European Adventure--Dresden Bistro Bus Tour-October 2-5, 2014

Thursday, October 2, 2014.  Sunny, temps in upper 50s

After what Gabi described as a mini breakfast, but which was really no different than the sumptuous meals we'd been served, we were enroute at 7 AM to Klein-Ostheim and the STEWA bus trip.  We needed to be there, usually a trip of 45 minutes, by 8 AM.  We soon encountered a long backup on a major road.  As we neared the autobahn they intended to take, we were confronted with an umleitung (detour) preventing us from getting on the autobahn.  Robby disregarded it, though, as there was no one working on the approach and we were able to go their intended way.  If we'd had to find another route, we would have missed our bus!

Very comfy seats which recline and have foot rests on the STEWA bus.

Fellow passengers board

Shortly after we were on the road, we were served breakfast.

The STEWA company is a mammoth organization which not only has bus tours, but also cruises.  I don't believe there is anything quite like their bistro bus in the US.  It is a  double-decker bus seating about 60 people upstairs and serving meals and drinks downstairs at 4 tables.  They have a waiter or waitress who takes your order just like in a restaurant and they serve full meals, heated in microwaves.  Shortly after we boarded the bus and got on the way, we were served a typical German breakfast of brotchen, cheese and cold cuts with lots of strong coffee and warm milk. It was so much fun to sit there as the bus is cruising along.  For later meals we could  enjoy a glass of wine or Seppel 'sche beer.   The driver is most skilled, never swaying and keeping the comfort and safety of passengers foremost in his mind. 

Our waiter, Klaus, was skilled and added humor to the trip.  Usually the driver and waitress are a team.  Our driver's wife was ill and unable to make this trip.  Her name is Rita and the bistro is called Rita's Bistro, according to a placard posted in the Bistro.  I teased Klaus that he didn't look like a Rita. 

We stopped in Erfurt, Germany about 11:30 AM for a couple of hours to visit the city, which was at one time the home of Martin Luther as he was developing his Protestant Reformation principles.  It also permitted the driver to rest, a rule STEWA adheres to strictly--rest every 2-3 hours.  We parked near the city center which was celebrating a festival with a Ferris wheel and other rides and food booths.  It was also directly in front of the major Catholic cathedral.  We browsed the streets, ate Thuringen wurst and had eis (ice cream) until it was time to board the bus at 2 PM.

Erfurt is in the former East Germany and suffered severe damage from bombs.  Incredible restoration has gone on since reunification.  These lovely "fachtwehr" buildings have had their wood and detailing restored. 

This cage of locks stands outside the City Hall in which marriage licenses are issued.  The locks have dates and couples' names on them. 

The fest is set up in city center in front of the major Catholic cathedral in Erfurt.

This photo is for Ann's sister-in-law whose maiden name is Born.  Didn't know your family was into condiments, eh Carol?

The area in northeastern Germany is rich in sandstone.  We saw many, many buildings, statuary and walls made of sandstone which turns black with aging. 

Sandstone walls were built along the modern highways, which were Hitler's way of employing people and which was a major focus after the reunification, sometimes to the detriment of roads in western Germany.  

We were delayed by a stau (congestion on the road) enroute to Dresden; so we went downstairs on the bus for a Seppel 'sche.  We finally arrived at our hotel, a 13-story very new structure called Ibis about 6 PM.  We checked in and unpacked then sought out a restaurant in the nearby mall.  This hotel butts up to a huge modern mall which rivals any big US city's mall with many major European anchor stores, restaurants and other amenities.  It was our first taste of how restored Dresden is after being almost leveled during World War II.  As we sat down to eat, another load of people from a bus tour were also seated, but they were eating a set menu for which they had paid with their tour.  Ours did not include meals other than a full buffet breakfast.  Gabi was quickly served a meal and seasoned it, cut a piece of meat which really didn't look like what she had ordered, when the waitress walked up and whisked it away.  She had been served someone else's set menu!! We had a good laugh about that and wondered if the waitress took it back to the kitchen and ate it herself?!  We finished dinner by 8 PM and went to our rooms, very tired.

Friday, October 3, 2014--Foggy again

The hotel room was small and the single beds were arranged along the wall at an L to each other with very thin mattresses and pillows.  Neither of us slept very well, but the huge breakfast buffet made up for it.  We were ready by 9:30 for the city tour which actually involved a guide on our bus as opposed to a regular tour bus which might have had English-language audiophones.  So we missed a lot of the historical descriptions, but we later bought a Dresden book which explained many of the places we visited.   The day was rather foggy at start so the outstanding view of palaces across meadows and the Elbe River were blocked.

