So, last leg of the trip, or next to last. We are sitting at
Tegel airport, awaiting boarding of our flght. We fly to NY this time, then to
Boston. ON the way over it was Boston to Amsterdam to Berlin. Hopefully won’t have trouble making our
connecting flight in NYC.
We spent a wonderful last day in Dresden yesterday. Not much
time, less than 24 hours, but we made the most of it. We arrived at about 11am,
and were able to check into our room immediately. It was in the center of the
old city, with a garage underneath, so very convenient. We left the car for the
day, and took a long walk over the Elbe( same river as we were on in Stadt
Wehlen for the previous four days. )
We were headed to the Art Passage, a place I’d read about some years ago, and then again more recently. It’s in a kind of trendy/cheap area of hippyish shops, bars and cafes, ethnic eateries, graffitied walls and tattooed folks. There’s several courtyards with apartments fringing them, but one in particular has some art installations with a series of pipes and musical instrument looking things that trail down the wall. Water cascades down, making a fountain of the whole wall, and supposedly, musical sounds as well. Perhaps in a rainstorm, but the small trickle there yesterday wasn’t all that impressive, although the idea was great and the courtyards was visually appealing.
Nevertheless, it gave us the opportunity for a couple of
hours walk around the newer inner city, on the other side of the river, and
through some interesting neighborhoods. And quite a contrast to the stunning old
architecture in the old city around our
hotel, and the museum of Old Masters in the old Palace, which had been our
first stop in our one day visit to the city.
At the museum, full of grand portraits and
landscapes from the15th century through the 18th, in a
beautiful building that was under renovation, we saw Rembrandts, Cranachs,
a Vermeer I was unfamiliar with (they had a second one but it was undergoing renovation) many more, some artists I was familiar with, many others, German, Dutch, others, with whom I was unfamiliar.
And then, there were the Canalettos! We’d only realized that he had painted here through the book Boris had in his apartment in Stadt Wehlen. We’d seen copies of the twelve he painted of Pirna, near Stadt Wehlen, at the tourist office there. They did not have any originals. “We’re just a small town,” explained the woman at the tourist office, nevertheless seeming quite proud of the connection. According to the woman, it was assumed, but not known for sure, that the artist had spent a good deal of time in Pirna, since he painted so many large works there.
In the Dresden museum there were six of his paintings hanging in one gallery. It was an
impressive display, six large murals with details of the old town, where we were
staying, and views of the Elbe, all painted in the 18th century.
We knew that Dresden had been heavily bombed during the
second World War, by the US, and that it largely destroyed the town. As in Berlin, we’ve been fascinated by the
history and archeology, trying to figure out what was from what time period,
what had survived, what was reconstructed, etc.
To us, it seemed like many of the very old buildings in the old city had
survived, judging by the number of still blackened structures. The woman who’d
guided my Berlin tour had mentioned that much of the statuary had been hidden
away earlier in the war, and if you saw fairly white buildings with black
statues, that was an indication that the building had been reconstructed.
Yet here in Dresden, we were surprised at the number of
buildings that seemed to have survived.
I’m sure if we’d been there at the time it wouldn’t have seemed like many. Nevertheless, it seemed that some of the major buildings, churches,
palaces, had survived.
I’m going to have to read more to get a better understanding of what the city
has looked like during various time periods of the last century.
It has been interesting to see the amount of construction,
and reconstruction, that is continuing all these years after WWII, and also
after the reunification of Germany. Of
course, most major cities have a large amount of construction.
It is one of the most interesting and
appealing aspects of Berlin to see the combination of prewar and pre 20th
century construction, combined with Soviet era buildings, newer construction,
and melding of more than one. I find the
combined construction the most interesting, ie buildings that retain some of an
earlier structure but add more modern elements, like a glass dome or projecting
features. I know there are building
codes that determine if or how much of a building can be changed, based on
historical significance. But I don’t know just how that works.
The area right across the street from our Dresden hotel,
and the view from our window, was an archeological site that is still being
excavated. I couldn’t read the signs (they looked mostly like photos of the
company’s other building projects) or tell from what time period the area dated. The very friendly man who checked us in
told me that the hotel, too, was built on an excavated site. He said that the
excavations were worked into the cellar of the building, which housed the
health activity center and saunas. So of
course we had to check the saunas out.
Clad in white terry bathrobes and spa slippers, we took the
elevator down, encountering a few similarly attired folks on the way. The space was indeed integrated into the
walls of the old (ancient?) building. There were two saunas, a Finnish
style and a bio sauna. The difference seemed to be mostly the temperature, the
bio sauna being not quite as hot. The saunas were both coed, and I believe I
was the only one, of about a half dozen while we there, who had a bathing suit
or any clothing on. I also had the bio
sauna, plenty hot for me, to myself.
