It's Friday and my mother's birthday -54. I've got to wish her Happy Birthday.
Anyway, Dresden was great. The hostel had a great map made by locals and it had a list of cool places to visit. Left me wanting to see more of Dresden.
In my hostel were 2 kids from Hong Kong and a Chinese guy, Xing, who had just finished his studies in Vancouver. He spoke perfect English without an accent, so I thought he was a second generation for sure. Nope. He was doing 80 days throughout Europe with an unlimited EURail pass for $799 for something. Very cool and a great deal if you're taking a lot of trains. Apparently, Sky Europe also has really good deals right now.
Anyway, we got to talking and he happened to also be going hiking in Saxony Switzerland, which was my original plan. So, we went together. After checking his bag at the Neustadt Bahnhof, we hopped on the next regional train to Rathan and headed out. It was all gorgeous country with the typical little villages. There waseven a cute small ferry at Rathan to bring us across.
First, we attempted to go on the longest trek of 3 hours. But we couldn't find the trail. So, we just ended up hiking upsome random ones to where, I'm guessing, the climbers go. There were these giant limestone rocks and boulders pushed together. It was incredible.
After we couldn't find the pathere to where I wanted to go (Bastei), we turned around and follow the main trails. First, we saw a waterfall, which compare to our Pacific Northwest standards, was a bit lacking. Except every once in a while, it would spout out A TON of water, frightening the person take the picture. :)
Then we hiked up a boulder-filled trail to Bastei, hearing the constant rumbling of thunder over our heads. By the time we got to the Bastei Brücke, the sky had turned a dark, ominous, gray color and you should see the strikes of lightening and thunder rumbles growing closer as it headed to our location at a speedy rate. 17 miles, 5 miles and right after we passed over the bridge, we heard and saw lightening over our heads. It was invigorating. It was especially exciting watching a German father bound on and off the trail, like a little boy. Synonymous to a young deer dashing back and forth.
But the strange thing was it didn't rain while we were on the trail. In fact, the rain didn't hit until we were waiting for the train back to Dresden. And then, it was pouring. The ride back was like going through a car wash with landscape facades.
Then, Shane went his way. I went mine, as in back to the hostel to shower and nap the rain off. Then, I set out to the explore the Altstadt, Frauenkirche and general gorgeousness of Dresden, including the sunset from the river. I really enjoyed the palace as well. Apparently, there was a flood in 2002 that destroyed a lot of Dresden (hard to top WW2 bombings though!...That was a bad joke).
Then, I walked back through the Neustadt, which lit up at night with energy, with the young population people-watching a chilling. Definitely the youngest city I've been to (The local map actually said it was one of the youngest cities in Germany). For the night, I drank a few beers with two new hostel-mates, 2 good 'ole Austrians. They were studying social work in Dredesn the next semester. Very interesting guys and funny too, especially with their dynamic, considering that one was from Lower Austria and the other from Upper Austria (the BETTER part of Austria by far... in my own personal experience of meeting kick-ass Austrians).
The next day, nothing interesting happened. Elton John was playing in Dresden and that reminded me of a few of my friends who love that entertainer. I waited around for 4 other people going to Berlin so I could possibly purchase a cheaper Schönes Wochenende ticket. But no luck. Everyone was going to Leipzig! So, now I'm sitting on a rather warm train, heading to Berlin. Can't wait to change when I get to my hostel. I just want to jump in a lake. But it is a lot better than rain! :)
Oh and I bought a new purse (because the zipper on my old one was totally broken). Spent 15€ on it and I really like it. Keeps everything separate so I know immediately where everything s. Also, its yellow! 1st souvenier and it is... from Tibet. part of a Woman's Skills Development project.
19 days left. 19 days to visit 4 new countries. 4+ new cultures. And I'm excited. Hope it's great! Other travellers are so friendly when I finally put myself out there and say "hi!"
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