Saturday morning bright and early (at around 5am) I headed to the bus station to catch my bus to Dresden. I was kinda expecting nobody to be out but since it was a Saturday all if the flea market people were out setting up their tents. So even though it was still pitch black outside, the walk wasn't lonely at all.
I got to the bus early and managed to convince the grumpy bus driver to let me on(I don't blame him for being grumpy it was very early.....and he didn't speak English so I had to resort to hand motions to get my point across) The bus ride was roughly two hours but I slept most of the way. I did wake up and watch the sunrise which was very pretty.
The bus dropped me off around 8:30am at the main train station on the new side of town. This was only a 10 minute walk to my hostel. (Which I accidentally made a 25 minute walk by going the wrong way down a vital street.)I checked in to the hostel, though I couldn't get into the room just yet. They gave me a map so I was able to go exploring. I first took a tram down to a flea market nearby. It was really more of a large yard sale and I didn't see anything I absolutely needed.
Then I walked a bit along the side of the river Elbe. The water is apparently so clean that in the summer the locals just go swimming in it where ever. From the side of the river I got a pretty good view of the old part of the city (Altstadt). This has an old Palace of the Kings of Saxony, an older church, an opera house among other buildings. I headed over one of the many bridges and went to take a look, but first I stopped for some lunch. I had the usual vendor bratwurst and tried 'a local Saxony specialty' called Ballchen, which are basically fried pieces of dough covered in sugar.
I walked around a bit and looked at the outside of many of the historical areas. Most of these old buildings have been turned into museums that show off porcelain works or various artifacts from the Kings of Saxony. I didn't really feel like going in any of them as I really have no interest in porcelain or armory and the one that might have been interesting (showing off the Saxony treasury) was entirely overpriced and teeming with tourists.
Porcelain is very big in Dresden, because a couple hundred years ago one of the more violent Saxony Kings threw an alchemist in a dungeon and told him that he wasn't going to be let out unitl he found the recipe to create gold. The poor guy never created gold but he did find the recipe to create the only European porcelain. (They never tell you what happened to the alchemist, but I certainly hope the King let him out..) Porcelain made Dresden rich and is all over the place. There are porcelian shops everywhere and right on the side of one of the buildings is the largest tiled wall or porcelain. It's thousands of feet long and depicts all the Saxony Princes on one great procession.
I debated going over to the Hygiene Museum (which is not what it seems). It's shows exhibitions all about the human body and is actually supposed to be extremely interesting and interactive. The exhibition while I was there was on 'What is beautiful?' Unfortunately by the time I found where it was and got over there, it was too close to closing time for me to get in. So, I grabbed another bite to eat as I wandered back over to Neustadt where my hostel was. I headed up to my room, which was decorated most interestingly. (Ken dolls from the lamps and line drawings all over the walls).
I took what was supposed to be a quick nap, but what ended up being all night. So I didn't get to go out that night. (I guess that's what happens when you get up at 4:45am)
The next day I really wanted to take the hostel trip to Saxony-Switzerland. Saxony-Switzerland is not actually in Switzerland, instead it is a huge forest and mountainous region right near the Czech border. Unfortunately, there was only two of us that had signed up to go, and the tour needed four people. I REALLY wanted to go, so I chatted with the hostel staff and borrowed a map. (which I forgot to give back, whoops) And headed out by myself.
I had to take a train about 45 minutes to get there. Buying my ticket was a slight ordeal because the stupid ticket machine was not cooperating. I had to go to one of the counters to buy it. (One of the things I really liked about Dresden was that not everyone spoke English. I had to try out my German skills because otherwise nobody understood me. Not like in Berlin, most everyone here is practically fluent)
Took my train and got off at the small town of Rathen. In order to get to the foresty bit I had to first cross the Elbe River. And the only way across was by way of (very slow) ferry. You had to pay 70 tsents and wait in a fairly long line to get across. (The ferry guy had a nice monopoly going). We landed on the side of this very picturesque town. There were two little food vendors and a whole bunch of cute townspeople out doing things like raking leaves in their yards and hanging up washing to dry.
I had no clue where to go, so I just ended up following some people that looked like the type to climb a mountain (boots and big backpacks and such. And it worked! I started up a trail but then my camera batteries died. SO I trucked back down and was forced to pay 2 EUROS A BATTERY! good lord. So I headed back up. There were some really good outcroppings and views. I came to a huge stone bridge built right at the top of this mountain. It was crazy scary to look over. I also walked through the ruins of a medieval castle. All was left was a few cannonballs and the water cistern and the places where the rock had been bored away for ceiling beams and door frames, but it was still really interesting. I headed back down and took a bit of a side route to look at a small mountain lake created by a dam. I hiked around it. I was so happy to be in some real wilderness. I love Berlin, but I'm not really a city person and after I while I just need to get out and be near some trees and such.
So then I headed back on the train to Dresden, checked out of my hostel (this one was ehhhhhh, nobody really talked to each other. I tried being friendly at breakfast but was basically ignored). Then I went back to the bus station; the stupid bus was late and kinda packed, but we made it back to Berlin on time.
