Decrepit dame does Deutschland
Jul 27th, 2016, 01:10 PM
#83
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When I was in Poland recently, rocket was all the rage there, also. They called in "rocket" on the menu, also, about everywhere, in sandwiches.
Really enjoyed your report, Peg, as I was in Warsaw a few weeks ago, also. I probably spent about 3-4 hours in the Jewish HIstory museum which is about the longest time I've ever spent in any museum. Of course, I love classical music and am an amateur pianist (playing a lot of French repertoire), so I did a lot of Chopin-related things, his museum was good.
I did take a tour in Krakow also related to the Communist era and it was really fantastic, the guide had lived there through that time and was very good. We toured Nova Huta, the planned town built by the Russians to house workers for the steel mill.
Really enjoyed your report, Peg, as I was in Warsaw a few weeks ago, also. I probably spent about 3-4 hours in the Jewish HIstory museum which is about the longest time I've ever spent in any museum. Of course, I love classical music and am an amateur pianist (playing a lot of French repertoire), so I did a lot of Chopin-related things, his museum was good.
I did take a tour in Krakow also related to the Communist era and it was really fantastic, the guide had lived there through that time and was very good. We toured Nova Huta, the planned town built by the Russians to house workers for the steel mill.
Jul 31st, 2016, 09:47 AM
#84
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Thanks, Patrick. That clarifies it. I still think it tastes bad.
This reminds me of that old New Yorker cartoon, where the mother says to the little girl at dinner, "It's broccoli, dear," and the little girl replies, "I say it's spinach, and I say the hell with it."
Oh, Christina, now I'll have to go back to Krakow. I see that there's a train from Dresden, though Bautzen and Görlitz (which I wanted to visit anyway). Also it goes through Wroclaw, which, of course, used to be Breslau. That makes it all the more tempting.
Maybe I could tack it on to my next year's trip to Spain. It's a long way from Spain, though.
This reminds me of that old New Yorker cartoon, where the mother says to the little girl at dinner, "It's broccoli, dear," and the little girl replies, "I say it's spinach, and I say the hell with it."
Oh, Christina, now I'll have to go back to Krakow. I see that there's a train from Dresden, though Bautzen and Görlitz (which I wanted to visit anyway). Also it goes through Wroclaw, which, of course, used to be Breslau. That makes it all the more tempting.
Maybe I could tack it on to my next year's trip to Spain. It's a long way from Spain, though.
Jul 31st, 2016, 01:58 PM
#85
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Great TR, peg - as always!
I would have died from exhaustion half way through your trip, by the way. I admire your energy.
Just two tiny remarks..
<i> Then I got near enough to the building to see the name: "Yuri Gagarin Ring." I think Gagarin was the first man in space, back in Kruschev's time. The "ring" refers to the fact that the building was in a semi-circle. </i>
Actually, what you saw was the street sign. "Ring" designates a street that does a full circle. Sometimes the street does not make a full circle, but still is called a Ring. Probably because we don't have an equivalent for crescent in German (when naming streets). Or are just to lazy to find a proper name.
<i>As I walked further down the street, I saw a streetcar stop sign that said, "Karl Marx Platz." I was a little surprised by that because in Berlin those Communist names have been changed to something western or at least non-Communist.</i>
Au contraire - you still find Karl Marx in Berlin.. Karl Marx Allee (Avenue), the major thoroughfare going East from Alexanderplatz. And even West Berlin has its Karl Marx Strasse, a major thoroughfare and shopping street in the borough of Neukölln. Though the latter had been a rather proletarian district, which may explain the choice of names.
But I think you have seen more of Germany than the average German by now
I would have died from exhaustion half way through your trip, by the way. I admire your energy.
Just two tiny remarks..
<i> Then I got near enough to the building to see the name: "Yuri Gagarin Ring." I think Gagarin was the first man in space, back in Kruschev's time. The "ring" refers to the fact that the building was in a semi-circle. </i>
Actually, what you saw was the street sign. "Ring" designates a street that does a full circle. Sometimes the street does not make a full circle, but still is called a Ring. Probably because we don't have an equivalent for crescent in German (when naming streets). Or are just to lazy to find a proper name.
