Germany concluded

Guten tag!

Unfortunately I was only able to spend 3 nights in Berlin before moving on to my next stop, Dresden. I easily could have spent a week or more in Berlin as there is so much to see and take in, however time marches on without regard to such preferences!

Dresden is east of Berlin, close to the border of Czech Republic. I really liked this city a lot, and also could have easily spent more time here. It has a very neat, funky atmosphere with lots of unique cafes, independent clothing stores, sheesha bars, and none of that big-city feel of Berlin or Lisbon. (I have quickly learned on this trip that I feel much more comfortable and at home in the smaller cities.) The hostel I stayed in was called Mondpalast ("Moon Palace") and was complete with lime green walls, drawings of space agey things on the ceiling - interesting. AND the best part of it was - NO bedbugs! Yeehaw.

I spent a lot of time in Dresden just wandering around and getting a feel for the city. I came across a market on Sunday morning which had everything from pretzels to clothing from the German army for sale. I love markets - the mixture of smells teasing your nose, the competing sounds of shouts and words trying to secure the best deal, the chaotic blending of colours, and the constant contrasts of completely dissimilar objects being sold directly next to each other. Although this market was much more low-key than the Turkish market I had gone to in Berlin (I felt like in the span of a 30 minute walk I had been transported straight to the middle east - blonde hair, German chatter and sausage replacd with hijab, arabic and middle eastern food. There is a huge Turkish population in Berlin, as I quickly learned.), it was very quaint and interesting. In the afternoon I rented a bicyle from the hostel and explored the city, German-style. (EVERYone here rides bikes - young, old, trendy , geeky). I felt quite genuine as my bike was one of the tradiional models with high handlebars - cool. The city is split in half by the river, so I crossed the river to explore the southern part of the city. I cruised by another great market with tons of delicious homemade german food, the touristy area with a huge church, opera and old parliament, the huge and beautiful city park, and the VW factory! The city is very beautiful, and was one of the view areas of Germany to escape the war unaffected by the damage.

The next day I returned to the VW factory and took a self guided tour and was amazed at how posh and spiffy this place is - even all of the staff are decked out in the same dark grey pin stripe suits with matcing shirts and ties. You can tell they want to leave an impression with you, and they did a pretty good job of it! The factory is named the "Transparent Factory" as it is all made of glass. This means that you have a great view of the assembly line (hardwood floor, workers clad all in white - so space agey!) The highlight of the tour was the a simulator that they had in which you sat inside an actual Phaeton (their luxury class vehicle that is made in this factory) and "drive" it. Although it felt nothing like an actual car and left me a bit dizzy, it was neat nonetheless! (I asked if I could take it home and was told I could for a price tag of only 3 million Euros....) Unfortuantely the German Hygiene Museum was closed, as I was quite interested as to what this encompassed....will have to save that one for next time!

My last stop in Germany was Konigstein, which is a small town in Saxony Switzerland National Park (which is NOT in Switzerland, but is named that as way back in the day 2 Swiss artists found it so beautiful that they moved there permanently). I made the decision to go here very much on a whim, as I found out about it through a brochure that was lying on the floor in the room of my hostel in Dresden. What sealed the deal for me was the following words on the brochure: "Tired of cities, traffic and travelling? Have a break in the countryside!" Sounded like exactly what I needed between the big cities. What a great decision it was. The hostel was so beautiful - right on the banks of the river and surrounded by green hills and trees. I had a room to myself for 11 euro, with an amazingly comfy bed and a great view - i was lulled to sleep by the sound of silence - amazing. Morning gently nudged me awake with the sound of birds chirping and sweet fresh air wafting through the window. I spent the day hiking in the park which is mainly forested with huge mossy rocks - very different from what I have seen before. I saw the famous 76m long Bastion Bridge, which was built in 1851 and is built amongst the rocks, very high up, seemingly as a part of the rocks. It felt great to trade the crowds of people and tourists with trees and nature - I needed this. That evening I borrowed a bike from the hostel and rode down the small rode which is bordered on one side by the river and the other by small houses and farms, and went to the ferry which crosses the (very narrow) river. I had dinner at a family restaurant and tried a delicious home-cooked meal of "Szegediner Gulasch mit bohmischen" (which I randomly picked off of the menu as everything was in german). So good though! Although I only had 2 nights to spend here, it was a much needed break between Berlin, Dresden, and Prague.

This marks the end of my (short) time in Germany - I will have to come back and explore the southern parts as there is so much more that I didn't have a chance to see (Oktoberfest included!). However, I really enjoyed my time in this country and was able to see 3 very different areas of it. Next stop - Czech Republic!

(for those of you who are wondering where I am now, I arrived in Krakow, Poland last night. Next stop is Budapest)

If anyone feels the urge to send me an email sumamrizing the global news that has occurred in the past 2 months I would be very greatful. It has proved to be quite impossible to stay informed when I haven't seen an English newspaper in 2 months!

"One's destination is never a new place, but rather a new way of looking at things." - Henry Miller