Dresden

On the Sunday of my weekend in Decin, Milca arranged for a local German teacher to accompany us on a day trip to Dresden. We took a morning train, after we picked up Hana, and it was a real pleasure to spend the day with her! We were buddies within an hour. =) Milca hadn't met her in person before that day, but I would never have guessed that either. At 78, she was so vivacious, energetic and outgoing--and, incidentally, she had PERFECT legs! I was so amazed by her legs; they were strong, pretty with niiiice ankles. No old lady ankles for her. Outstanding!

While in Dresden (a darling city, by the way), she was so friendly with...well...everybody. She touched people and talked to any and everyone one on the streets. The first time she started talking to people in town, I thought she knew them, but NO! They weren't friends; she was just super sociable. I loved it. I hope I am like her when I am nearing my eighties!!


This is Hana. She found a history/reference book on Dresden (in German) and prepared some translations of background information for me, which she shared while we rode the train into Germany.


Horses--When I left the train station, I noticed them right away, and they turned out to be all over town. Pretty.



After my visit to Berlin, seeing the Ampelmann paintings on this bench was like running into an old friend. =)






I don't know the exact nature of all the buildings here, but there are many churches, not surprising for a European city--but what IS surprising is that they are actually used! Most of the churches I see in Europe have a museum-like quality about them, but the churches in Dresden were working churches. Hmmmm.


One thing I learned about Dresden was that one of the kings (or emperors??) was very much taken by the architecture he saw on his many travels to Italy (his favorite place to travel), and so he had it imitated in the buildings he had erected in Dresden. He particularly liked the buildings on Venice.




Another thing I learned about Dresden...well, if you look at any of the souvenir stands around town, you can't help but seeing photo postcards depicting the state of Dresden after some SERIOUS WWII bombings. Dresden was DEVASTATED. From the photos I saw, it doesn't seem that any building was left untouched. And when they were "touched" they were left with only a shell of the building or maybe parts of some walls--and only that. They were reduced to rubble. So what I learned was that the buildings here are rebuilt using some stones that were salvageable form the original structures, complemented by a whole lot of new stones. That is why the buildings are part black and part tan. The original stones are burned and charred; the new ones are clean and tan.


Theater--also completely rebuilt.


Me and Hana


Lovely fountain in the palace courtyard, where a well-known gallery is housed. Don't remember the name of it. I had never heard of it before. We saw a lot of paintings. A loootttt of paintings. Yeah.


On this terrace (both under the trees and beyond), there is much activity. The terrace is actually part of the old city wall, and there are live musicians, artisans, and just people strolling--it's a very nice place for a stroll.


Musicians in costume. Funny.


Indians?? I don't know how THEY came to be in Dresden!


Again, a nice open feel. I like airy places.


Here's is Hana again--up close and personal in everything she does. Gotta love it!


The train ride to and fro was very scenic: lovely river, rocks, and hamlets. We stopped to make a connection in one picturesque village. Much better than waiting in the big train station in Dresden. All in all, it was a fantastic day. I was glad to visit Germany again: seeing beautiful things, a lot of activity, the buzz. I liked Dresden a lot! Thanks again, Milca. You are a very good lady. =)