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Published: February 18th 2007
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Just over the former border....
A picture from the train stop at Riesa, which was just over the former West/East Germany border. I am up at 5:30, shower and pack, and am downstairs at 6:15 to await my taxi. The owner was in the breakfast room, and while she didn't quite have everything ready, insisted that I at least have some coffee and a pastry while I wait on the taxi. I sat next to the window as I ate, so that I could see my taxi when it arrived. The frau kept telling me to relax, the driver would ring. Sure enough, he did - no idling the car out front and blowing the horn here.
I arrive at the bahnhof, pay the driver and dash into the news stand. In all of my walking the day before, I didn't buy a magnet or any small souveniers. So, I made a few quick purchases in the news stand. I looked at the newspapers available - aha! A USA Today. Hmmm, only 2 sections, and they want $2 Euro for 2 sections. I decided whatever I needed to know, I would hear about on CNN International later in the day.
Off to Dresden I go, boarding my high speed train that will take me to Leipzig for a train change into
Fast Moving through the Farmlands
A glimpse of a large farm while crossing eastern Germany, on my way to Dresden. Dresden. As we head north and east, I see the houses change from red-tiled roofs, to gray-slated rooftops, and from half-timbered old world houses to a mish-mash of half-timbered or stucco'd or some other type of 50's to 70's fashioned dwellings.
As we pass through the lower Harz Mountains, the train is rocking and rolling as we make our way. Once we are through the mountains and the landscape flattens, I am amazed at the farm land, and to my surprise, rows and rows of windmills to generate electricity. I think to myself this is why the former Soviet Union wanted this area - the massive amount of farmland that they needed to raise the crops to support their citizens.
What surprised me even more was the change in infrastructure that I see. We are maybe an hour from Leipzig, and we must be in what was the former East Germany, before the "wall" came down. I don't know exactly where this division line is - but I'm sure I've crossed it. There is no "wall" or remains of a wall in these parts - I understand that there used to be fences - but any evidence of
Rolling Hills and Farms
One of eastern Germany's massive farms. these have long since been removed. What I do see are the remains of bombed out warehouses - I assume - along the rail lines, whose rubble still remains 60 years after the end of WWII in Europe. I see huge "communist" style apartment buildings scattered through the remains of old German architecture. Wow. I later learned from Friedhelm, that because the suicide rate had climbed so high in East Germany, before communism ended, the government awarded small plots of land to those who formed "garden clubs". It gave people an opportunity to escape from their small communist apartment, play in the dirt and garden, and somewhere to "relax" during their time off.
OK, so we arrive at Leipzig and of course, the train is a few minutes late in arriving - 20 minutes actually - and yes, my connecting train was on time - and left 15 minutes ago. No worries, the next train is in an hour so I'll go check out what I can check out. Inside the train station there is a rather large shopping complex. Multiple stories, kind of puts you in mind of a mall. Anything from cafes, to fresh vegetables/meat/fish to sundries
Nearing the Leipzig Station
A building still under renovation from WWII - remnants of waht the Cold War left behind. to clothing to travel supplies. OK - I have something to do while I wait on my train. So I window shop, grab some spiced almonds from a Christmas market kiosk and stroll some more. Yes, I am tempted to actually buy - I've done rather well on the "spending" budget, but remember my limited stowage capacity and think otherwise. Clothing, shoes, etc., are somewhat different than in the states - not sure if I like what I see, but it's definitely different. What I've learned about the German citizens is that they will grocery shop in the train station, since so many use public transportation as their primary means of commuting. We like our grocery stores, dry cleaners, hair salon, etc., close to our homes for convenience - theirs are also located in the larger train stations I guess.
Time to board my next train, and off we go. The journey to Dresden is only about an hour, and the scenes continue to hold my interest as they did during the last half of my ride to Leipzig. This time, though, I have the sense to pull out the camera. OK, well, still shots going 150 MPH (or whatever 200 kph is) just don't work very well, then I remembered the video feature on the camera, and gave that a shot. Maybe I can upload these to the website....if you see them - we are in luck. If not - well, you will just have to live with my descriptions. One of the most fascinating things I saw along the way were these plots of what appeared to be garden sheds - but many of them clustered together, sometimes as many as 50 or more in one location. Some had what appeared to be tended gardens around them, some had antennaes or satellite dishes on them. Did people actually live in these little shacks? Literally shacks with windows. One room. Wow again.
So I arrived in Dresden around noon, and out on the sidewalk find old and new city trying to rediscover itself - former communist turned capitalist city, old ruins of stone and wood under refurbishment against the newness of concrete and steel. I hop in a taxi and take it all in as we make our way to the hotel.
I've included a video shot from the train - top left corner.
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