Putzing around the Platz(s)

Dresden on a sunny Sunday is a magical place to be.  The tale of how we finally arrived here early last evening after training in from Poznań, reads somewhat like a convoluted, nonsensical, down the rabbit hole mystery.  It involved some divine intervention, blind luck, kindness from strangers, intuition, late trains, wrong trains, profanity, prayer, misdirections, and some fragrant time spent on a local commuter train, armpit to armpit with the locals including several strollers, bawling babies, a few dogs and at least four bikes, two of which were delivering food.

But, we’re here.   The apartment is cavernous and in a formerly illustrious building, about a century old.  The washroom is two floors below us, on a winding wooden staircase that does not forgive fools.  Stories will shared one-on-one by request only.

We are staying about 8 km south of the older part of Dresden, so took the tram in this morning and spent most of the day wandering through the green parks alongside the Elbe river, crossing bridges, and stopping at various die Plätze and benches along the way.  There was a peaceful Sunday vibe, despite a few crowds in the Old Market zone and the ornate Dresden Royal Palace.  There was an enormous mural running beside the castle, depicting all the rulers of Saxony spanning 1127 to 1904.   The interesting part is that the actual painting was converted to porcelain tiles in the early 1900s to protect it from the weather.

This somehow survived the bombing of Dresden in 1945

Green parks are everywhere and so inviting

Dresden Castle

Of course, all that wandering creates a powerful thirst so it was time for a beer and pretzel.

Tomorrow is THE big one - We will need to deal with our PTSD (post train syndrome despair) as it involves four different trains and about 12 or 13 hours to get us into Reims, where the last couple of days will be spent within a few km of the great houses of champagne, Veuve Clicquot and Taittinger, and savouring French cheese.  Then, like Augustus the Strong, we’ll be saddling up and heading home.

Augustus the Strong, 1736
(Before there were trains 😉)

Źegnaj Polsko

It’s another TGIF here in Poznań, and a cloudy, chilly day.  Even though most of the trees have still not started to turn, you can feel the nip of fall in the air.  Undaunted, we bundled up and caught tram #17 and enjoyed about a 20 minute ride into the old market.  There we wandered around and around, up and down old crumbly streets, and managed to fill the time easily before hastening back to the market centre for the aforementioned goat-head-butting clock, every day at noon and three pm.  Unfortunately, the beautiful city hall is currently under restoration and draped with scaffolding, but one could see the funny little mechanical goats appear right on schedule.  A little anticlimactic but fun nonetheless, and shared with a whole bunch of other tourists that looked as nonplussed as we did.

The town square was an easy place to spend a few hours and some thoughtful times sitting on a nearby bench, just soaking up the energy.    As always, the ancient parts of the city hold so much charm.  Poznań is a very large city, and the outer section is very commercial, with large malls and huge business buildings.  We were glad to tram through them and not stop.

Old Market Square

Check out the dragon on the top of this building!

We stopped in at the train station on our leg home to double check our tickets for tomorrow.  We are off to Germany in the morning at 11, with a quick stop for a switch of trains in Berlin and from there, to Dresden.  All being well, we should be there in time for happy hour.  Na zdrowie!  To your health!

Posnań

 What a difference a day makes.  We left fabulous Taruń via Uber because of a pretty good downpour.  The main train station, Toruń Main is a cavernous, complex entity but I am learning new tricks every day and can isolate bin/track/carte # with the best of them.  We enjoyed a coffee and a croissant before boarding and finding our bin.   We left on time and enjoyed a sedate ride west through the agricultural areas of this slice of Poland; mostly corn and (happily!) sunflowers.

Another uber rescued us on arrival in Poznań.   This is a bigger city than Taruń.  It’s on the Warta River and is a university city, something I have always loved, because of the young energy that seems to permeate the entire city.  Tomorrow we will explore the Old Market Square, where we are set to meet the two mechanical goats who butt heads at noon.

Our check in was probably in the top 26% of sibling efficiencies.   In other words, one sibling goes one way, cell phone in hand, neck craning upwards and sideways.  The other guards their abandoned sidewalk suitcases and backpacks with the ferocity of a papillon.   Once sib #1 comes back looking perplexed and very thirsty, sib #2 unleashes her secret weapon:  She asks strangers for help.

Sadly, that was a bust.  Not a lot of English spoken here and frankly, no smiles are returned.  The Poles are a serious bunch.

Nevertheless, turns out the place we needed was right next door to the place we landed.  Ever the way, just look a little left or right!   And oh, it is lovely.   Sparkling clean, with beds that do not shriek through the night with every fitful turn, a thoughtfully appointed kitchen that (gasp) included salt and pepper.   It’s a little busy as it is right on the tram line, but that will be to our benefit tomorrow when we disappear into the medieval part of town, just a 20 minute ride on Tram #15.

I’m feeling so great about this place.  Pasta for dinner tonight.

   Not exactly a fjord, but not unwelcome, either.

               This means, good morning or good day or have a good day or whatever else you want.

                      I better get used to this view… it has to take me allllll the way to Paris, bit by bit.  😊