Sitting in the Teachers' Lounge at school, I can't help but be struck by the contrast of the last week, meaning the contrast between Dresden and my beloved Nigh-Scandi Paradise, Fehmarn. Yes, that's right, I was in Dresden over the weekend, and although I've decided to write an actual post about it (joy of joys for my fans out there....you know who you are), I think the word "WOW" in big, fat, capital letters is a pretty good summary of the place and all the experiences that went along with it.
I left early Thursday night for Hamburg and headed out Friday afternoon with a group of Assistants (Hey, guys! You Rule! Seriously. You do.), arriving in Dresden at about six. First off, it was warm there. Really warm. I had heard that the mainland was, for some unknown reason, a lot warmer than Fehmarn this year, but since I hadn't left the island for over a week and had no idea what it was like "auf dem Festland," I stamped the information with a fat "How Much Different Could It Be" label, and filed it away in my head somewhere behind Freshman High School Geometry. So, the weather gets brownie points. Way to go, Weather!
Before I go on, I should make a bit of a personal disclaimer. You all remember those; I made one a while back talking about my own personal concept of time. Those were good times, back in the early days. Anyway, here's another one. And yes, my Psyche is that interesting.
Those who know me should have noticed by now that I like to exaggerate, a fact that my mom (love you) never misses a chance to point out when I say, for instance, that a stack of books must have weighed a thousand pounds, and so, and so on. Now, I am fully aware that no stacks of books I own, no matter how many times I might visit Barnes and Nobles, does, nor could it ever, weigh half a ton, because, well, I'm not a total moron. But to be honest, I like exaggerating. It makes things more interesting, first off; it can make the most boring personal event funny, or at least entertaining, but more importantly, it just sounds better. "A half ton stack of books" sounds a lot better than "a heavy one," and given the right circumstances, it can be really funny. It's not lying, because the stack of books is still heavy; I've just sort of fleshed out a bit more how heavy it is, kind of given it a nice picture.
That in mind, know that I am NOT exaggerating Dresden. Sometimes, it's just good to let reality be and report it. It's generally boring to do, I agree, which is one reason why I could never be a journalist, but I have to admit that there are times when it's the best way forward. This is one of them, because the city really is that amazing.
It's not a very big town, but what space there is feels stuffed to the gills with what I'll call, for lack of a better word, personality. The Altstadt (Old City) next to the Elbe River isn't very big, and not very old, for that matter, since it was almost completely destroyed by the fire bombing in 1945, but you would never know to look at it. It's nearly completely restored to its pre-bombing state, and it is the most beautiful part of any city I have every seen in my life. Granted, I haven't been to say, Paris or Prague, and I'm as not as well-traveled as most people I've met here in Germany, but Dresden beats anything I've ever seen and makes Munich look like a kid's plastic house in a sand box.
The banks of the Elbe opposite the Altstadt is a giant green lawn that slopes gently into the river with a gorgeous view of the newly restored Frauen Kirche and the other, taller, landmarks of the District. I could talk about it for fifteen paragraphs of so, but it's kind of pointless if you can't see it, so I'll just stop right there. Maybe I'll try to put some pictures up online soon. Yeah, that's what I'll do.
The Neustadt (New City) is cool. Really. If you met it in school, it'd know all about the new independent bands before anyone else, know where all the coolest cafes are, and play five different instuments. It's a bit decayed, as all cities in the East tend to be, but not in a bad way, not like New York in a Martin Scorsese film. It looks worn, it's been places. It might have some tatoos here and there, and you suspect it might have experimented with hard drugs in the past, but it's a good town that's learned from it's bumps and scrapes. It's lively, with lots of little cafes and bars tucked away in the streets that seem to ooze "Europe" from between their stones. This is why Dresden is the happiest place in Former East Germany.
But what did I do, you ask?
It was late afternoon by the time we got to Dresden, so we went to the hostel, dropped off our bags in the room, and headed out to the Altstadt. The sun was setting, so we walked around for a bit and took some pictures, then settled down at a little German cafe and ate dinner. Mmmmm, Sauerbraten. Who would have ever thought that a meat dish with "sour" in its name could ever taste good. But it does, and it's even better with beer. OK, most things are, but German food especially, mainly because I suspect it was designed to enable longer periods of drinking.
Anyway, about halfway through dinner, these three guys walked up to our table, one riding a tiny tricycle with what looked like half a bike rim tied to the back with twine and wire, and another in an apron and what I could only hope was a pink shower cap, carrying a busted CD Rom drive and a memory stick. It was slightly odd. After "introducing" himself by kneeling by her seat, the man in the cap proceeded to try to sell his "wares" to Jess across the table. I couldn't hear much of the conversation myself, but apparently, the drive was broken, but you could, he said, plug the stick in and, I assume, save things. Um....no?
As it turns out, he was getting married the next day, and he and his two friends were out raising "Spenden für den Bräutigam (Donations for the Groom)." I assume they were going to be drinking those donations later, but I could be wrong. No, I'm not.
I don't know if they meant to or not, but they quickly became the most happening thing at our little cafe, drawing the attention of the roaming accordian player, who accompanied Athos, Porthos, and Aramis as they belted drinking songs into the heavy night air and across the Elbe.
"What's the occasion?" asked the accordian player to the man in the shower cap.
"Oh, I'm getting married tomorrow."
"Armer Kerl (Poor Bastard)." Ah, love.
The next day was the long day in town, as well as Neustadt day. I could recount everything we did, which would refresh my memory, but I'd like to keep paragraph skimming in this post to a minimum, so I won't. See, I have your best interests at heart. Aren't I nice? This is where you say "yes," by the way. There are rules. And with that in mind, I'm going to end this post here as the first part of what has turned out to be a two parter. Joy! Stay tuned! There's more to come!
