Well, we're half way through the academic semester. Whoever first came up with that phrase, "Time flies..." was a pretty bright person.
I decided I should give a half-semester update, regarding all that we've been up to in this little life of ours. If you're wondering why, thinking, "We know all this already!" - well, this is for me, as well. So:
- I've been in Germany for six weeks as of today.
- I've visited the German states of Bavaria and Saxony (there is more than one Saxony, but I can't remember the different additional names), and will visit Hessen tomorrow.
- I've visited the major German cities of Munich, Nuremberg, and Dresden, and will visit Frankfurt tomorrow.
- I've visited the Czech Republic, including the major cities of Pilsen (Plzen) and Prague (Praha).
- By Monday I will have visited Austria, at least the border city of Salzburg.
- We've completed two courses - Christian Worldview and Reformation History. I got decent grades in both. :) I enjoyed the first and loved the second. Both professors were great men, and the second was particularly a fantastic professor.
- I've made two German friends and quite a few acquaintances. There will be more friends when I can communicate more than the basic civilities.
- I've worshiped in both English- and German-speaking churches (mostly the latter), and appreciated the great passion that these people have in their faith. Americans could learn from the Europeans in this area.
- I've sung in a German church choir.
- I've greeted friends, ordered food, and made various requests and purchases in German.
- I've eaten (and enjoyed) every variety of German food.
- I've learned the German methods of energy-usage reduction (in homes) and window-kipping (don't ask).
- I've learned the German methods of garbage disposal (there are four different kinds of garbage that must be kept separate and taken to the curb on different days).
- I've ridden trains almost every weekend, ridden a bus once or twice, and even ridden a bicycle for the first time in... well... quite a few years.
- I've visited two major art/culture museums and attended a symphony orchestra concert. Tomorrow I will attend another concert, though of a rather different style of music.
- I've enjoyed Bavarian rain, frost, and sun; Czech snow; and even some Alpine, snow-tasting sunshine.
- I've fallen in love with German book stores and coffee shops.
- I've continued my love affair with European chocolate and ice cream. (Ooops.)
- I've taken numerous walks - through the farmland south of us, through the park to our east, along the river, into town, and even along dark roads through the country on a star-lit night.
- I've enjoyed about three cups of tea per day.
- I've had a lot of pride-damaging episodes, but also gained some new respect for myself.
- I've wrestled with how what I am doing now lines up with what I should be doing now - what difference am I making or could I be making in this world? (But this is nothing new. In fact, if I wasn't wrestling with this, I'd be worried.)
- I've learned many lessons about myself - how I function within my own mind, how I function with others, and most importantly, how I function in my relationship with my Creator and Saviour.
And there you have it. To most of you that seems like a rather odd, perhaps overly-detailed list. In reality, it feels rather incomplete to me (when compared with all that I've done and seen and experienced). But it's hard to accurately portray real, everyday life in such a thing as a blog entry. I can show you pictures of castles and mountains and smiling students, but I can't really recreate for you the dish-washing, the daily walks, the shopping, the lectures, or the way the sun falls across the trees like that. Even less can I share the people, the conversations, the jokes, the laughter, the music, the impressions, the thoughts, the feelings, the atmosphere, the frustrations, and the joys. But then... maybe that's okay. I'm fairly certain you have all the same aspects of life available in your own little world that I do in mine. They just look a little different in the Willamette Valley or in Wiltshire than they do in Bavaria.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Aaah....
This morning I had the house completely to myself... for the first time all semester. It was a beautiful thing. Don't misunderstand me - I love all these folks - but sometimes a girl just needs the house to herself.
That's all.
That's all.
Friday, February 22, 2008
The Sounds of ... a Lot of Places...
