Nights 19 & 20: Dresden and surroundings - Part Two

The next morning, I packed my things together and then my host and 5-yr-old drove (host drove, not the 5-yr-old) to the medieval town of Meißen, which I was quite excited to explore. In fact, one of the reasons I’d chosen this family from my list was their close proximity to the town. It was one of the earliest settlements of the Slavic and then Germanic people waaaaay back in the day and then the rest of the German world grew out of it. It’s also quite famous for its porcelain and claims to be the first creator of fine porcelain outside of China. And it has a castle.

We drove the few kilometers there and then parked by the Elbe where I waved to all the water that had passed through Hamburg. Then we walked around for a while and my host showed me his favorite spots.


Instead of one big bell, this old church has 37 (?) little bells made out of porcelain. It was fun to watch someone’s hand ring them with a hammer and make them go “ding ding.” (Click for larger view.)

Lookit the pretty tree trunk!

This symbol was carved into a stone in a stone wall several hundred years ago and contains the letters A, B, C, and D. It’s been nicely preserved.

Freedom, this way. (Read the sign.)
Also, my host told me the numerals above the archway read 1200-something. That arch was there almost 300 years before America was discovered.

The higher we climbed, the more views of little red rooftops we encountered.

There were lots of great doors and windows that I enjoyed photographing. I won’t post them all.

Castle cat!

We went our separate ways once we reached the cathedral on top of the hill, but not before we’d visited a bakery and my host treated me to a Meißner Fummel, which is basically giant hard crust pocket filled with air and sprinkled with powdered sugar. It’s a medieval baked good that was sent with the king on his carriage journey between Meißen and Dresden. Something about the messenger drinking too much wine and having to get the fragile pastry from one place to the other without it breaking. It didn’t taste like anything, but it was still cool to be sitting up by the castle with a view over the kingdom while eating the bread of kings. So, so cool. (Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.)

My host had to pick up the baby from kindergarten, but explained the bus to me first so I could get back alright on my own. Then I paid the 2.50 euro entrance fee to the cathedral, cathedral museum, and castle. It’s one of the smallest cathedrals in Europe because of the lack of space on top of the hill with the castle and town already there, but it’s still quite pretty and quite quite gothic. I think I might always prefer gothic architecture to baroque, particularly when it comes to churches.





I liked the cathedral, but the first hall in the castle blew my mind a little - it was so gorgeous. It was filled with arches and painted intricately with greens and golds and I got to slide over the beautiful wooden floor in giant slippers that one must wear over their shoes. I’d only seen these awesome footwear inventions once before when taking a tour of the castle in Detmold. I didn’t want to pay extra for photos and figured the internet would have some to share. I got this one from their website, though it doesn’t do it at all justice.

The rest of the rooms were all grand, but didn’t tickle my fancy as much as the first hall had. Once I’d descended the last amazing stone spiral staircase and exited the building, I was hoping to visit the porcelain factory but didn’t have time. It was on the other side of the city and I had to walk to the other other side to catch my bus. Thus, I found some cheap falafel and wandered my way back in the sunshine.

I got back with plenty of time to collect my things, write in the guest book, and say goodbye to my hosts before catching my train to big bad Berlin, which I reached without a hitch two hours later as the last bit of sunlight disappeared. That fun adventure coming soon!