I got to the bus early and managed to convince the grumpy bus driver to let me on(I don't blame him for being grumpy it was very early.....and he didn't speak English so I had to resort to hand motions to get my point across) The bus ride was roughly two hours but I slept most of the way. I did wake up and watch the sunrise which was very pretty.
The bus dropped me off around 8:30am at the main train station on the new side of town. This was only a 10 minute walk to my hostel. (Which I accidentally made a 25 minute walk by going the wrong way down a vital street.)I checked in to the hostel, though I couldn't get into the room just yet. They gave me a map so I was able to go exploring. I first took a tram down to a flea market nearby. It was really more of a large yard sale and I didn't see anything I absolutely needed.
Then I walked a bit along the side of the river Elbe. The water is apparently so clean that in the summer the locals just go swimming in it where ever. From the side of the river I got a pretty good view of the old part of the city (Altstadt). This has an old Palace of the Kings of Saxony, an older church, an opera house among other buildings. I headed over one of the many bridges and went to take a look, but first I stopped for some lunch. I had the usual vendor bratwurst and tried 'a local Saxony specialty' called Ballchen, which are basically fried pieces of dough covered in sugar.
I walked around a bit and looked at the outside of many of the historical areas. Most of these old buildings have been turned into museums that show off porcelain works or various artifacts from the Kings of Saxony. I didn't really feel like going in any of them as I really have no interest in porcelain or armory and the one that might have been interesting (showing off the Saxony treasury) was entirely overpriced and teeming with tourists.
Porcelain is very big in Dresden, because a couple hundred years ago one of the more violent Saxony Kings threw an alchemist in a dungeon and told him that he wasn't going to be let out unitl he found the recipe to create gold. The poor guy never created gold but he did find the recipe to create the only European porcelain. (They never tell you what happened to the alchemist, but I certainly hope the King let him out..) Porcelain made Dresden rich and is all over the place. There are porcelian shops everywhere and right on the side of one of the buildings is the largest tiled wall or porcelain. It's thousands of feet long and depicts all the Saxony Princes on one great procession.
I debated going over to the Hygiene Museum (which is not what it seems). It's shows exhibitions all about the human body and is actually supposed to be extremely interesting and interactive. The exhibition while I was there was on 'What is beautiful?' Unfortunately by the time I found where it was and got over there, it was too close to closing time for me to get in. So, I grabbed another bite to eat as I wandered back over to Neustadt where my hostel was. I headed up to my room, which was decorated most interestingly. (Ken dolls from the lamps and line drawings all over the walls).
I took what was supposed to be a quick nap, but what ended up being all night. So I didn't get to go out that night. (I guess that's what happens when you get up at 4:45am)
The next day I really wanted to take the hostel trip to Saxony-Switzerland. Saxony-Switzerland is not actually in Switzerland, instead it is a huge forest and mountainous region right near the Czech border. Unfortunately, there was only two of us that had signed up to go, and the tour needed four people. I REALLY wanted to go, so I chatted with the hostel staff and borrowed a map. (which I forgot to give back, whoops) And headed out by myself.
I had to take a train about 45 minutes to get there. Buying my ticket was a slight ordeal because the stupid ticket machine was not cooperating. I had to go to one of the counters to buy it. (One of the things I really liked about Dresden was that not everyone spoke English. I had to try out my German skills because otherwise nobody understood me. Not like in Berlin, most everyone here is practically fluent)
Took my train and got off at the small town of Rathen. In order to get to the foresty bit I had to first cross the Elbe River. And the only way across was by way of (very slow) ferry. You had to pay 70 tsents and wait in a fairly long line to get across. (The ferry guy had a nice monopoly going). We landed on the side of this very picturesque town. There were two little food vendors and a whole bunch of cute townspeople out doing things like raking leaves in their yards and hanging up washing to dry.
I had no clue where to go, so I just ended up following some people that looked like the type to climb a mountain (boots and big backpacks and such. And it worked! I started up a trail but then my camera batteries died. SO I trucked back down and was forced to pay 2 EUROS A BATTERY! good lord. So I headed back up. There were some really good outcroppings and views. I came to a huge stone bridge built right at the top of this mountain. It was crazy scary to look over. I also walked through the ruins of a medieval castle. All was left was a few cannonballs and the water cistern and the places where the rock had been bored away for ceiling beams and door frames, but it was still really interesting. I headed back down and took a bit of a side route to look at a small mountain lake created by a dam. I hiked around it. I was so happy to be in some real wilderness. I love Berlin, but I'm not really a city person and after I while I just need to get out and be near some trees and such.
So then I headed back on the train to Dresden, checked out of my hostel (this one was ehhhhhh, nobody really talked to each other. I tried being friendly at breakfast but was basically ignored). Then I went back to the bus station; the stupid bus was late and kinda packed, but we made it back to Berlin on time.
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