I just thought I should point out that if you scroll to the very bottom of my blog page... yes, all the way down there... you'll find a "Jango Jukebox." The faces scrolling across the jukebox are the faces of various musicians that I happen to like or love. If you click on a face, you'll have the pleasure (or pain, every one has his own tastes) of listening to that artist while you're reading my blog entries. Selections include songs by, let's see... Michael Bublé, Harry Connick, Jr., Carole King, Enya, Clannad, Loreena McKinnit, Sarah McLachlan, Van Morrison, Bob Dylan, Dean Martin, Josh Groban, Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, and Joni Mitchell. So you see, some old names and some new ones, some ones I love and some I'm just getting used to. :) Sadly, Jango doesn't have several of my most favourite musicians (check out Sara Groves, Casting Crowns, and Mark Shultz). But anyway, please enjoy these offerings at your discretion. :)
Food, Part 3
All right, it's time for more food photos! We certainly have tasted some wonderful things. Indeed, there's hardly been a single meal here that I have not enjoyed - I'm usually a big fan of local/traditional food, and the Germans just have good taste. Granted, I'm not as much into sausage as any good German is, nor am I quite so much a fan of processed breakfast meats as some would wish me to be. But... the kinds of things we are served for breakfasts and lunches, and the kinds of things we find ourselves for dinners and weekend meals, are usually all quite enjoyable.
I should also give a disclaimer. The foods shown in these pictures (and in the previous food entries) may seem to be too much of a good thing, and you may be wondering if we ever eat normal or healthy foods! But I remind you that these are just a handful of the dinners and desserts we've had; the majority of our meals are either too "normal" or too "healthy" to bother taking a picture of (e.g. you already know what a pizza or a continental breakfast look like). So... these pictures are not perfectly representative of our time here, just of the highlights. :)
This is Ukrainische Soljanka, a delightfully spicy, sweet-n-sour soup that I had in Dresden. The others here laugh because I bring up "my Ukrainische Soljanka" rather often. It probably ranks as #3 or #4 on my list of top favourite meals so far.
Sweet-n-sour chicken, also had in Dresden. One wouldn't think of Chinese as quite the thing in Germany... but actually this was some of the best and most authentic Chinese food we'd ever had!
Hirschgoulasch, in a charming Füssen restaurant. What you're seeing is venison and bread dumplings in a strongly-flavoured gravy (and fruit on the side). This is among my top favourite meals.
Scrambled eggs and ham in Prague. Some of you may know me well enough to know how amazing it was that I chose eggs... :)
Svíčková, one of the most traditionally Czech of all Czech meals. Also had in Prague. And also among my very top-most favourites. It is basically roast beef with dumplings in a cream sauce, served with cranberries and cream. I had this meal last year in Prague and have basically dreamed about it ever since. :) I am debating within myself whether this meal ranks as #2 or #1 so far. The Sauerbraten we had the first weekend here was so very good...
A four-flavour ice cream sundae. Last night three of us were absolutely craving ice cream. This is certainly not an unusual thing, but what was unusual was that we took action. After a few hours window shopping in town, we headed to another Italian place near here where we knew there was good ice cream. Delightful.
I wish that I had remembered my camera for a few other meals lately. On Valentine's Day, four of us girls went to a local Italian restaurant, where I had a lovely "Italian" salad (quite similar to a chef salad in America). In Prague I had soup two meals in a row, and very delightful soup it was (salmon cream soup for lunch, Czech potato soup for dinner). And last Monday night a few of us found a tiny Chinese restaurant here in Amberg, at which I had some amazing spicy chicken curry (the "sauce of coconut milk and Thai curry" really stole my heart). But alas, the camera was neglected on those occasions.
I should also give a disclaimer. The foods shown in these pictures (and in the previous food entries) may seem to be too much of a good thing, and you may be wondering if we ever eat normal or healthy foods! But I remind you that these are just a handful of the dinners and desserts we've had; the majority of our meals are either too "normal" or too "healthy" to bother taking a picture of (e.g. you already know what a pizza or a continental breakfast look like). So... these pictures are not perfectly representative of our time here, just of the highlights. :)
This is Ukrainische Soljanka, a delightfully spicy, sweet-n-sour soup that I had in Dresden. The others here laugh because I bring up "my Ukrainische Soljanka" rather often. It probably ranks as #3 or #4 on my list of top favourite meals so far.
