Dresden and Laundry

Laundry! YAY! The German laundromats work a little differently than the machines that I'm used to in the dorms, but all in all it worked nicely. The money had to go in a central vending machine-like thingamajig, which also dispensed dry laundry detergent. Cool.

We all hung out in the wash salon, eating and sitting on top of the machines like they do in the movies. Much to the annoyance of the regular customers I'm sure. But hopefully not too bad.

Before laundry, we had visited the German Historical Museum, which was housed in what used to be the armory of one of the Friederichs,and it was wonderful! They had several cool exhibits, I just wish that there had been more time to wander and look at more of the things in depth. Sadly, many of the captions were not translated, but the general information was decipherable. And the main signs were translated, such as information about the period, etc.

After laundry, I visited the Gemäldegalerie, which houses paintings by many European old master dating from the 13th century to the 18th century. There was Botticelli, Raphael, Rembrant, and so many others. Several beautiful works, well worth the €4 and two hours.

On our walk back from the galery, we passed the Lego exhibit, where the was a large giraffe on the street, as well as the Holocaust memorial. we met up with the rest of the group to visit the Reichstag Dome, which we got to go up into and get a bird's eye view of the city. Dr. Wasser and Stefie explained in a nutshell how the parliamentary system of Germany works, with people having two votes, one for a party and one for a candidate. It seems similar to that of the UK. An interesting system.

Finally, supper at the Kartoffelkeller, where every dish had potatoes in it. I had a nice soup, but the salad that came was rather odd. It was kind of sweet, but then a little sour too. Edible though. But, to my surprise, the restaurant was playing country music! I didn't think that I wuold hear any on this trip, but what a pleasant surprise. Brooks and Dunn, Tammy Wynette, and more. I continue to be amazed by the variety of tastes the Germans have. Dr. Wasser was telling us about a famous writer in Germany, who he described as the Louis L'Amour of Germany. He wrote american westerns in German for Germans, even though he had never been to America. Because of his best-selling books, many Germans are interested in cowboys and indians, and several movies of the books were made. Since this occurred post WWII but pre-reunification, there were duplicate versions of the movies, one made in the DDR and the other made in West Germany. Told a little differently too, even though they were based on the same book. It might be cool to read one of these westerns, if an English version can be found...

Today was Dresden day, and what a town. The main center was destroyed in the firebombing of Feb. 1945, just a few months before WWII ended. It was in East Germany, so many of the buildings were built in what the guide called a Stalinistic style - blocky, long rows, and uniform windows with little decoration. There was even a building with a communisit mosaic on it.

Several of the town landmarks were restored, and it is funny to think that the baroque style buildings one is looking at wree only built as recently as a couple of years ago. Very pretty for pictures though.

In Dresden we also visited the Hygeine musuem, which was really a museum all about the body. It had several interactive exhibits, like a glass lady and cow, as well as visual tricks, things to smell, a center to listen to various kinds of heart rhythms, and a place where with the help of a few instruments like a glove that vibrated when you tried to write that gave museum-goers an idea of what it would be like to be old. There was also a section about sexuality, which was a little bit, shal we say, awkward? But it was fine, of course. All in all, a wonderful musuem. Dresden is also a hotspot for biotechnology, something I think I would like to research a bit further.

WINDY and cold it was in Dresden, but with a warm PARKA-length jacket, gloves, scarf hat, sturdy shoes, YOU too can weather the weather. There's my plug. The end.