Hi Everyone,
I wanted to post yesterday (Friday), but was unable due to our Internet connection being down! So, today, I'm making my regular post from Dresden, Germany...and we have an uncertain Internet connection, but I will try to post as regularly during our stay as I'm able!
We traveled here via train from Prague this morning. The trip was about 3 hours, and it went pretty fast. The scenery was very pretty. I saw some parts of the Czech Republic that I've never seen before. We had some glimpses of the Middle Czech Mountains on the way to Decin, and more mountains after we crossed the border into Germany, along with many forests and small villages and country homes.
Our train arrived in Dresden just before noon. The train station is huge here, but it's pretty easy to find your way around due to the signs everywhere. Not many things are in English here, which was a bit of a surprise. Most other places we have visited have had some English. And not many people speak English here. So, it would really be helpful to learn some basic German before coming here. However, most of the people here seem to be very helpful and try to understand. I have absolutely no knowledge of German, except for saying thank you and good bye!
While we were walking through the train station, we noticed that there were police everywhere. It was as if we had stumbled into a bee hive of police, that's how thick they were! We also noticed that they were pretty heavily armed in riot gear...and they were at all the entrances, and there were more outside all the entrances to the station. It reminded me of a war movie with the police so armed and helicopters flying around overhead!
The hotel we are staying in is near the Prager Strasse--Prague Street, which is ironic! We walked here very easily from the train station...it's pretty hard to get lost! We were too early to check into our room, as check-in is at 3PM. So, we checked our bags into the hotel's office, and then walked around this part of Dresden. As we walked around, we noticed a heavy police presence everywhere in and around the Prager Stasse. It was kind of scary...as we came to St. Petersburg Street we saw a long and wide caravan of police cars with their lights flashing. I can't even say for sure how many vehicles were in this caravan we saw...Maybe up to 50! We were trying to figure out what on earth was going on, when suddenly I spotted a group slowly marching behind the police caravan. They had flags from Israel, and banners...and they were shouting slogans. My husband said they appeared to be leftists who were marching and protesting against the neo-nazi movement which is very prevelant this part of Germany. There were hundreds of people marching in this caravan. It is the very first time that I have ever had the opportunity to view such a protest live. It was very impressive...very orderly, and peaceful. There were police guarding the front, sides and the back of this marching group of protestors. there was no trouble of any kind, and I was able to get some video of this that I will upload in the coming days. It a great experience to watch this sight!
What a sight to see on our very first day, here, in Dresden! After this, we walked around for another two hours, and finally were able to check-in to our hotel. This evening we wandered around the Prager Strasse--I'll tell you more about it in my next post. It was a pretty day and a pretty evening here...perfect for walking with the person you love!
Well, that's all for now...I'll be posting over the next week from here, in Dresden.
You all have a great weekend!
God bless,
Sherry :0)
http://czechoffthebeatenpath.googlepages.com
Czech Off the Beaten Path Travel Store
Czech Off the Beaten Path T-shirts and More
(c) 2008 by czechoffthebeatenpath
I wanted to post yesterday (Friday), but was unable due to our Internet connection being down! So, today, I'm making my regular post from Dresden, Germany...and we have an uncertain Internet connection, but I will try to post as regularly during our stay as I'm able!
We traveled here via train from Prague this morning. The trip was about 3 hours, and it went pretty fast. The scenery was very pretty. I saw some parts of the Czech Republic that I've never seen before. We had some glimpses of the Middle Czech Mountains on the way to Decin, and more mountains after we crossed the border into Germany, along with many forests and small villages and country homes.
Our train arrived in Dresden just before noon. The train station is huge here, but it's pretty easy to find your way around due to the signs everywhere. Not many things are in English here, which was a bit of a surprise. Most other places we have visited have had some English. And not many people speak English here. So, it would really be helpful to learn some basic German before coming here. However, most of the people here seem to be very helpful and try to understand. I have absolutely no knowledge of German, except for saying thank you and good bye!
While we were walking through the train station, we noticed that there were police everywhere. It was as if we had stumbled into a bee hive of police, that's how thick they were! We also noticed that they were pretty heavily armed in riot gear...and they were at all the entrances, and there were more outside all the entrances to the station. It reminded me of a war movie with the police so armed and helicopters flying around overhead!
The hotel we are staying in is near the Prager Strasse--Prague Street, which is ironic! We walked here very easily from the train station...it's pretty hard to get lost! We were too early to check into our room, as check-in is at 3PM. So, we checked our bags into the hotel's office, and then walked around this part of Dresden. As we walked around, we noticed a heavy police presence everywhere in and around the Prager Stasse. It was kind of scary...as we came to St. Petersburg Street we saw a long and wide caravan of police cars with their lights flashing. I can't even say for sure how many vehicles were in this caravan we saw...Maybe up to 50! We were trying to figure out what on earth was going on, when suddenly I spotted a group slowly marching behind the police caravan. They had flags from Israel, and banners...and they were shouting slogans. My husband said they appeared to be leftists who were marching and protesting against the neo-nazi movement which is very prevelant this part of Germany. There were hundreds of people marching in this caravan. It is the very first time that I have ever had the opportunity to view such a protest live. It was very impressive...very orderly, and peaceful. There were police guarding the front, sides and the back of this marching group of protestors. there was no trouble of any kind, and I was able to get some video of this that I will upload in the coming days. It a great experience to watch this sight!
What a sight to see on our very first day, here, in Dresden! After this, we walked around for another two hours, and finally were able to check-in to our hotel. This evening we wandered around the Prager Strasse--I'll tell you more about it in my next post. It was a pretty day and a pretty evening here...perfect for walking with the person you love!
Well, that's all for now...I'll be posting over the next week from here, in Dresden.
You all have a great weekend!
God bless,
Sherry :0)
http://czechoffthebeatenpath.googlepages.com
Czech Off the Beaten Path Travel Store
Czech Off the Beaten Path T-shirts and More
(c) 2008 by czechoffthebeatenpath
No comments:
Post a Comment