Sweet-n-sour chicken, also had in Dresden. One wouldn't think of Chinese as quite the thing in Germany... but actually this was some of the best and most authentic Chinese food we'd ever had!
Hirschgoulasch, in a charming Füssen restaurant. What you're seeing is venison and bread dumplings in a strongly-flavoured gravy (and fruit on the side). This is among my top favourite meals.
Scrambled eggs and ham in Prague. Some of you may know me well enough to know how amazing it was that I chose eggs... :)
Svíčková, one of the most traditionally Czech of all Czech meals. Also had in Prague. And also among my very top-most favourites. It is basically roast beef with dumplings in a cream sauce, served with cranberries and cream. I had this meal last year in Prague and have basically dreamed about it ever since. :) I am debating within myself whether this meal ranks as #2 or #1 so far. The Sauerbraten we had the first weekend here was so very good...
A four-flavour ice cream sundae. Last night three of us were absolutely craving ice cream. This is certainly not an unusual thing, but what was unusual was that we took action. After a few hours window shopping in town, we headed to another Italian place near here where we knew there was good ice cream. Delightful.
I wish that I had remembered my camera for a few other meals lately. On Valentine's Day, four of us girls went to a local Italian restaurant, where I had a lovely "Italian" salad (quite similar to a chef salad in America). In Prague I had soup two meals in a row, and very delightful soup it was (salmon cream soup for lunch, Czech potato soup for dinner). And last Monday night a few of us found a tiny Chinese restaurant here in Amberg, at which I had some amazing spicy chicken curry (the "sauce of coconut milk and Thai curry" really stole my heart). But alas, the camera was neglected on those occasions.
Monday, February 18, 2008
Scenes of ... the Most Beautiful City in the World?
Well, it's happened. After more than a year, I've had a chance to return to Prague, Czech Republic. Most of you have heard me refer to my trip there last year... at least once... and probably about 16,000 times. The truth is that even though I was only there for about five days (it sure seemed like longer) last year, this city worked itself so far into my heart that I've spent the last year incredibly missing it! It's hard to describe the way that a place and its people can steal your heart like this, or the way that even after more than a year a place can be so completely familiar that it's as though you never left.
Well, anyway... I went back. I was only in Prague for 28 hours total... terribly too short... but at least I was there! It took a five-hour set of train rides to reach Prague. I'm one to love a journey more the longer it lasts, so the ride over was pretty delightful for me. :) There are plenty of little anecdotes that I could tell from those five hours... but since I don't have photos, we'll just skip to after we'd arrived in Prague.
By the way... The reason the photos are bigger than usual is because this is my favourite city, so it deserves big pictures. :)
So, the three of us (Angela, Heidi, and I) were the original group planning to go to Prague. Then the other six students decided to go, as well, but ended up going one night earlier and booking a separate hostel. Trip planning is such a strange thing! :)
The three of us reached our hostel around 1PM Friday. We got to climb about four flights of stairs to get to our room on the top floor. :)
I knew I was back in my beloved city when I saw this view, which was totally familiar and felt just like coming home.
One of my favourite views in the world - Prague Palace, St. Vitus Cathedral, and the Charles Bridge, on the Vltava River.
I can never remember what this building is, but it's an important one quite close to the start of the Charles Bridge.
Prague is a lovely city all the time, but it's after dark that it becomes my city.
I had the amazing opportunity to meet up with my friend Assia, our hostess in Prague last year. She spent both days with us, as both a friend and tour guide. You know there's a piece of Providence in it when someone that you only knew for five days can become a cherished friend, someone to meet a year later with great joy. The very fact that I could meet her again a year later shows the Providential hand if you ask me.
This amazing group of (professional) street musicians were playing outside the palace. They were performing a part of Smetana's Má Vlast, "My Country." Smetana was one of Czech's greatest Nationalist composers, and his huge Má Vlast paints a picture in music of the country, the city of Prague, and the beautiful Vltava River.
We got to watch the Changing of the Palace Guard at noon on Saturday. This is one snapshot from the lengthy ceremony.
And another of part of the palace band playing for the ceremony.
One view of the St. Vitus' Cathedral, inside the palace complex. This building is gigantic.
