A City Rebuilt from the Rubble

Well guys, it's already April.  Time here is flying so incredibly fast, I cannot believe it.  It feels like I literally just came back from the States a month ago; turns out its been 3.5.  Daaaang.  Sometimes I wish I could just dig my heels into the dirt and make time stop as though it were a out of control bicycle or tug-rope, but clearly that isn't going to happen.  Oh well.  In the lack of a pun, life goes on. 

In a brief update of my life before I tell you about my recent trips...

I have no life.

Well, I do, it's just consumed by reading book after book for my upcoming "Real" university class: America's 21st Century Novels.  Granted, the books aren't terrible and do have some good meanings behind them in theory (one is even being made into a movie) but it's getting slightly exhausting to have to read six novels (and by novels, I mean books with a couple hundred pages or so) in seven days. The story is, our tutor for this class kind of forgot to mention that we should read the books before the course begins, not during the course until last Thursday.  Well, last Friday I got on a bus to Dresden with little time to read, leaving me with 7 days and 6 novels (I have now successfully completed one..) and basically no sleep.  Tis but the life of the college student I suppose.  The book I already finished is Lipstick Jungle  by Candace Bushnell (same author as Sex and the City, infact same story line even..) and have now moved forward to the book Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close By Jonathan Safran Foer.  They're both really quite opposite books; the Lipstick Jungle is the usual sex and the city storyline; successful women conquering New York and being fashionable and wanted all at the same time.. blah blah blah.  The other I have not really gotten far enough into to provide a thorough synopsis, but I believe the book is about a boy who's father dies in 9/11 and is trying to solve a mystery of a key which he finds in his father's posessions.  Should be interesting.  I'll let you all know how this all pans out. 

Ok so now to the interesting stuff.

Last weekend I went to Dresden!

Dresden is a large city in former East Germany, right near the Czech Border.  I had always wanted to visit the city due to prior knowledge of the Dresden bombings from various classes, but the one time I was supposed to go, it didn't work out, and well, yep!  But now I've successfully made it to Dresden, and I can assure you, the wait was totally worth it.  Let me catch you all up quick on the history of the city so I don't lose you all later. 

Dresden is the capital of Sachsen, a East German state.  It has held a fair share of fortresses, monarchies and whatever other royal things throughout the years, and up to World War II was a large industrial city.  It was known as the "Florence of the Elbe" (Elbe is the river it is built around) and was a large baroque capital.  During World War II, Dresden was heavily bombed through a series of raids by the United States due to the declaration of the city as a major rail transportation and comunication center with high Nazi war effort support.  Between 23,000 and 25,000 people were killed in the bombings (the total number is not sure).  After Dresden was bombed, 95% of the city was entirely destroyed.  Seriously people, it was a mess.  An area of approximately 50 km was just completely obiverated.  Once the war ended, Germany began to repair the city and put buildings back together piece by piece (literally) into the gorgeous city which stands there today.  There are actually some buildings, such as the Frauenkirche (Church of our Lady) which were built back out of the rubble with their original bricks.  The Frauenkirche is hands down the most beautiful church I have ever seen in my life.  If you ever find yourself in Dresden, take a second to go look inside. Moving away from the history of the city, other really awesome tourist-y things to do would be check out the World's Most Beautiful Dairy Store (totally did that.. helloooo, I'm from Wisconsin! Totally was all over that..), the alternative bar and pub area of the city, the markt platz, the large shopping mall which was just recently opened, the nearby sachsenishe Schweiz (a naturesque place where one can go rock climbing, see terrific views, grab a bratwurst, etc.) or any of the amazing palaces/fortresses/castles surrounding or in the city.  I would definitely say that if you're going to make a trip to Germany, you should probably include Dresden in your travel plans, just like you would Munich or Berlin.  Dresden is by far better than Berlin in my opinion, and coming close to Munich on the culture scale as well.  I can't say I have too many funny stories to share from my trip this time; it was just a relaxing little weekend get away with my program group.  The weather was amazing- 75 degrees plus and sunny (I was thoroughly sunburnt upon my arrival back in Marburg..) and I must admit I laughed a little to myself when I heard it snowed in Green Bay :)  I think I'm going to die next winter after experiencing such a short and calm one this year.  Oh well, worry about that later.

Here are the usual photos!

 

 World's Most Beautiful Dairy Store! ^^

 Filled with substantially stinky cheese which one should not leave in their hostel room for two days, thus allowing others to assume there is a dead animal inhabitant somewhere within.. (yes.. not one of my brightest moments..)

 Frauenkirche, Church of our Lady- destroyed in WWII bombings and then rebuilt from the rubble.  The darker bricks are the original ones which they were able to spare despite the bombings, fire and other weather elements.  Isn't it gorgeous? 

 

 Courtyard of the Dresden Palace

 A palace right outside of Dresden which I pretty lamely cannot remember the name of.  However, I do remember that it was only a summer palace.. (dear lord..)

 

 Sachsinish Schweiz (Sachsen Switzerland).. an area with sandstone hills which people can hike on, enjoy the view, etc. etc.  Many romantic writers came here in the early 19th century to gain inspiration about beauty in nature apparently.  Yay for fun facts!

 

 

 Views from a fortress which we visited.. ^^

 View of the river from Sunday when I took a nice two hour nap on the grass with my friends in the sunshine :)

 Half of our program group..

 Yes.. and as always.. here's the link to the rest of the pictures!

https://picasaweb.google.com/113919949355390501172/20110404?authkey=Gv1sRgCKbb9v7o5uiEVA&feat=directlink

Yayyyy picture links!  So yes.  In total, Dresden was a success.  Unfortunately it lead into an extremely stressful week, but after Friday most of the stress will be over and I can thoroughly enjoy my trip to Amsterdam! :)  I'm so excited to go see the tulip fields in bloom, you have no idea.  OH before I forget, I made Chili last week and it was a huge success.  I am extremely proud of it; I did not get another version or round of food poisoning, it tasted the way it was supposed to AND it fed me for four days :)

I know you're all jealous.  So yes, with a final closing note... Mexican food restaurants in Germany (or at least in Dresden) serve chimichangas as burritos and they are filled with ham.  okee Miss you all!