Blogs from Saxony, Germany, Europe
January 7th 2012
I d always wanted to go to Cologne to see the xmas markets , so when i saw that Coldplay were there in December it was perfect. Gig was fantastic , every one was given a wristband which lit up on certain songs , made the crowd the light show. Fantastic night loved it.The new album is very bouncy and up beat. Can wait to see them again , soon !! Xmas markets were fab , much better than Vienna, the mulled wine was like rocket fuel.lots of stuff to purchase and comfort food ! PS Cologne , a very nice city, great Cathedral , its a beast !!... read more
December 24th 2011
My next stop was Dresden to visit Tim, the foreign exchanged student who lived with my family last year. Tim and his family were great about showing me around Dresden and some of the surrounding area. I learned that around Dresden is wine country and in season you can take a walk through the vineyards and do wine tastings! But I am getting ahead of myself. On my first evening, Tim showed me around the old city - everything from the Tourist Information Center to the location of Dresden's many museums. On my own the next morning, I explored the Christmas Markets - of course - and discovered another medieval market!! I also found the Pflaumentoffel, what I called Dried Plum Men, which are a traditional Christmas good luck charms in Dresden (they are supposed to ... read more
September 26th 2011
Dresden was known as the ‘Florence on the Elbe (river)’ or the 'Jewel Box', because of its baroque and rococo city centre until the beautiful city was bombed in World War II, killing thousands of civillians. Now mostly rebuilt, Altstadt (Old Town) and Neustadt (New Town) are split by the Elbe River and these days Dresden is home to many museums, beautiful old churches (like most of Europe!) and err.. hot air balloons! I had just under 2 days to explore the relatively low key city and marvel at its beauty, growth and history. To get the best possible view of the Old Town and river Elbe, I climbed one of Dresden’s most beloved icons – the Frauenkirche (Church of our Lady). The church was originally built between 1726-1743 and was flattened by a bomb raid ... read more
September 13th 2011
We only spent two days in Dresden. We camped at a site about fifteen minutes from the city center and I must admit we didn't see much of the city. Having been obliterated during the war (80 % destroyed) it all looks fairly new compared to many cities in Europe and most of the old buildings that remain have turned black with age. The campsite was populated almost entirely with retired people and I think we made up a handful of folk that were under 60. Lots of white hair and socks, beige shorts and sandals. Most of them were there in camper vans and caravans, complete with kitchens and satellite dishes. Most of the people we encountered were unhelpful and slightly rude and didn't inspire us to get to know the place at all. We ... read more
August 11th 2011
We have chosen to stay in Leipzig for two nights just to give ourselves a break from one night stands. Our guidebook mentions a few places of interest in the old town and so this morning we set off to see what the city offers, using the tram that stops just across the road from our hotel. The tram was quiet at first with just a few people of mature age on board. We are also of mature age, but our ‘touring uniform’ of long shorts and walking shoes clearly mark us out as different. By the time we arrived at our destination, the Hauptbahnhof, there were many different people on board and we had faded into the background. Leipzig’s Hauptbahnhof is the biggest train station in Europe, so we checked it out as the first ... read more
August 10th 2011
Today we experienced the German motorway system and with the help of Miss GPS we were soon in Leipzig. The route we were taken on had us passing names like Berlin and Potsdam, and destinations like Munich and Dresden. All places on our must see list for our next trip. But today we have chosen Leipzig as the first of three stopovers on our trip across Germany. When the German people put their mind to building roads they did it well. The concrete surface of the motorway today was so even it was difficult to compare with smooth seal. Passing manoeuvres appeared to occur with ease, such was the courtesy of all drivers. It wasn’t long before we were half way to our destination and we needed a break from the boredom of motorway driving so ... read more
July 31st 2011
Had the priviledge of attending the wedding of one of my 28 AFS exchange students, that i have been involved with, this Saturday. I shouldn't really say they are students, as you try to make each and every one of them part of your family and if it works they become like one of your own children. So a wedding in Germany. I'm not sure how much of their wedding was traditional and how much was what they wanted to do but this is how it went. The bridal couple arrived together and mingled with the guests prior to the wedding. We had the wedding ceremony at a castle where a female celebrant officiated. In the wedding room only 40 or so guests could be seated so the bridal couple invited a selection of family and ... read more
July 29th 2011
Yesterday was a walk around the city day, taking in the old architecture from this very beautiful city. Leipzig was established in the 11th century and by the 17th century was one of the leading cultural cities in Europe with the composers JSBach, Schumann, and Mendelssohn all calling this place home. Leipzig was the largest city under the former GDR years of 1949 to 1989 and a lot of the uprising and the overthrow of the former government occured with the peace prayers and peace movement hosted in St Nicholas church. Staasi police were sent to these Monday prayers to monitor the citizens who were attending but the citizens were undaunted and continued with up to 2000 attending just before the unification of Germany. St Nicholas church was formerly a Catholic church and like many changed ... read more
July 28th 2011
I'm staying with Alex and his family on the outskirts on Leipzig. They own a trucking business but also have numerous other side businesses including horse drawn carriage rides which are popular with schools in the district. Some carriages can take 6 people and others up to 20. These are pulled by 2 or 4 horses out of their stable of 8, that they have on the property. The horses are extremely well trained with verbal commands given, enabling them to stop, slow, go faster and even back up the carriage into the area where it is housed. They are trained to travel on the road with traffic around them, and they do not even flinch when they see rabbits and deer run out of the fields. We went on a 3 hour carriage ride complete ... read more
July 23rd 2011
So here l am as predicted. l am back here in the wonderful world of Germany with my love Andre. We have been here since flying from the land down under on the 17th of June 2011! Leaving my crazy world behind of long work days, hungry animals, and sick mother l set out for a holiday and a visit to Andres family who have long awaited his arrival since our last departure. Although l miss my family, friends and animals back hope dearly, l am happy to be able to rest and not take on too much responsibility and have no stress right now. Since my last blog alot has changed. l was told by a specialist that l had Crohns Disease and at that point was really bad and l had to take ... read more