And the inside of St. Vitus'.
Stained glass... so beautiful...
The sunlight was a perfect addition to an already perfect day.
Around the other side of St. Vitus'.
Jan Nepomuc. This Czech/Bohemian Saint has a very interesting story; unfortunately, I heard it last year and have not been able to find it again. Someday I'll find it and post it, though. :)
Leaving the palace complex (it's like its own city!).
A view of the city from one part of the palace wall. In the top left corner you can see the Vltava as it winds its way through the city...
Another view of the city (and a tree).
My friend Assia. We were highly entertaining her by our paparazzi photo techniques - randomly snapping pictures of each other (and her) without warning - which is becoming a habit with a few of us. What I tried to explain to her is that, having not seen her for more than a year, my friends back home and I would never be satisfied with fewer than twenty pictures of her! :)
Well, anyway... I went back. I was only in Prague for 28 hours total... terribly too short... but at least I was there! It took a five-hour set of train rides to reach Prague. I'm one to love a journey more the longer it lasts, so the ride over was pretty delightful for me. :) There are plenty of little anecdotes that I could tell from those five hours... but since I don't have photos, we'll just skip to after we'd arrived in Prague.
By the way... The reason the photos are bigger than usual is because this is my favourite city, so it deserves big pictures. :)
So, the three of us (Angela, Heidi, and I) were the original group planning to go to Prague. Then the other six students decided to go, as well, but ended up going one night earlier and booking a separate hostel. Trip planning is such a strange thing! :)
The three of us reached our hostel around 1PM Friday. We got to climb about four flights of stairs to get to our room on the top floor. :)
I knew I was back in my beloved city when I saw this view, which was totally familiar and felt just like coming home.
One of my favourite views in the world - Prague Palace, St. Vitus Cathedral, and the Charles Bridge, on the Vltava River.
I can never remember what this building is, but it's an important one quite close to the start of the Charles Bridge.
Prague is a lovely city all the time, but it's after dark that it becomes my city.
I had the amazing opportunity to meet up with my friend Assia, our hostess in Prague last year. She spent both days with us, as both a friend and tour guide. You know there's a piece of Providence in it when someone that you only knew for five days can become a cherished friend, someone to meet a year later with great joy. The very fact that I could meet her again a year later shows the Providential hand if you ask me.
By the way, we are standing at the edge of the walk up to the palace, with a view of the city stretching out behind us. This walk has many wonderful memories for me (now twice as many!).
This amazing group of (professional) street musicians were playing outside the palace. They were performing a part of Smetana's Má Vlast, "My Country." Smetana was one of Czech's greatest Nationalist composers, and his huge Má Vlast paints a picture in music of the country, the city of Prague, and the beautiful Vltava River.
We got to watch the Changing of the Palace Guard at noon on Saturday. This is one snapshot from the lengthy ceremony.
And another of part of the palace band playing for the ceremony.
One view of the St. Vitus' Cathedral, inside the palace complex. This building is gigantic.
And the inside of St. Vitus'.
Stained glass... so beautiful...
The sunlight was a perfect addition to an already perfect day.
Around the other side of St. Vitus'.
Jan Nepomuc. This Czech/Bohemian Saint has a very interesting story; unfortunately, I heard it last year and have not been able to find it again. Someday I'll find it and post it, though. :)
Leaving the palace complex (it's like its own city!).
A view of the city from one part of the palace wall. In the top left corner you can see the Vltava as it winds its way through the city...
Another view of the city (and a tree).
My friend Assia. We were highly entertaining her by our paparazzi photo techniques - randomly snapping pictures of each other (and her) without warning - which is becoming a habit with a few of us. What I tried to explain to her is that, having not seen her for more than a year, my friends back home and I would never be satisfied with fewer than twenty pictures of her! :)
The time ended all too soon, as Assia walked us back to the main Prague train station for our 5:16 train out. Saying goodbye was hard, let me tell you. Our train trip back to Amberg was safe and relatively uneventful (although like any traveling it was eventful enough to keep us occupied).