Crossing the Elbe River on Marienbrucke in the fog

We had the opportunity the next day, though, to see that view. We drove along streets where many buildings had been restored and many new apartment/housing complexes have been built.

Dresden is home to a huge VW plant that has glass sides all around, so you can watch production from the street!

 We stopped at the Pfunds Dairy, touted as the world's most beautiful dairy shop.  No photos are allowed as it is filled with artistic, hand-painted tiles on almost all the surfaces, ceilings, walls and floors.  It  was originally built in 1891and was the first dairy to produce condensed milk.  It sells a large range of international cheeses and tasty treats from Saxony.  It has a restaurant and cafe upstairs.  Next door is a senf (mustard) specialty shop with over 200 kinds of mustard, some of which you can taste.  We tasted the Erotica Senf--yuk!!  We ended the tour at the city center where the totally restored Frauenkirche and Zwinger are located.

This photo of Pfund's Dairy is from the book "Dresden Panorama--Colour Guide to the "Florence of the Elbe"by rahmelverlag.

The Frauenkirche was originally established over 1000 years ago dedicated to Mary, the Mother of Jesus.  It became a Protestant church in the mid-1500s.  It fell into disrepair and Saxon citizenry worried it would become Catholic again when their leader, August the Strong, became Catholic in 1697.  So they engaged George Bahr, a master carpenter, to build a new church in 1722 with dedication taking place in 1734 as tension grew between the Catholics and Protestants (Lutherans). The main dome of the Frauenkirche, similar to St Peter's Basilica in Rome, is a 12,000 ton bell-shaped sandstone dome.  Bahr died before the dome was emplaced.  Cracks in the sandstone appeared quickly, but were sealed and the dome lasted for centuries.  The church's dome was declared indestructible because cannon balls bounced off of it during sieges by Prussian King Frederick II in 1760.  The nave originally seated 3200 some without a clear view of the altar because they believed it was more important to hear the sermon.  It was painted in lime and casein colors with lots of gold leaf.  The church survived the first bombing attack of WW II on February 13, 1945.  A subsequent firestorm resulting from the bombing of the city center, however, reached into the wooden parts of the Frauenkirche and February 15, 1945, the dome collapsed when temperatures reached over 1000 degrees Celsius.  Many people who had sought refuge in the basement during the bombing, were crushed when the dome collapsed. Prior to the reunification of the Germanys on October 3, 1990, a call went out on February 13, 1990 for the rebuilding of the Frauenkirche as a symbol of peace.  A foundation was established in 1994 to rebuild with contributions coming in from around the world and the cornerstone for the reconstruction was laid in May, 1994.  The exterior was completed in 2004 using some of the rubble and much detailing of the original building.  It has incorporated some of the salvaged original limestone and parts of the original structure that were sound.  Thus some is the black, aged sandstone and some is still white.

The restored Frauenkirche is a duplicate of the original.

As our tour guide talked, a performer was blowing huge bubbles over the blue mat.

After a quick light lunch we were met by friends of the Parrs who live in Dresden.  They are the parents-in-law of Sabine Lange, one of the Parr's daughters.  Dieter Lange used to be a guide in Dresden, so he had lots of unique insights to offer and spoke some English.  We had "high tea" at the Coselpalais Cafe and Restaurant which is in the large mall near Zwinger (this term will be explained later).  We had sinfully delicious rich pastries with coffee and tea.  Coselpalais is a renowned restaurant with elegant decor.  It is located in a baroque building dating from 1765 and restored to its former splendor since being damaged in World War II.

Waiting for "high tea" at Coselpalais Cafe amidst priceless Meissen statuary.

Dieter, Gabi and Christa enjoy visiting while we wait for  our sinful desserts. 

 Then Dieter walked us around the downtown area.  We visited the interior of Frauenkirche which has been rebuilt to seat about 1600.  In deference to posted signs forbidding photography and Dieter's preference (even though others were photographing), we didn't take any photos.  We have imported some from a book we bought so you can enjoy the splendor.  You can go to the website for Frauenkirche for more info.

Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady) Altar

From there we walked along the Elbe with Dieter explaining the devastation the Elbe caused when it flooded in 2002.  It drowned many buildings to the first floor destroying much art work.  You'd never believe it, though, as so much has been restored.

Part of flood abatement has been installation of gates in the walls which crank out and meet to hold back flood waters.  The light colored vertical area in the middle is the retracted gate. 

