Dresden

Finally.

Finding some time to blog about our Europe adventure.

This trip was really amazing. I'm so glad we could take the opportunity to go. Paul started his trip a week before me, and flew through Dusseldorf to a workshop in Jena, Germany. He really liked seeing the Phletisches Museum - founded by Ernst Haeckel, a pioneer of Phylogenetics (his field of study). 

My trip started in Newark with a layover in Frankfurt and to Dresden, where Paul was attending his Insect Phylogeny meetings.

Without cell phones I was nervous to be able to figure out how to get from the airport to the train, then to the right stop in Dresden and then to walk to our hotel. Luck was on my side and I made it just fine. I checked into our hotel and 10 minutes later this handsome guy showed up!

We decided to take a walk across the river and explore Dresden's old city. It was beautiful! I had my first German meal (Currywurst) and we also grabbed some soft serve for dessert. We across the river and sat on the big lawn with a view of the city and it finally sank in that this trip was really happening.

 

We headed back to the Japanese Palace (where Paul's meeting were) and attending the banquet. It was nice to meet all the scientist Paul is working with and get to know them a little over a yummy German dinner. 

I was surprisingly not too jet-lagged after the banquet, so we went back to the old town and found the city alive. Most of the restaurants had lots of outdoor seating, even though it was a chilly night. They had heaters and lap blankets available and I loved that everyone was out and enjoying the fresh air. 

I had my first heiße Schokolade (hot chocolate) and Apfelstrudel (apple strudel) at a nice little restaurant on the main square. It was nice to catch up with Paul after a week apart and hear all about his meetings and tell him what had been going on at home.

Dresden was beautiful at night. The riverfront was my favorite.

I made sure to get a shot of each place we stayed - here is our first of the trip, Motel One! Total Euro-trash neon teal everywhere, but it was nice and clean, the staff super friendly and an awesome breakfast. :)

The large square pillow, and duvet-only bedding was different but I sure had a good night's sleep.

The next morning Paul had more meetings to attend so I took my camera and explored Dresden. There were so many great things to see!

This is the building Paul's meetings were in. Fannncy!

The weather was great, and I was just thrilled to be wearing sandals and to have the chance to explore a new place (and take as many pictures as I wanted).

Dresden's history is unfortunately sad, thanks to WWII. They were bombed in an end of the war, unnecessary revenge fit by the American's and British. There was no military force there so it was totally unprovoked and sad. In most of the buildings that have been rebuilt or repaired you can see the black scorch marks from the bombings and fire.

I loved this mutual - all the Kings from this area of Germany.

This is the city square where we had our dessert the night before, right in front of the white building on the left side of the picture.

The sounds of the city were my favorite part. Clip clopping horses on cobblestone, street performers (I heard a violin, a trumpet and an accordion/singing combo all in different parts of the city).

Since it was Sunday I went into the Catholic church and read my scriptures for a while. It was peaceful and nice and pretty.

Then I walked back over to meet back up with Paul, you can see the Japanese Palace there, just across the river from the old town. I loved sitting on the big green lawn and chatting with Paul.

Lucky for me, Paul's talk was on the last day - so I was able to see him present. He did such a great job and I loved hearing everyone congratulate him and talk to him about his research afterwards. He's a big deal scientist these days!

After his talk we took off for the train station to catch our first long distance train to Nürnberg!