Wow... there is so incredibly much more I could say about this short trip. But maybe I will wait and say it in person sometime...
Monday, February 11, 2008
Scenes of the Bavarian Alps
On Friday and Saturday, Feb. 8-9, a group of six of us headed five hours south to within spitting range of the Austrian border. In this land of sharply rising mountains covered in snow and numerous small and frozen lakes, we visited two amazing castles and two sweet towns. This was beyond a doubt my favourite weekend trip so far in Germany, and it was also the first place I've visited that completely got into my heart and blood the way that Prague did last year. In other words, I've loved everything and every place we've seen so far... but the ones we visited this last weekend are the ones I feel like I absolutely have to get back to someday.
Here is the story and quite a few pics:
We left Amberg Friday evening and spent about five hours on the train (actually about five trains, because of the number of transfers needed). We arrived in the blink-and-you'll-miss-it town of Seeg about 10:45 and, since there are no busses that time of day or on the weekend, had the greatly joyous adventure of walking about 4k (2.5 mi.) to our hostel. Sometime ask me to show you our trek on GoogleEarth... it was quite the walk, especially considering it was mostly in the countryside, it was dark and extremely cold (February in the Alps?), we were using cell phones for flashlights, if you looked back you could see a glowing church rising out of the blackness from the town behind us, and if you looked up you could see more stars than most people see in their lifetime. Some of you are thinking this sounds rather unpleasant, but for most of us, this was the highlight of the weekend. :)
Our hostel was lovely, and those of us brave enough to step out on our balcony in the frigid air knew the view would be beyond charming the next morning. It was.
This was what I saw when I stepped onto the balcony a little after sunrise.
In the morning, our hostel owners (slightly distressed for our sakes that we'd walked the night before) gave us a ride back to town, where we waited for the next train to Fuessen (about 15 minutes away).
The sign at the train "station" that let us know where we were. There wasn't much else to tell us!
The view of the Bavarian Alps down the rails.
Pretending to be the Pevensie children waiting for either our train or a magical bugle Call....
Once we arrived in Fuessen, we hopped a bus to tiny Hohenschwangau, another 15 minutes away.
Our first view of Schloss (castle) Neuschwanstein from the village in the valley. The castle literally pops out of the mountainside!
View of the Schloss.
Me, Angela, and Heidi were three of the group-- posing on a balcony over the courtyard.
We took the 35 min. tour of the inside of the castle. It was built by "Crazy" King Louis about 150 years ago, and the inside decor is basically dedicated to composer Richard Wagner. The inside walls are covered in paintings of scenes directly taken from Wagner's operas. Read more at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuschwanstein_castle.
View out of a Schloss window.
And out of another window.
Back in the village now-- looking up at Schloss Hohenschwangau, another of King Louis's creations (and only a 30 min. walk from Neuschwanstein).
View across the valley to Neuschwanstein, from Schloss Hohenschwangau.
Our group (minus Beth, taking the pic) in front of the castle.
Me with southern Germany stretching out behind me.
The Alps, as seen through a stone railing at the castle.
The Heilige Geist Spital Kirche (Holy Ghost Spire Church, I think) in Fuessen.
Inside the H.G.S. Kirche. It was a little surprising to find this excellent an example of old artistry in such a small town! Not terribly surprising, though.... after all, it's Europe!
The ceiling of the H.G.S. Kirche.
Looking back across the river at Fuessen.
Part of the Fuessen "palace" complex, I believe.
View of the Alps from Fuessen. Who wouldn't want this as their backyard view?
Here is the story and quite a few pics:
We left Amberg Friday evening and spent about five hours on the train (actually about five trains, because of the number of transfers needed). We arrived in the blink-and-you'll-miss-it town of Seeg about 10:45 and, since there are no busses that time of day or on the weekend, had the greatly joyous adventure of walking about 4k (2.5 mi.) to our hostel. Sometime ask me to show you our trek on GoogleEarth... it was quite the walk, especially considering it was mostly in the countryside, it was dark and extremely cold (February in the Alps?), we were using cell phones for flashlights, if you looked back you could see a glowing church rising out of the blackness from the town behind us, and if you looked up you could see more stars than most people see in their lifetime. Some of you are thinking this sounds rather unpleasant, but for most of us, this was the highlight of the weekend. :)
Our hostel was lovely, and those of us brave enough to step out on our balcony in the frigid air knew the view would be beyond charming the next morning. It was.