We enjoyed the beautiful sunny day along the Elbe.

Then we headed to Zwinger.  The word zwinger in Deutsch means cage and usually refers to something you might keep a pet in.  In Dresden the Zwinger is used with its military fortification definition--an open space between the inner and outer walls of a fortress.  It originates during the period of August the Strong who commissioned Matthaus Daniel Poppelmann, a famous architect, to build a simple orangery, a building in the grounds of fashionable residences of the 17th to 19th century, like a greenhouse or conservatory.  Zwinger is far from a simple orangery as you can see by the pictures below.  It houses a whole section of incredible (there's that word again!) Meissen porcelain which was saved during the bombing in WW II in basements and tunnels. There were lavish parties in Zwinger, the most lavish being a four-week affair celebrating the marriage of August the Strong to Kaiser's daughter, Maria Josepha in 1719.  Today there are open-air concerts in the Zwinger courtyard.  There is a lovely Carillon Pavilion as part of the square which we heard chiming during our visit.  Many statues and fountains adorn the walls and roofline of the four sides of Zwinger.  The main function of Zwinger today is to house museums of August's collections of porcelain-- items from Prussia, China, Istanbul, Japan and Korea--as well as paintings of many of the masters and mathematical,  technical and terrestrial instruments and clocks and animals in cultural history.  One could spend a week visiting the Zwinger museums and barely scratch the surface.

Two of the four sides of Zwinger.  During the 2002 flood, water covered the courtyard to over a foot.

Carillon Pavilion--beautiful chimes

Posing on the outside second story veranda

Bath of the Nymphs

Period-dressed young women posed for a photo op

The Castle was rebuilt by August in 1717-19 after a fire. It too was destroyed in 1945, but has been reconstructed, starting in 1986.  Along one of the walls running from the Stable courtyard is the Procession of Dukes mosaic which consists of 25,000 Meissen porcelain tiles.  It has 92 figures depicting the Wettins, the lineage of August the Strong.  It is about 337 feet long, the longest mosaic wall in the world.  It survived the bombing and subsequent fires of WWII because the tiles were fired hotter than the fire ever reached!!  Only about 25 had to be replaced. 

25,000 tiles with figures drawn on them.

We visited the Stable Courtyard of the Palace and found an ancient bicycle collection fair going on.  Folks were riding the early bicycles in period costume.  Early motorcycles were on display, too.

Ever ridden a wooden bicycle?

We bid Dieter and Christa Lange farewell about 6 PM and walked the short distance back to our hotel.  After a brief rest we went for dinner at a rather noisy pizza place on the mall.

Saturday, October 4, 2014  Sunny, temp 10 degrees Celsius on our bus. 

We were on the bus to head to the Swiss Saxony by 9:30.    We traveled through very agrarian countryside.  There were shallowly-tilled fields ready to be planted, possibly with wheat.  There were huge orchards and village gardens, too.

Germans use shallow till techniques, similar to US methods.

We aren't sure what type of fruit is being grown here, but the orchards extended for miles.

People cannot afford huge yards of their own, so land is set aside for village gardens.

The Koenigstein Fortress is situated on a table mountain in the sandstone mountains above the Elbe River.  It is about 815 feet above the Elbe on a plateau of about 23.5 acres of land and consists of about 50 structures.  Koenigstein structures have been constructed over 700 years, some dating to 1233,  and after becoming a fortress during the 15th and 16th centuries,  has the singular distinction of never being conquered.  It has been visited by the kings and electors of Saxony as well as Tsar Peter I, Crown Prince Friedrich of Prussia and Napoleon.

It's a loooong walk from the parking lot to the grounds.  Thank goodness they have installed an elevator.  But this was how all supplies were delivered and travel had to be done when it was a fortress. 

Besides a tour, we were treated to a demonstration of the wellhouse. At over 1512 feet deep, it is one of the deepest wells in Germany.  It was constructed for August the Strong, even before construction began on the fortress.  Water was initially pumped by a horse gin, then by four prisoners taking over 28,000 steps/day to draw the volumes of water necessary.  In 1871 a steam engine took over and finally in 1911 an electric motor took over the task.  We observed the bucket on a rope being lowered, filled and drawn back up.  Then we were challenged to estimate how many seconds it took for the dumped water to descend back down to the well--answer was 16 seconds.  It's a looooong way down!

We went into the Garrison Church, noting the round window, and painting in the choir, dating to the 13th century as a chapel for the Bohemian royal castle.  The church fell into disrepair over the centuries and was extensively reconstructed beginning in 1670.  The organ was installed in 1721.

