RE: Starter problems, I think. . .
I got back the other day and just downloaded pictures from my camera.
I took a ton of them at medium resolution and re-sized them to 640 so I can post them.
We spent Saturday at the Mill and got off early for good behavior (we got our work done!). We toured Dresden Germany. Dresden was bombed by the Allies who thought it was a storage area for munitions. It was bombed for two days in February 1945 and practically levelled. Lost was the history of the City. Historic buildings were reduced to rubble and what was left standing was left charred and black from the fires. A painfully slow ressurection of the city occured over the next 40 years, but under Soviet rule, the rebuild was cheap and ugly. It wasn't until the re-unification of Germany in 1989/1990 that money was made available to correctly rebuild the area. But if you ask my opinion, putting new stucco over the original dilapidated concrete erases a lot of history. But, hey, that’s just me.
This is a small part of the original Opera house (Semper). Most buildings displayed this type of detail.
This was one of many Churches in Downtown Dresden. If you look closely, you can see how it was rebuilt with some of the original stones. They appear black because they were charred in the bombing. The cleaner statues are new while the older ones remain black. It was pretty ominous looking over your head and seeing these jet black statues all over the place. It got downright spooky at dusk when the sun was settling. But by then, we were pretty tanked up. Did I mention I love “Radeberger†Pilsner?
We spent our afternoon Sunday up at the Fortress Königstein. You have to see it to imagine the actual size of it. Huge doesn’t do it justice. It is perched atop a huge cluster of stone and was the hiding place for King August when Napoleon Arrived on the scene. It was said to be impenetrable and I would believe it. It was a 12 minute walk (not including a couple of rests) up the mountain to the front gate.
Once up there, it was a city. Huge buildings, dorms, and armories. You can see how they built it around the rocks. We also came upon an underground cavern which was where people with the plague were kept. They were fed and kept alive for as long as they would live, but since there was no cure for the plague, they had to separate them from the population. I was tempted to throw my over-talkative German co-worker though the bars.
Finally back in town, I found this peculiar gumball machine.
I put in 1 Euro and got this. It was small enough to put into my pocket (well, almost).
Here’s a tricked out Trabant.
And here’s a German Surrey. Foot Power, Baby!!
Anyway, I’m heading to Venezuela in a couple of weeks. Not as many sights there but I’ll keep ya posted.
Jules