This was what I saw when I stepped onto the balcony a little after sunrise.
In the morning, our hostel owners (slightly distressed for our sakes that we'd walked the night before) gave us a ride back to town, where we waited for the next train to Fuessen (about 15 minutes away).
The sign at the train "station" that let us know where we were. There wasn't much else to tell us!
The view of the Bavarian Alps down the rails.
Pretending to be the Pevensie children waiting for either our train or a magical bugle Call....
Once we arrived in Fuessen, we hopped a bus to tiny Hohenschwangau, another 15 minutes away.
Our first view of Schloss (castle) Neuschwanstein from the village in the valley. The castle literally pops out of the mountainside!
It's a 20-30 minute walk up the hill-/mountainside to the Schloss.
View from the Schloss.
View of the Schloss.
Me, Angela, and Heidi were three of the group-- posing on a balcony over the courtyard.
We took the 35 min. tour of the inside of the castle. It was built by "Crazy" King Louis about 150 years ago, and the inside decor is basically dedicated to composer Richard Wagner. The inside walls are covered in paintings of scenes directly taken from Wagner's operas. Read more at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuschwanstein_castle.
View out of a Schloss window.
And out of another window.
After the tour and some wandering around the castle complex, we headed back down to the village in a horse-drawn carriage. :)
Back in the village now-- looking up at Schloss Hohenschwangau, another of King Louis's creations (and only a 30 min. walk from Neuschwanstein).
View across the valley to Neuschwanstein, from Schloss Hohenschwangau.
Our group (minus Beth, taking the pic) in front of the castle.
Me with southern Germany stretching out behind me.
The Alps, as seen through a stone railing at the castle.
When we'd walked to our hearts' content in Hohenschwangau, we were ready for food! We climbed on a bus and headed back to Fuessen. There we had a charming meal and then an even more charming wander around the town.
The Heilige Geist Spital Kirche (Holy Ghost Spire Church, I think) in Fuessen.
Inside the H.G.S. Kirche. It was a little surprising to find this excellent an example of old artistry in such a small town! Not terribly surprising, though.... after all, it's Europe!
The ceiling of the H.G.S. Kirche.
Looking back across the river at Fuessen.
Part of the Fuessen "palace" complex, I believe.
View of the Alps from Fuessen. Who wouldn't want this as their backyard view?
Around 5:30 we got back on a train and headed back (two hours) to Munich. From there the two guys headed southeast to Salzburg, Austria, while we four girls continued north to Amberg and sleep!
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Scenes of Dresden
On Friday and Saturday, Feb,. 1-2, the entire group plus faculty and staff visited Dresden, about a half-day's journey north of Amberg.
On February 13-15, 1945, British and American Air Forces dropped 3,900 tons of explosives on the historic city of Dresden. Much of the downtown was destroyed, and the bombing started a fire storm that destroyed much more. Up to 40,000 people are thought to have been killed.
Of course such destructive episodes were not at all unheard of during WWII - London, Plymouth, Belfast, and many, many more cities across all of Europe suffered terrible blows. Dresden remains in discussion, though, because the real military value of bombing the city is still debated. Whatever the value, the city was left in crumbles.
It was very slowly rebuilt over the next several decades, using as much of the old stones as possible. Several of the highlight buildings of the city only started being rebuilt in the 1990s.
Needless to say, having grown up on the American side of the Atlantic, and having also some strong connections to Great Britain, I have grown up with a certain view of WWII that comes from those areas. That view doesn't change in seeing a city like Dresden; but it is certainly sobering to see the damage done in places that, though they be not my home, are certainly someone's home. Whoever we choose to call "good guys" or "bad guys," the fact is that all of them have done their share of damage through history. It's the way of a fallen, sinful world.
