Blogs from Saxony, Germany, Europe - page 6

Ostin päiväksi ratikkalipun, ja kiersin pitkin kaupunkia: etelässä, pohjoisessa, joen takana. Päädyin sitten syömään illalla vielä eteläiseen esikaupunkiin, jossa oli mukavasti ravintolaelämää ja hyvät ratikkayhteydet. Tihkusateinen ilma jatkui. Suurin osa vanhoista taloista jo kunnostettu, mutta vielä siellä täällä näkee taloja, joille ei ole tehty sota-ajan jälkeen mitään.... read more

Geo: 51.3779, 14.3287Really enjoying this river cruise. We have met so many nice people. I think there are about 180 guests and we seem to know most of them by now. Most are retired profesionals but there are also a few teenagers and a few young couples. Mostly people are from the States, UK, Australia or Canada. One couple are in the suite that features in all the ads for Viking cruises and Stefan was disappointed that the balcony was not as big as it appears on the ads! However we cracked a couple of bottles of champagne with them before dinner. The next day we spent the morning doing scenic cruising down the Rhine. It was windy and rainy initially but the weather gradually cheered up by the time we reached Koblenz after lunch. I ... read more

After another late night, it was another not-so-early-but-early-enough morning for us. We had two things on the docket for today: the king's hunting lodge, Schloß Moritzburg, and Meißen, a nearby city containing a porcelain factory and another castle and impressive cathedral. After the usual groggy, quiet breakfast, we piled in the car again, and headed out for Moritzburg. First, though, Dieter took us on a slow drive through Hellerau, known as the "Garden City". It seems to be made up almost completely of very small houses and apartments, each with a small garden with flowers or vegetables or both; this makes for a beautiful environment which appears to be very quiet and slow-paced. It is also the home of the Festspielhaus Hellerau, which Dieter drove by for us. It h... read more

We'll just start with the obvious. Taking my work laptop on a pleasure-only vacation was a dumb idea, no matter how lightweight it is, how much bigger its screen, how much smoother its keyboard, how much more comfortable on the lap, or how much of a mild inconvenience it would have been to have installed my camera and photo management software on my personal Surface before I left. A dumb idea. Readers, if presented with this decision in your futures, your choice is clear. I got out said laptop at our hosts' home on Monday evening for some very excellent or terrible reason, I don't recall. As our conversation picked up, it was time to close the laptop ("flaps down", a client of mine once said) and set it aside to focus appropriately on the people ... read more

My third trip to visit Dieter und Gudrun here in spectacular Dresden. It's high on my list of favorite destinations in all of Europe, and since I've never been here without Dieter und Gudrun, it's impossible to say whether it's them, the city, or both. Here's hoping I never have to find out. :) Greg was adorably nervous about meeting them and desperately wanted to make sure they would like him, so he practiced some polite greetings auf deutsch during our brief train ride from Leipzig. I remember doing the same in 2005 and 2008. On the platform, Dieter greeted us so exuberantly that it took a minute for Greg to get his greeting in edgewise; Dieter exclaimed, "Ah! Without accent!" Highest possible praise, and put Greg instantly at ease. Well played, all of you. And, ... read more