<i>As I walked further down the street, I saw a streetcar stop sign that said, "Karl Marx Platz." I was a little surprised by that because in Berlin those Communist names have been changed to something western or at least non-Communist.</i>
Au contraire - you still find Karl Marx in Berlin.. Karl Marx Allee (Avenue), the major thoroughfare going East from Alexanderplatz. And even West Berlin has its Karl Marx Strasse, a major thoroughfare and shopping street in the borough of Neukölln. Though the latter had been a rather proletarian district, which may explain the choice of names.
But I think you have seen more of Germany than the average German by now
Aug 2nd, 2016, 10:40 AM
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Okay, once more into the breach, dear friends...Almost finished.
On the Saturday before I left, I went off exploring to locate the cathedral so that I'd know how long it would take me to get there for Mass the next day.
There were actually two churches side by side, one a regular church and one the cathedral. I couldn't find the entrance to either one. (For some reason, I was oblivious to the 84 steps that led to the cathedral entrance.) I circled them and finally did see a driveway with a woman walking down it toward me. I asked her if the driveway led to the entrance to the church.
She said something that I didn't entirely follow--just a couple of words at the end of the sentence that I didn't understand. So I told her in German that I didn't understand, whereupon she repeated the sentence and I repeated that I didn't understand. She didn't believe me. She could follow my German perfectly, so she figured I was lying.
Then she wanted to bum 5 or 10 euros off me.
But the most memorable thing about this cathedral is that there are 84 steps going up to it, so I was bushed when I finally entered the church. The church was quite old, and it had those seats like niches in the wall alongside the pews, but at right angles to them.
The church was divided into two sections, one where the Mass was being said, and the other where tourists were wandering around. The acoustics were very bad, so that it was hard to follow the Mass. In Dresden I had bought a Mass book in six languages, but the priest seemed to ad lib a bit, so I wasn't always right on the money. However, I've gone to Mass weekly for the past thousand years, so I could sort of follow what was being said.
The other interesting thing was that at the base of the steps from the church, there was an area--sort of like a stem leading from the steps--where stones with names on them were embedded in the cobblestones. At first I thought they must be Stolpersteine, which commemorate those killed by the Nazis. But when I looked closer, I saw that they weren't brass, as are the Stolpersteine, and most of them had single names on them--until I saw Freddy Mercury's name, and then a bit further on, Rock Hudson's name.
I assume the names are there to remind people to pray for them, or maybe just to remember them. I thought it was nice to see those names there, especially Freddy's and Rock's.
On the Saturday before I left, I went off exploring to locate the cathedral so that I'd know how long it would take me to get there for Mass the next day.
There were actually two churches side by side, one a regular church and one the cathedral. I couldn't find the entrance to either one. (For some reason, I was oblivious to the 84 steps that led to the cathedral entrance.) I circled them and finally did see a driveway with a woman walking down it toward me. I asked her if the driveway led to the entrance to the church.
She said something that I didn't entirely follow--just a couple of words at the end of the sentence that I didn't understand. So I told her in German that I didn't understand, whereupon she repeated the sentence and I repeated that I didn't understand. She didn't believe me. She could follow my German perfectly, so she figured I was lying.
Then she wanted to bum 5 or 10 euros off me.
But the most memorable thing about this cathedral is that there are 84 steps going up to it, so I was bushed when I finally entered the church. The church was quite old, and it had those seats like niches in the wall alongside the pews, but at right angles to them.
The church was divided into two sections, one where the Mass was being said, and the other where tourists were wandering around. The acoustics were very bad, so that it was hard to follow the Mass. In Dresden I had bought a Mass book in six languages, but the priest seemed to ad lib a bit, so I wasn't always right on the money. However, I've gone to Mass weekly for the past thousand years, so I could sort of follow what was being said.
The other interesting thing was that at the base of the steps from the church, there was an area--sort of like a stem leading from the steps--where stones with names on them were embedded in the cobblestones. At first I thought they must be Stolpersteine, which commemorate those killed by the Nazis. But when I looked closer, I saw that they weren't brass, as are the Stolpersteine, and most of them had single names on them--until I saw Freddy Mercury's name, and then a bit further on, Rock Hudson's name.
I assume the names are there to remind people to pray for them, or maybe just to remember them. I thought it was nice to see those names there, especially Freddy's and Rock's.