There were showers, a
tiled room with foot baths, rooms for massage, and a “relaxation” room. I was
relaxed enough after a couple of bouts of sauna and shower, but felt the need to experience the relaxation room. It
consisted of about eight or ten lounge chairs, soft music and some not- too-
strong- smelling herbal essence, and, two of what looked exactly like queen -size beds. I was a bit puzzled about who
and how people would relax in those. But didn’t find out because I was the only
one relaxing. In the relaxation room, that is. Loring said he would relax better in the bed in our room, and went
upstairs to do so. I think we were both
pretty relaxed at the end of the process.
Fully refreshed, we headed out to choose a place for our
final dinner in Germany. We’ve probably
eaten out only four or so actual dinners in our two weeks, plus several mid day
snacks of either pastries, sandwiches, or ice cream. Other than that, we’ve cooked in our two
abodes. It’s not for money reasons, , and in fact the restaurants there were surprisingly inexpensive by US standards. We just like to cook and hang out in our accomodations, when we’ve picked them
well and have views or some kind of charming ambiance. But it also is nice to
have a meal out every few days.
The first few restaurants, on the main square, were fully
occupied. We’d waited until fairly late,
by our standards, until about 830, because it doesn’t get really dark until about
10pm and I wanted to see the old city at night.
But on the far side of the square we found a perfectly nice, traditional
(ie no pizza or pasta or burgers) place. I had a “suckling pig” dinner with
vegetables and a mushroom dumpling, Loring had a platter with a variety of meats and cheeses
and breads. His plate included a meatball which turned out to be a raw
meatball, of which he gamely ate half.
This morning, we came down for breakfast only to find that on
Sundays, breakfast starts at 7am rather than the 6:30 on other days. I was devastated. Well, very disappointed
anyway. They offered to make up box lunches for us. But I knew that would probably
be meats and cheeses. Nicely, the desk staff talked to the kitchen and they let
us in early. We wouldn’t have been able
to wait until 7 because we had a two to
three hour drive back to Berlin.
So our sojourn, aside from the flights home, ended with a
splendid array of cheeses, breads, croissants, cakes, eggs, meats, lox,
herring, fruits and fruit salads, coffee of choice, mine cappuccino, etc etc.
I didn’t even touch the bacon, there was so much else. Or the
cheesecake, ( which I gather isn’t
unusual for breakfast at all, as I thought when my volunteer group devoured 10 or 12 of them in the first week, donated from a food bank. ) I think the quality and variety topped most
of the breakfast buffets I’ve ever had, abroad or in the US. And I’ve had some
good ones. I asked Loring if it was just my good mood, or if it was truly a
superb buffet. He said it was “right up there.” When the desk staff asked if everything had been okay, I
thanked them profusely, and added what Loring had commented. I didn't know if they'd understood the expression, but I am sure they got the message. I was truly appreciative that they'd made the effort to let us have an early breakfast.
And that about sums things up. We are now on the plane
heading to JFK, and then, if we don’t miss our connection, back to Boston.
It’s been a terrific trip, no complaints other than the ants
in the kitchen in Stadt Wehlen, and the lack of a freezer, and hence ice,
there. We’ve concluded that it’s a German thing, they are not into ice as much
as we are. Just another cultural learning experience.
The only sad part of the last month was the end of the
volunteer project, which degenerated due to Saskia’s discomfort with some of
the group participants, and her way of handling the situation. I think some of
her frustrations were justified, but, as the group leader, she handled it
rather badly and left me, and probably everyone, with a sour feeling. I hope
she recovers ok. She really did put a lot of effort into planning and
implementing the problem, and I like her personally. She may come visit us in
August, after the Wikipedia conference in Montreal, and I hope she will.
And I hope I can stay in touch with a number of people from
the group, as I usually do. I expect to stay in touch with Khanh, who seems to
be prolific facebooker, and Viola, from South Sudan, who is an inspiration and just
a truly nice person. I’d like to keep in touch with Kirke, from Denmark, and
the girls from Russia and Latvia, Olga and Pollina and Larisa. Sergey, too,
from Ukraine, who was so helpful with the wiki tech stuff. Plus he was familiar with my Chernowitz
cemetery project, because SCI/ SVIT only sponsors a half dozen projects. Arkun and Martin, from Turkey and the CZ
too, but not sure I am fb friends with them. And the others too, Vessy and
Turquese who I think I am fb friends with. And who did I miss?
Michael, who I like very much, is not on fb, nor is
Jakob, the co-leader of the group with Saskia. I tried to convince
them to join, if only to keep in touch with me. But if someone is in principal
not interested, I understand. So we will
see. I told them they could just have me as a friend, and not accept anyone
else! Doubt I've convinced them though.
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