I left early Thursday night for Hamburg and headed out Friday afternoon with a group of Assistants (Hey, guys! You Rule! Seriously. You do.), arriving in Dresden at about six. First off, it was warm there. Really warm. I had heard that the mainland was, for some unknown reason, a lot warmer than Fehmarn this year, but since I hadn't left the island for over a week and had no idea what it was like "auf dem Festland," I stamped the information with a fat "How Much Different Could It Be" label, and filed it away in my head somewhere behind Freshman High School Geometry. So, the weather gets brownie points. Way to go, Weather!
Before I go on, I should make a bit of a personal disclaimer. You all remember those; I made one a while back talking about my own personal concept of time. Those were good times, back in the early days. Anyway, here's another one. And yes, my Psyche is that interesting.
Those who know me should have noticed by now that I like to exaggerate, a fact that my mom (love you) never misses a chance to point out when I say, for instance, that a stack of books must have weighed a thousand pounds, and so, and so on. Now, I am fully aware that no stacks of books I own, no matter how many times I might visit Barnes and Nobles, does, nor could it ever, weigh half a ton, because, well, I'm not a total moron. But to be honest, I like exaggerating. It makes things more interesting, first off; it can make the most boring personal event funny, or at least entertaining, but more importantly, it just sounds better. "A half ton stack of books" sounds a lot better than "a heavy one," and given the right circumstances, it can be really funny. It's not lying, because the stack of books is still heavy; I've just sort of fleshed out a bit more how heavy it is, kind of given it a nice picture.
That in mind, know that I am NOT exaggerating Dresden. Sometimes, it's just good to let reality be and report it. It's generally boring to do, I agree, which is one reason why I could never be a journalist, but I have to admit that there are times when it's the best way forward. This is one of them, because the city really is that amazing.
It's not a very big town, but what space there is feels stuffed to the gills with what I'll call, for lack of a better word, personality. The Altstadt (Old City) next to the Elbe River isn't very big, and not very old, for that matter, since it was almost completely destroyed by the fire bombing in 1945, but you would never know to look at it. It's nearly completely restored to its pre-bombing state, and it is the most beautiful part of any city I have every seen in my life. Granted, I haven't been to say, Paris or Prague, and I'm as not as well-traveled as most people I've met here in Germany, but Dresden beats anything I've ever seen and makes Munich look like a kid's plastic house in a sand box.
The banks of the Elbe opposite the Altstadt is a giant green lawn that slopes gently into the river with a gorgeous view of the newly restored Frauen Kirche and the other, taller, landmarks of the District. I could talk about it for fifteen paragraphs of so, but it's kind of pointless if you can't see it, so I'll just stop right there. Maybe I'll try to put some pictures up online soon. Yeah, that's what I'll do.
The Neustadt (New City) is cool. Really. If you met it in school, it'd know all about the new independent bands before anyone else, know where all the coolest cafes are, and play five different instuments. It's a bit decayed, as all cities in the East tend to be, but not in a bad way, not like New York in a Martin Scorsese film. It looks worn, it's been places. It might have some tatoos here and there, and you suspect it might have experimented with hard drugs in the past, but it's a good town that's learned from it's bumps and scrapes. It's lively, with lots of little cafes and bars tucked away in the streets that seem to ooze "Europe" from between their stones. This is why Dresden is the happiest place in Former East Germany.
But what did I do, you ask?
It was late afternoon by the time we got to Dresden, so we went to the hostel, dropped off our bags in the room, and headed out to the Altstadt. The sun was setting, so we walked around for a bit and took some pictures, then settled down at a little German cafe and ate dinner. Mmmmm, Sauerbraten. Who would have ever thought that a meat dish with "sour" in its name could ever taste good. But it does, and it's even better with beer. OK, most things are, but German food especially, mainly because I suspect it was designed to enable longer periods of drinking.
Anyway, about halfway through dinner, these three guys walked up to our table, one riding a tiny tricycle with what looked like half a bike rim tied to the back with twine and wire, and another in an apron and what I could only hope was a pink shower cap, carrying a busted CD Rom drive and a memory stick. It was slightly odd. After "introducing" himself by kneeling by her seat, the man in the cap proceeded to try to sell his "wares" to Jess across the table. I couldn't hear much of the conversation myself, but apparently, the drive was broken, but you could, he said, plug the stick in and, I assume, save things. Um....no?
As it turns out, he was getting married the next day, and he and his two friends were out raising "Spenden für den Bräutigam (Donations for the Groom)." I assume they were going to be drinking those donations later, but I could be wrong. No, I'm not.
I don't know if they meant to or not, but they quickly became the most happening thing at our little cafe, drawing the attention of the roaming accordian player, who accompanied Athos, Porthos, and Aramis as they belted drinking songs into the heavy night air and across the Elbe.
"What's the occasion?" asked the accordian player to the man in the shower cap.
"Oh, I'm getting married tomorrow."
"Armer Kerl (Poor Bastard)." Ah, love.
The next day was the long day in town, as well as Neustadt day. I could recount everything we did, which would refresh my memory, but I'd like to keep paragraph skimming in this post to a minimum, so I won't. See, I have your best interests at heart. Aren't I nice? This is where you say "yes," by the way. There are rules. And with that in mind, I'm going to end this post here as the first part of what has turned out to be a two parter. Joy! Stay tuned! There's more to come!
posted by Der verwirrte Ausländer at 3:15 AM
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