Sebastian picked me up from the Hauptbahnhof on Thursday afternoon and my Abenteuer in Sachsen officially began. We headed to Gorbitz, the ghetto of Dresden, where Sebastian and his sister Jule live. I don't really mean ghetto as in East St. Louis ghetto, but most of the residents are, well, a bit interesting. Sebastian and I bought beer (always important), had dinner with Jule and friends, and then went to Neustadt for a Kneipeabend. Neustadt is a very young neighborhood in Dresden, covered in student bars. We went to two - one monster themed, the other film themed. In all, good conversation, good beer, good times.
Friday morning was a tour of the Altstadt - the Hofkirche, the Frauenkirche, the Semper Oper Haus and the Zwinger. The architecture in the Altstadt is quite elegant. The Frauenkirche was recently finished with renovation. The stone exterior is tan with splatters of dark gray. The original Frauenkirche was dark gray before being bombed during World War II. It was left in ruins during the Cold War, with only a couple archways still standing. During restoration, usable parts were sorted, identified, and placed in their original position, mixed with a new light-colored stone. One of my favorite things was the Procession of Dukes, a huge mural depicting every ruler of Sachsen (Saxony) from the middle ages to the Prussian expansion.
After the tour, we took a brief look at the University, ate there for lunch, then met up with Jule after her classes. Jule wanted to go shopping and I decided to join. Sebastian went home (maybe he didn't think he could handle shopping with the two of us?). Jule and I looked at boots, laughed over gaudy jewelry, I convinced her to buy books and we chatted. You know, normal girl stuff. It was decided at some point that we needed wine with dinner (or we just needed wine, and, like beer, always a good decision), and wine was procured. Sebastian made schnitzel for dinner (super lecker) and we watched movies from their childhood, or "East Germany lessons" and then continued the theme with Good Bye Lenin. I also received "lessons" in Sächsisch, the regional dialect. You can learn Sächsisch too! (If you can read/speak German... sorry) I tried really hard to pick up a few words, but mostly I just giggled. Sächsisch sounds pretty silly, if you ask me.
On Saturday, Sebastian and I went to Chemnitz to watch his friend, Erik, play in a rugby tournament. We were joined by more friends - Tom, Doreen, and Bernhard. We drank beer from plastic bottles and enjoyed cheap Glühwein and Wurst. It rained (so we needed Gewiddorflinde [Regenschirm/Umbrellas]). We attempted to figure out the rules of rugby. After a while (two games, I think), it was decided that we needed to move onwards to Zwickau, so we piled into a car and beat town. I received a grand tour of Zwickau and then we had coffee to escape the cold and rain. Then Sebastian, Bernhard and I went to Sebastian's house to enjoy delightfully delicious Döner for dinner. I met Oma Roscher, who shared a few excellent stories from the days of the DDR. I could only semi-understand her (again, Sächsisch), but Oma Roscher is super cute! Later that night, Tom, Doreen and Bernhard came back over and we enjoyed beer, sang songs and played with audio equipment in the Band Room. ( -- A side note -- I was quite impressed with the political advertisements that had been geklauted to decorate the Band Room. Representation from every political party, some in better shape than others.)
On Sunday morning I played with Uncle Sam, the cat, and chatted with Sebastian's mom while waiting for Sebastian to get up. Then I had breakfast with the whole fam (minus Jule, who I forgot to mention had to stay home to study). Sebastian and I took a train back to Dresden and Jule met us at the Hauptbahnhof. We went and rode a cable car to an overlook with views of all of Dresden and the Elbe River. It was sunny so the views were great.
We went home, ate leftovers and relaxed. The weekend in Dresden was perfect. It wasn't jammed-packed with excitement, but it didn't need to be. A vacation should be a good mix of fun and relaxation, and my adventures in Sachsen were just that.
Nedde Leude, dolle Sachen. Ein sehr schönes Erlebnis in Saggsen! *giggles*
No comments:
Post a Comment