Dresden

I made it to Dresden. A very uneventful 2 1/2 hr train ride.

Big Lebowski Bar

The first day I was here I checked into my hotel, and just wandered around the area by my hostel. Its located in whats considered the nightlife area...I happened to walk by a bar called the Lebowsky Bar, yep, it had a big picture of "The Dude" on the flier. Saturdays are white russian night. (If youve never seen "the big lebowsky", shame on you.) Anyway, I also stopped at the grocery store and picked up some Ramen noodles, which I had for dinner...Ah, college. Then I spent the night drinking in the hostel chatting with Steve from Germany. He was working on his PhD thesis in Nuclear Engineering. Needless to say, I understood about 1/4 of what he said, but nodded in agreement the whole time.

Fortress

This morning I switched to a different hostel, which is even closer to the nightlife area...I checked out one of their free bikes, and planned on heading about 20 miles down the Elbe River to do some hiking, but it was windy and sprinkling, so instead I cruised aound the old city all afternoon. Its really cool, tons of old 17th century palaces, churches, and a fortress. I think alot of it was rebuilt after the War, but some survived. Or maybe its all fake, Im not sure, I couldnt read any of the signs (Ive noticed that German is really hard to understand when you dont understand German. Ill try to use one of the 7 words I know, and then the person will rattle something off in German, and I just have to tell them I dont speak German)...Anyway, I toured the 17th century fortress that used to protect Dresden. Drawbridges, cannons, the whole nine. I know thats accurate cause they gave me a little phone thing that played narratives in English. Then I went into one of the old churches, and it was weird, my skin started smokin for some reason...hmmm. It started raining, so I got me a brat and went to the mall, which I quickly left as soon as it stopped raining. Of course I spent my time there in a book store. On my way home I swung by by the garden which was originally built in the 17th century. I stopped by the grocery store and got some more Ramen, which I just polished off, DELICIOUS!!!

Helga

Ive decided to stay another night here, and not go to Erfurt, cause I really wanna go on this hike, I need to get away from cities for a day.

Ill try to put up some pictures later...

Hiking in Dresden

Old Town Dresden

The Zwinger