14-Aug-2011:
Sightseeing in Dresden
13-Aug-2011:
Bremen to Dresden via Leipzig
After a few days with my family in Bremen I went back on the road. I had the choice between ride sharing which is quite popular in Germany and the train. Ride sharing is cheaper but the train feels more like a proper holiday. I took a train at 7:19 from Bremen to Hanover and then on to Leipzig where I spend 3 hours sightseeing. I had never been to this city before, lots of shops in the main station and all over the city centre. Everything looks new and shiny. Some nice restored old buildings around the market square. I spend an hour in the Zeitgeschichtliches Forum, a museum about German history since 1933. A lot of stuff about East Germany and the reunification. Highly recommended, however most displays are in German only. Another 100 minutes on the train to Dresden. I had been here once in 1990 right after the wall came down when it still felt totally East Germany and was super interesting for someone from the west. I remember a great East block style department store and a restaurant straight out of the early 1960s. All this is gone now, super fancy shopping malls all over the city. The centre is super touristy and has lots of great old buildings. I check into a hostel near the train station and then do a nightly stroll through the centre and the Semper Opera house and the big churches look great under all their illumination.
The hostel has a bar on the roof on the 8th floor. I chat with several people including a group of 24 year old Germans from Plauen, only a few hours away. The girl is pretty hot but so brain dead and racist. When she heard I am living in London, she said "I don't like London because it is full of English people". Then some French people are coming in and she is makes a bad comment about them too. Not to mention the turkish people in her home town. Of course she has never left Germany and never spoke to any foreigner! I didn't except someone like her in Germany in 2011.5-Aug-2011:
Stop over at my parents
4-Aug-2011:
Sighting in Brussels
3-Aug-2011:
Set off in London