Aug 2nd, 2016, 11:07 AM
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The next day I went on a bus tour, and I could see why my guidebook raved about the beautiful architecture in Erfurt. It really is stunning, which is a good thing because I had a hard time following the tour guide's description. I understood part of what he said, but I thought of my favorite German say, "Ich verstehe nur Bahnhof," or "The only thing I understand is 'train station.'" I wanted to take pictures, but it was pretty much impossible on that bus.
The guide mentioned St. Boniface several times. He was known as "the apostle to the Germans." I was reminded of a joke I'd heard--"St. Patrick converted the Irish; St.Boniface did what he could with the Germans." A bit rude, of course, but funny--though maybe not to Germans.
As I was walking down the street, a nice lady put a brochure in my hand chatting away about the kingdom of God. I said, "Ich bin katholisch," but that didn't stop her. She just kept advising me to read the Bible. She handed me a little folder, and I saw that she was Jehova's Witness. I was reminded of the Stolpersteine commemorating the Jehova's Witnesses who died in the camps.
That was pretty much it for the trip. The next day I took the train to the Frankfurt Flughafen and stayed at Motel One. I know that there are more pleasant places to stay in Frankfurt, but by the time I am ready to go home, I just want a bed and peace and quiet.
The guide mentioned St. Boniface several times. He was known as "the apostle to the Germans." I was reminded of a joke I'd heard--"St. Patrick converted the Irish; St.Boniface did what he could with the Germans." A bit rude, of course, but funny--though maybe not to Germans.
As I was walking down the street, a nice lady put a brochure in my hand chatting away about the kingdom of God. I said, "Ich bin katholisch," but that didn't stop her. She just kept advising me to read the Bible. She handed me a little folder, and I saw that she was Jehova's Witness. I was reminded of the Stolpersteine commemorating the Jehova's Witnesses who died in the camps.
That was pretty much it for the trip. The next day I took the train to the Frankfurt Flughafen and stayed at Motel One. I know that there are more pleasant places to stay in Frankfurt, but by the time I am ready to go home, I just want a bed and peace and quiet.
Aug 2nd, 2016, 12:10 PM
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Krakow is a long way from Spain. Wroclaw is lovely.
It would be a long way off, but if anyone is interested, I booked the Nova Huta walking tour through Viator and I ended up getting a personal guide because no one else signed up. They have these corny communist tours in cars that I guess appeal to the masses, but I wanted something more serious and was really glad I did the walking tour. The one I booked was the third one down
https://www.viator.com/Krakow-attrac...ta/d529-a13292
ALso, I toured the Gestapo headquarters in Krakow, that was pretty interesting. http://www.museums.krakow.travel/en/...of-krakow.html
Don't mean to barge in on your thread, I just thought if anyone pulled it up to look for ideas about WWII sites, this might be useful. I also toured Schindler's Factory in Krakow, that is a very well-done museum.
love your trip report, I'm getting inspired maybe I'll go to Berlin, been putting it off. I have taken the train from Dresden through Gorlitz to Wroclaw, in fact. It's probably too much to add to Spain, but VUeling airlines does fly nonstop from Barcelona to Dresden a couple times a week for about 100 euro or less.
It would be a long way off, but if anyone is interested, I booked the Nova Huta walking tour through Viator and I ended up getting a personal guide because no one else signed up. They have these corny communist tours in cars that I guess appeal to the masses, but I wanted something more serious and was really glad I did the walking tour. The one I booked was the third one down
https://www.viator.com/Krakow-attrac...ta/d529-a13292
ALso, I toured the Gestapo headquarters in Krakow, that was pretty interesting. http://www.museums.krakow.travel/en/...of-krakow.html
Don't mean to barge in on your thread, I just thought if anyone pulled it up to look for ideas about WWII sites, this might be useful. I also toured Schindler's Factory in Krakow, that is a very well-done museum.
love your trip report, I'm getting inspired maybe I'll go to Berlin, been putting it off. I have taken the train from Dresden through Gorlitz to Wroclaw, in fact. It's probably too much to add to Spain, but VUeling airlines does fly nonstop from Barcelona to Dresden a couple times a week for about 100 euro or less.
Aug 2nd, 2016, 09:54 PM
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"I didn't know there were CDF paintings in Leipzig or Berlin."
One of his most famous paintings 'Der Mönch' (The Monk) has been restored and is currently on view at the Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin, where there are plenty of his other works.
One of his most famous paintings 'Der Mönch' (The Monk) has been restored and is currently on view at the Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin, where there are plenty of his other works.
