings. By 330 I was pau, eg, I was sated with museum fare and so I returned to the new mall to people watch and a gelato. There are wide variations in how people dress to battle the cold and at the same time make sure they are noticed.
The weather is very odd – snowing very hard with huge flakes from 400 to 500 and now, at 530, mostly blue skies…but that usually means very cold. I’m in the room now, one needs rest and vino and so forth now and then.
Aside; did you know that there was a bird trained to carefully pick noses? You can see such images in an arabisch exhibition in one of the Zwinger sections. Grosse!
Tuesday, Feb 28
There will only be a few odd pictures for now; will add and update when i have fast and cheap connection, neither of which i have had since Berlin.
Left Berlin – bleak and cold with a forecast of snow. The ride was uneventful until about 35 m from Dresden when it started to snow really hard – at one point very big flakes. We saw several areas out in the dingles that had been used to house large numbers of people – complete with some old decrepit towers. The autobahns are the best…our freeways aspire but aren’t quite there. I sort of like the NYT subway system tho – not as clean or nice but I like their feel and coverage – perhaps Paris or London are as good.
Really snowing now!!~! 1230pm on the road to Dresden.
We’re just outside Dresden and the snow has stopped and I’m starting to plot out the GPS routing to our hotel searching area.
The snow stopped and the GPS found us direct to the Ibis hotel; we got a room for 2 nites with fruhstock for 178E. Luggage to the room and a quick picture of the pedestrian walk
and then a walk along the shopping/pedestrian mall (tue 2) down to the old town where it was easy to see all the steeples and older buildings. Dresden suffered a dreadful and many claim unnecessary, all out bombing late in the war – Dresden had no military related installations. It was said to be punitive and necessary by the Allies. In any event, Dresden, once under communist rule, is now renewing itself with restorations and new department stores, schools and apartments. And it’s cold!!! Dresden is full out under construction to get ready for its 800th birthday in October of this year – as commemorated by this horse. (tue 3)We ate in a new mall
of about 100 stores – I had a very traditional German bean soup mit brot and Kathi had a Berliner. Back to the room and watched some quiz shows and similar in German on the TV. Watched a little of the Simpson’s and tried to find some news and weather in English, but alas, nothing.An aside; in Berlin (UBahn and Sbahn) there are no ticket takers and very few ticket sellers – you can buy tickets at the hotels, in automats, etc, etc. Every so often these plain clothes guys sweep thru the cars and check your tickets – if you have no valid ticket you can pay a fine of about 40e on the spot or they take you to nearest police station and the fine is doubled….so, in the three times I was asked over a period of 6 days, I never saw anyone have to pay – so I guess it works. I can just imagine such a system in NY – it would be chaos.
Dresden
Wednesday, Mar 1
I looked out the window and saw nothing but snow.
Big flakes falling at a 45d angle, white steeples, white everywhere. Up and having breakfast by 830. I can get on the internet but at 30E a day it’s way too expensive, so I’ll make notes and catch up later with the blog. We walked around taking some snow pictures as we worked our way to the Zwinger.We were at the Zwinger,
a massive Dresden Museum, by 10. I spent about an hour in the part that had weapons 
from the primitive spears thru the armored horses and cavalry and knights…with all manner of swords, mace and so forth; the final exhibit was very early flintlocks and blunderbuss and muskets. All very impressive.The second are was the porcelain collections dealing with China and Japan from the very first imports (1600s but porcelain dating to the very old dynasty’s). The marvelous Meissen porcelains were also in this collection. By 1230 I needed a kaffee and a sit down.
I then wandered along the legendary Elbe river viewing the historical buildings on both sides of the river,
sometimes snow and sometimes no snow but always cold. I walked to the Neu Museum and the Synagogue and the Freunkirsche….all very beautiful buildings. By 330 I was pau, eg, I was sated with museum fare and so I returned to the new mall to people watch and a gelato. There are wide variations in how people dress to battle the cold and at the same time make sure they are noticed.The weather is very odd – snowing very hard with huge flakes from 400 to 500 and now, at 530, mostly blue skies…but that usually means very cold. I’m in the room now, one needs rest and vino and so forth now and then.
Aside; did you know that there was a bird trained to carefully pick noses? You can see such images in an arabisch exhibition in one of the Zwinger sections. Grosse!
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