First, I have to say, even though it's been seven years since I was last there, and even though the city has naturally undergone changes in that time, Dresden is still a home away from home to me. A lot of that is because of the dear friends who are there, but it's also the city itself, which I just adore. If you've never been, put it on your "bucket list." Now.
I was amazed at how quickly my German skills came back once I was actually in Germany. I had been trying to practice reading and speaking over the past year, knowing this trip was coming up, but in the States I'd really struggled and realized I'd forgotten much grammar and vocab. Once I was immersed in the culture and language again, much of my ability to understand came back very quickly (though my speaking was still pretty rough). The even more amazing thing is that it's kind of stuck with me since my return - I've been trying to read a little auf Deutsch every week to keep my skills up, and I find it's infinitely easier on this side of the trip.
As it was, the whole week we were kind of speaking Gervakish, flowing in and out of languages as needed to get our point across. Adri is a linguistic genius and when she would get overwhelmed she'd inadvertently start throwing other languages into the mix (at one point during the wedding prep she answered somebody in Russian) - as Burkhard said, "The Holy Ghost comes often when Adri is tired!" :)
(Frauenkirche Dresden)
We just kind of chilled and hung around Dresden for a couple days after the wedding. On Pentecost Monday, took a walk along the Elbe and went to see the Frauenkirche. I had to see it with my own eyes now that it's completed - I remember my first time in Dresden in 1995, passing a bunch of scaffolding as they were trying to sort out the ruins and being told that they were finally going to rebuild it using as much of the original stone as possible. It seemed like it would take forever, but at each successive trip to Dresden, I could see the progress being made. And now it's done. And it's beautiful.
(The Pillars of the Church - really!)
Tuesday we ventured further afield to Gorlitz and Bautzen. Gorlitz is on the border with Poland, in fact, half of the town is in Poland, and the border is now open, you can cross without a passport. So we did. And we all agreed the German side is much nicer. They had some churches with very interesting interior architecture - figures were carved into the base of the pillars that supported the roof, and when we asked about it, folks said they were meant to reflect the people who built the church - literally the pillars of the church! Talk about a great visual reminder of the cloud of witnesses! Gorlitz is also home of the "Holy Grave" - a resident who later became mayor made a pilgrimmage to the Holy Land in 1465, then came back and reproduced some of the sites for the townsfolk, since most of them could never make a trip like that. One of the sites is the garden tomb where the resurrection supposedly happened. The interesting thing is that there was a fire at the garden tomb in the Holy Land in the 1600s, and it was rebuilt differently, so this reproduction in Germany is actually closer to the original, in a sense. Bautzen is over 1,000 years old and is just a cool, quaint old town with many interesting corners and vistas, and much of the town wall is still intact, which adds to its charm. It's also the center of high Schwabisch language and culture.
Wednesday was a Dresden day again. We went to the Panometer, which is a panoramic aerial view of Dresden in 1756, and then we went to the top of the Rathaus tower to compare the Dresden of today to the Dresden of 1756, which was both interesting and fun. Wednesday night we were invited to Nora and Clemens' to grill out, which was also a lot of fun!
(Sachsiche Schweiz)
Thursday was hiking in the Sachsiche Schweiz (Saxony's Switzerland) - a huge park on the border with the Czech Republic. It's beautiful there - kind of reminds me of another favorite place on the planet, the St. Croix River Valley, but with much more dramatic views and greater difference in elevation.
(The true test of my gorillapod at Sachsiche Schweiz - wrapped around a guard rail with a very steep drop on the other side.)
After a long and fulfilling hike, we went to the Neustadt to get some doner for dinner. Hmm. . .doner. Delicious, but as you may surmise from the picture, definitely something you need to eat with good friends - not a good place to take a first date! I lived in the Neustadt the summer I spent in Dresden, so I showed Adri and Burkhard the house I had stayed in, then we walked along the Elbe until it got dark, then it was time to pack up because I had to fly out the next day. :(
(Hmmm. . .doner!)
So, that was how I started my summer, with a couple of glorious weeks in Europe. And I'm going to cap 'er off at the happiest place on earth - the Minnesota State Fair! I'm sure some pictures will find their way onto the blog. :)
Peace,
C.
PS - Christopher's got a new job working as a field organizer for the DFL, from now until the election! Woot!
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