Dresden

            The next day, because George has to work, we decide to make an unscheduled day trip to Dresden. When we arrive at the station, we find that our train has been delayed. Kyle gets some ketchup-flavored chips and we watch the board, waiting for our platform to be announced. I overhear a confused older couple trying to figure their train out. I help them get straight and turn around to see an Asian couple coming over for help with their ticket (even though I was able to figure out what they needed, I was unable to communicate it. Oh, well). Kyle said, “I’m surprised a line didn’t start forming.”

            When our train finally arrived, we find a cabin with a middle aged German couple. Soon, we hear a distinctly American twang ask if he could take the last seat in the cabin. He asks where we’re from, says that he’s from Tennessee, and we begin to swap travel stories as he was very chatty.
He: My plane broke from Detroit
Me: Ours too.
He: Did ya’ll fly Delta?
Me: Yeah
He: What day?
It was then that we figured out that we had been scheduled for the same flight. Small World. So, we shared some more travel tales (his included seeing a naked bicycle protest in London), and it turns out that we had been many of the same places. He was quite well-traveled, as well as very talkative and friendly. Kyle shared his retirement plan: to buy a boat and guide ‘any language tours’, then just mumble into the mic since no one can understand them anyway. The German couple seemed amused by this and Mr. Tennessee, so when he asked them about the specialties of the area that he could buy, they communicated for awhile using their decent English and drawing pictures. They then began pointing out points of interest along the way. Arriving at Dresden, we all went our merry ways.

            Feeling like a combination between Vienna and Berlin, Dresden is a very charming city with a lot of history. It used to known as the ‘Florence on the Elbe’, and was renowned for its beauty. Now, it is primarily known for being almost completely destroyed in WWII (it’s said that Churchill picked it out specially to get back at Germany for the bombing of Coventry), which killed over 30000 people. They are still in the process of reconstructing what they can, using bits of the old buildings and photographs.

            Once we get into Dresden, while we do see New Market, we spent most of our time in Old Market and the historical section of town, starting with the Kreuz Church, and proceeding to the iconic (and beautiful) Frauenkirche. We then saw the Albertinum and then the Art Museum, walking along the Bruel Terrace which runs along the Elbe River, where there’s a park with some manicured trees and the Dom, which looks like a wedding cake inside, all white and gold.

            Across the way was the Semper Opera House (Semperoper) where many composers used to premiere their work, including Strauss and Wagner. We then saw the Royal Palace (Residenzschloss) and the Procession of Princes, a pathway that was created to celebrate the Saxony rulers that is lined with a mural created with small porcelain tiles. Finally, we saw the Zwinger, a large palace complex with many buildings including the green vault, and lovely grounds.

            After that, it was about time for us to go. On the way home, our train cabinmates were again very friendly. They were 2 English girls who reminded me of plump versions of the Pigeon sisters from The Odd Couple. We chatted and shared stories and they giggled about the creeper who was eating a banana and staring at one of them, drawing the curtain and peeping out (so we swapped creeper stories). They loaned us a headphone splitter so Neil and I could watch a movie and Neil helped them with their luggage when we got off the train.

            We met George for dinner, and he told us a legend of Prague’s hairy ghost who drags girls into the river as we walked to the Afghan place, where we met up with Tony and his girlfriend. The Afghan place is small and highly decorated. George orders a bunch of dishes to share. The meal includes a naan-like bread, rice, spinach, daal, pumpkin, eggplant, zucchini, lamb, and a beef/tomato/egg dish. It was very good and even Kyle liked it.

            Afterwards, George took us to a very nice establishment called Hemingway’s, with rich leather seating and a very knowledgeable and attentive staff.