Blogs from Saxony, Germany, Europe - page 5

Another day of “sleeping in”. After doing my morning ablutions and while the wife was getting ready to head over to breakfast in the main building of the abbey, I did some reading about Kloster Nimbschen. In 1523 Katherine von Bora, one of the nuns at this abbey, became quite enamored of the teachings of Martin Luther. She and a dozen other nuns conspired with Luther and his cronies to escape from the clutches of the Catholic Church. Hiding in barrels of fish that were loaded on a merchant's cart, they escaped to Wittenburg. The other nuns soon married others in the growing Lutheran movement. Only Katherine remained single two years after the miraculous escape. She said she would either stay a virgin or marry Luther himself. In June 1525 the 26 year old Katherine married ... read more

Geo: 51.051, 13.7337We start out our morning with a breakfast brunch compliments of the hotel. It has everything and, typical of our experience in Europe, fresh and delicious. Eggs, cereal, fruit and rolls with the best jams are my favorites but I always try something new. Mom, being more adventurous in this area, goes for stuff I have no idea what it is. Lots of cheeses, lunch meats and sausages are there too. It's a good place to try weird stuff. At 8:36, we rolled out of Hannover on the train for our trip to Dresden. Everything goes smooth. The first class car was only a half a car so we sat at a table across from two German businessmen who didn't speak English. No conversation happening here so I worked on the blog, we talked, ... read more

Look at my new bike bag. It is red and black, easy to fix and contains three bags actually. The top bag can be used as a backpack as well. And the reflectors - isn't it sweet? I also got a black/red helmet since I forgot my beloved old one in the bus the very last day on last year's trip. Now I need black/red gloves! I also want to recommend www.seatguru.com for long distance flight seating. With Emirates I can manage my booking and change seats but it is not always clear which seats are best (for me that means especially with more legroom). On Seatguru you can check exact seating conditions and recommendations for almost all flight...... read more

På vägen till Dresden stannar vi till i en liten by vid namn Pommritz. I vår bok med communities och ekobyar i Europa finns där ett litet community som heter Friedensgarten. Vi har varit i kontakt med Uwe per email och även Öff öff som är grundaren till en rörelse som heter "Givers-movement". Rörelsens består av ett fåtal communities där Friedensgarten är ett. Vad vi inte vet är att det även finns ytterligare ett community i lilla Pommritz, Lebensgut. Detta inhyser omkring 50 personer och ett stort antal byggnader och omkring 100 hektar mark. Då Uwe inte är hemma beslutar vi oss för att bo på Lebensgut, där det finns ett vandrarhem. Bakom både vandrarhemmet och den lilla ekologiska matvarubutiken på bottenvåningen står Ralf, som vid vår ankomst sitter finurligt bakom kassan. Han växlar snabbt mellan ... read more

Matkustin sitten junalla itään; ensin pikajunalla Dresdeniin, ja sieltä paikallisjunalla Saksan itäisimpään kaupunkiin Görlitziin. Görlitzissä oli huonokuntoisempia taloja enemmän kuin Leipzigissa. Nuorta väkeä näki vähän - kaupungissa asuukin paljon eläkeläisiä. Kävin kaiken kaikkiaan kolmesti Puolan puolella Zgorzelecissa, ensin syömässä päivällä kävelysiltaa pitkin, sitten ajoneuvosiltaa pitkin oluella, ja vielä loppuillasta kävelysiltaa pitkin. Mitään rajakontrollia ei enää ollut, ja Puolassa pystyi maksamaan ravintoloissa euroilla - aivan kuten Haaparannassakin, mutta vielä joitakin aikoja sitten tilanne oli ihan toinen.... read more