We stayed the night at a hotel in Dresden, Germany and a few of us more adventurous souls got out at 7:30 to take a walking tour of the downtown and river area - it was absolutely FREEZING! This church was rebuilt just 15 years ago. Our guide said she visited Dresden 20 years ago and there were so many gaps where buildings had been prior to the blitz during WWII. During the communist era they were not rebuilt although many were repaired. After a major fundraising effort in which Dresdner Bank (from Dresden, of course) sold wristwatches with pieces of the original church rubble visible inside the watch, the city and the bank were able to fund the rebuilding of this church. Yes, her version of German and Polish history (especially borders and territory controls) was quite interesting (very German in other words).
One of several communist era murals remaining in Dresden. The city decided to keep them for historical reasons :)
On to Seifen, Germany - home of wooden toys, smoking figures, and rotating pyramids. I wasn't really looking forward to this part of the trip and planned to relax on the bus or in a cafe. Alas, I was coaxed into going into "just one or two shops" by my colleagues and fell in love. I found the cutest little fireman smoking man for Murilo and a little hot chocolate lady for me (the smoke comes from her tea cup rather than her mouth). I also fell in love with a more modern looking pyramid. Examples of the more traditional ones are below:
Lots of snow but also lots of sunshine! It was a beautiful little town.
Oops, this was dinner back in Poland! I can never arrange these the way I want to! There were 7 of us from FIS and about 14 other ladies - some from the consulate and others belonging to the American Woman's Club. There's Miss Judy (whose leaving for China this summer).
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