Friedrich Castle contains the foundation stone for the fortress begun in May 1589.  It is an octagonal pavilion in which August the Strong spent  happy hours with Prussian guests.  August is responsible for renovating the castle to its current Baroque style.  We were not able to enter the structure, but it provided breath-taking views across the Elbe River.

David is in the yellow jacket below looking out to Elbe.

There is a lovely garden on the grounds, too. 

The prison building at Koenigstein has housed many different nationalities for many different crimes.  Many famous political characters were imprisoned here including Saxon chancellor, Krell, O L Heubner, a participant in the May1849 revolt of Dresden and Russian revolutionary, Bakunin.

In 1955 Koenigstein formally became a museum.  There is a very large modern elevator which carries tourists to the fortress grounds from the parking lot.  The War Barracks III are used today for a restaurant and the Barracks building houses an extensive, climate-controlled collection of art about the Koenigstein fortress.  There were "observers" in each room who were very diligent about warning visitors not to get inside the red lines around portraits and absolutely no photography of any kind!! 

From Koenigstein we were driven to Bastei, the Elbe sandstone massif, in the Swiss Saxony Nature Reserve covering 89, 000 acres.  Bastei is a specific sandstone formation rising to over 1000 feet.

Entering Bastei National Park

Bastei

 It is a very touristy area with a hotel, cafe and excellent vistas.  There are rock climbers practicing their skills and a trail crossing a natural bridge to a look out point which is almost 1370 feet high.  We elected to enjoy a drink at the cafe rather than climbing to the look out.

Definitely not for Ann!

David and Ann enjoyed Radler beers which have lemon in them. 

We returned to Dresden repeating some of the city tour, but this time there was no fog and we crossed back into town on the famous Blue Wonder Bridge, built between 1891-93.  It survived WW II because the cable to charges to blow it up were severed before it could be destroyed.  We could look across the meadow and the Elbe River to the beautiful homes and estates along the river.

Crossing on the Blue Wonder Bridge

We drove along the Elbe River seeing some of the palatial homes, meadows and people enjoying the beautiful day which we had missed on the city tour earlier due to fog. 

We got to the Ibis at 4:35 and rested a bit until Gabi and Ann went shopping for gifts for the grandkids.   We went to a pricey restaurant on the mall and returned to the Ibis for a night cap of Jaegermeister!!

Sunday, October 5, 2014  Sunny, temp in 60s

After our usual buffet breakfast, we boarded the bus about 9 AM for the return trip to Klein Ostheim via Meissen.

Otto, our STEWA driver

Difficult to see, but the sign says "Nach Hause" meaning going home!

Otto's mascot

Here Gabi and Ann visited the Meissen Factory which began in 1751, again under the auspices of August the Strong.  We watched demonstrations of the art from shaping the items for firing, drawing the designs and painting the colors.  It is an extremely labor-intensive production.  Each item is individually made, some elaborate designs requiring four or more days just to shape it.  No wonder it is so very expensive.

On display for sale--over 1200 Euros, each

The different symbols used since Meissen began.  We couldn't find anyone who could explain why they changed symbol as there seemed to be no pattern to the timing. 

This artist was making a two-figure statue with many swirly flowers.  She said it took her four days to just add the swirly things to the figurine!

This artist uses a fine brush to sketch the design, then paints with multiple colors.

This artist, too, started with a line drawing, then proceeded to paint.  Each piece is slightly different.

This beautiful eagle was in an America display.

What do you think this table setting would cost?

We got on the bus at Noon and ordered our lunch in the bistro.  We all had a Sepple 'sche.  We are gonna miss this beer when we get back to the US!!

After about three hours of driving we stopped at a rest stop to use the toilet.  It  cost 75 cents in Euro, about 90 cents, to use the toilet probably because they were very high tech with a plastic coating that encased the seat after it flushed.  If the US charged all rest stop users to use the toilet as is common in Germany and Italy, there would be no problem paying for the rest stops!!  We had an ice cream sandwich, too.

We got back to near Kleestadt and stopped in Babenhausen, where we had been stationed in the Army in 1975-78, to have supper at Germania-Treff, a pizza place.  It was great pizza and the very friendly owner recognized Robby from coming there after his tennis match on Tuesday.  So we received a free ounce of Jaegermeister schnapps.  Robby broke out a bottle of sparkling wine, called sekt in Deutsch, when we got home. We sat around the table and talked until about 9:30 when we were all ready for sleep.