I'll Be There Dreckly: Dresden

Monday, 4 November 2013

Dresden

Dresden, Germany

When I write these updates it sometimes feels a bit repetitive - 'went for a wander, went to this museum, saw this interesting thing', so I hope it's not boring to read. It's not boring to see - Germany is a really interesting place to travel around - not particularly hot, fun or adventurous, but sometimes interesting is more than enough. That said, I think I'm getting a little burnt out with just looking at stuff at the moment - more variety, experiences, and activities are required. And are coming soon...

Dresden's beautiful skyline

Maybe it's just me, but the word Dresden sounds a bit like dreary, dread, dross - negative words, but the place is far from that. A city a couple of hours south of Berlin - we bombed it to pieces in the war, but instead of just being rebuilt in grey concrete, they did an excellent job restoring what was there and putting some nice buildings in the gaps. After the high speed journey to get there that I wrote about previously, I found a good hostel in the young and creative area of Neustadt. Staying local on Friday, I set off bright and breezy for a change, on foot following a street art tour I found on a map, followed by another walking route to the old town around these grand old buildings, past the old opera house and palace, ending mid afternoon at a place I'd read about at home - the transparent factory.

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Now a lot of car companies like to have a top of the range model that lures people in, only to realise they can't afford it and then buy a cheaper model. Volkswagen have gone a step further by creating a quite frankly, out of this world factory to draw potential customers in. The building is completely glass clad inside and out (hence the transparent) and set over many stories, with polished hardwood floors rather than concrete, minimal noise, and barely a spec of dust to be seen. Very fake, but quite a sight nevertheless. There was no factory tour available so I made do looking round some exhibits, and at the building itself. The best bit is where they store the finished cars - in a huge round glass tower, where the cars are lifted into their bays with a robot - it's like a giant vending machine and amazing to see in action. A beer in the hostel bar chatting to a Filipino guy who was here to study finished the day nicely.

A week or so ago I flicked through a photo book of Germany - nice scenery but nothing too amazing, until I came across an area called Saxon-Switzerland which looked like another world, and fortunately it was near to where I was staying. So last Saturday it was time to head to the country - something I've not done enough recently. I had planned to hire a bike and cycle down there, but walking out the door to both rain and cold weather soon changed my mind, so I headed for the train - which with no explanation didn't turn up despite clearly saying so on the board. After a bit of hassle I managed to get the next one and a bit later than planned given the shorter days now, eventually arrived in the beautiful national park and soon forgot about the hassle. Full of weird looking sandstone formations - it was stunning, one of the best places I've been on this trip. After walking past the touristy bit, I escaped the crowds and hiked about ten miles around the forest, through deep and narrow tree-covered valleys, which hid more rocky formations. Having spent too much time in cities recently, seeing barely a soul for most of the walk was exactly what I was after.

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That night a German couple around my age came into the lounge of the hostel, and we got chatting. Their English was nigh on perfect, thanks to their jobs as an English teacher and university researcher, and they were a clever pair too. This little chat soon turned into a few beers out in town along witha Kiwi girl, first at an alpine hut bar set up for winter, then by the roaring fire pit in the garden of a rock bar. Really fascinating people, and once again I got to understand the country a bit better whilst having a good laugh.

The last day in Dresden was taken up with a visit to the Military History Museum; a bit of a one of a kind. The building itself is a bit controversial - an old arsenal, with an ultra modern knife shaped feature running through it. History wise I don't seem to generally have much interest in anything older than WWII - I guess I find it hard to relate to anything older than my grandparents, so didn't spent too long in those sections, and instead put time to the post 1930's exhibits on war technology, drugs and suffering among others. One section was on use of animals in war - did you know that in Normandy and the Falklands, the British army used to send flocks of sheep in front of them to detonate minefields?! Fascinating place.

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After my success with car sharing to get to Dresden, I tried to replicate it on the way back. After messaging four or five people in the morning (admittedly in English, to Germans!), like last time it wasn't looking good, until the last minute when I got a reply to meet a guy by the train station in an hour. Perfect. On the autobahn again, this time the chap was in his forties, driving his new Ford Mondeo a bit more sensibly on the autobahn than the last guy; only 90mph ish most of the time, with the odd burst up to 110. People were still overtaking us though!

Almost back in Berlin, I got the guy to drop me at the airport. Not because I was flying, but instead to meet a visitor for a few days - my brother. He had no idea I was going to meet him until he saw me at arrivals holding a 'Dr Butter' piece of card. I'd been looking forward to this for a while, and after three and a half months without seeing anyone I know, I was absolutely delighted when he rocked up. We then headed off into Berlin for a few days of slightly more upmarket travel than I've been used to of late; always nice!