Anyway, history lesson aside... Here are some pics.
Welcome to Dresden!
An old photo of one of the city highlights, the Frauenkirche, as it was left barely existing after the Feb. 13 bombing.
The Frauenkirche as it stands today, rebuilt (a seven year process, not ending until 2005).
The inside of this church is absolutely beautiful.
A quaint, lovely little side street.
Our hostel! 
Heidi, Angela, and I sit for a moment in the Zwinger courtyard.
Beth, with a view of the courtyard behind her.
St. Georg und der Drache (St. George and the Dragon) - a popular Saint here as well as in England!
The Semper Oper (Semper Opera House). We got a tour of this magnificent opera hall, and found to our surprise that not only is the current building rather more new than it looks (it was destroyed in the war and only rebuilt in the last decade or so), but also an astounding majority of its internal decor is actually "fake"! For instance: the main entrance hall seems to be made of gorgeous wood panels, but it is actually clay that it took one man three years to etch (to look like wood). Also, the vast majority of the marble inside (and there is, goodness me, a great deal of marble!) is actually false marble! But these things are not "fake" because it was cheaper; indeed, the fake marble actually cost quite a bit more! They were fake because Semper, the man who had the original opera house built (and whose plans were copied meticulously for the rebuilding of the current one), wanted it that way. Odd, but true! And whether "fake" or not, the building is still magnificent - and it boasts some of the finest acoustics anywhere!
On February 13-15, 1945, British and American Air Forces dropped 3,900 tons of explosives on the historic city of Dresden. Much of the downtown was destroyed, and the bombing started a fire storm that destroyed much more. Up to 40,000 people are thought to have been killed.
Of course such destructive episodes were not at all unheard of during WWII - London, Plymouth, Belfast, and many, many more cities across all of Europe suffered terrible blows. Dresden remains in discussion, though, because the real military value of bombing the city is still debated. Whatever the value, the city was left in crumbles.
It was very slowly rebuilt over the next several decades, using as much of the old stones as possible. Several of the highlight buildings of the city only started being rebuilt in the 1990s.
Needless to say, having grown up on the American side of the Atlantic, and having also some strong connections to Great Britain, I have grown up with a certain view of WWII that comes from those areas. That view doesn't change in seeing a city like Dresden; but it is certainly sobering to see the damage done in places that, though they be not my home, are certainly someone's home. Whoever we choose to call "good guys" or "bad guys," the fact is that all of them have done their share of damage through history. It's the way of a fallen, sinful world.
Anyway, history lesson aside... Here are some pics.
Welcome to Dresden!
An old photo of one of the city highlights, the Frauenkirche, as it was left barely existing after the Feb. 13 bombing.
The Frauenkirche as it stands today, rebuilt (a seven year process, not ending until 2005).
The inside of this church is absolutely beautiful.
A quaint, lovely little side street.
Our hostel!
One view of the Zwinger, a huge complex of four magnificent museums.
"The Crown," one of the best-known aspects of the Zwinger architecture.
Heidi, Angela, and I sit for a moment in the Zwinger courtyard.
Beth, with a view of the courtyard behind her.
St. Georg und der Drache (St. George and the Dragon) - a popular Saint here as well as in England!
The Semper Oper (Semper Opera House). We got a tour of this magnificent opera hall, and found to our surprise that not only is the current building rather more new than it looks (it was destroyed in the war and only rebuilt in the last decade or so), but also an astounding majority of its internal decor is actually "fake"! For instance: the main entrance hall seems to be made of gorgeous wood panels, but it is actually clay that it took one man three years to etch (to look like wood). Also, the vast majority of the marble inside (and there is, goodness me, a great deal of marble!) is actually false marble! But these things are not "fake" because it was cheaper; indeed, the fake marble actually cost quite a bit more! They were fake because Semper, the man who had the original opera house built (and whose plans were copied meticulously for the rebuilding of the current one), wanted it that way. Odd, but true! And whether "fake" or not, the building is still magnificent - and it boasts some of the finest acoustics anywhere!
The River Elbe as it passes through the city.
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