Westminster Trip Day 5

June 17, 2008 – 21:12 Local Time

The breakfast here is even better than Prague!! Oh my goodness, we had more things than I could POSSIBLY list! Plus, the coffee here is 110% better than Czech coffee, which certainly makes a difference. We somehow managed to get everyone on the buses by 9am, which is no small feat with this large of a group. This made the Germans very happy (promptness and precision tend to do that for them).





The morning consisted almost entirely of a tour of the city. First, we took an hour bus tour from our hotel, out through the main residential part of Dresden, over the Blaues Wunder (Blue Wonder – a bridge so named for its color and twisted folklore) which spans the beautiful Elbe river, into another part of town containing Freidrich Wieck’s home (the father of Clara Wieck Schumann), back across the river, to the site of the old and new vineyards, and up into the Old City. Along the river were, interestingly enough, the quasi-palatial mansions of the inventors of both mouthwash and toothpaste. It’s just fun to know that these homes are side-by-side. Our local guide, a lovely woman named Karola, joked that this must have made for a rather pleasant neighborhood, in comparison with other groups of people and their dental hygiene, haha.





Once in the Old City, we exited the buses into the Theatre Square and began our hour and a half walking tour of the city. I was not, to be honest, looking forward to that much walking on cobblestones, but it turned out to be a MOST enjoyable time. We learned a great deal about Augustus dem Gerechte (August the Strong) and how he converted to Catholicism (a difficult task in post-Reformation Germany) and essentially bought the kingship of Poland, never giving up his seat as King of Saxony in the process. Also, we learned that the role of a mistress was far different than it is today. In Baroque Germany, the mistress held important social status, and was expected to behave in a highly regimented fashion. Let me tell you, mistresses had it made (financially, at least)! The palace (yes, palace) that Augustus dem Gerechte built for his mistress is the size of most modern hotels – and in fact, it is a hotel today!





One of the most stunning places on the tour was the Zwinger Palace. It is just off the Square and was designed as the Palace deemed to celebrate the marriage of Augustus’ successor in 1719. It has never been inhabited, and is now the home of several museums, including the world’s largest collection of Meissen porcelain. While inside the enormous courtyard, we were treated to a brief concert of the Carillon Bells (also made of Meissen porcelain). They played the first movement of Vivaldi’s Spring.







Upon leaving the palace, we passed the vast painting titled The Succession of Princes, a painting depicting all but one of the Saxon princes/kings from all the way back to the first (Albrecht II). The entire painting is comprised of over 24,000 porcelain tiles. Their medium, and its amazing ability to resist heat, is the only thing that saved them during World War II. It contains several political comments, such as Augustus dem Gerechte being shown trampling a rose (a symbol of love), and Johann with a feather beneath him (indicating that he was a writer, and thereby well-educated). The tour ended with a passing-through of a modern mall and a description of the history of the Frauenkirche (called the Church of our Lady, though that’s not a real translation) from in-front of this beautiful structure.







When released, we had approximately four hours to roam Dresden on our own. Karola gave us some suggestions, most of which we took, and it became a very pleasant afternoon of Nathan, Thomas and I wandering about on our whims. We began with a self-guided tour of the Frauenkirche, seeing it’s gorgeous alter, dome, and also seeing the burned remains of the golden cross which stood atop the building before WWII. Next, we stopped by Hilton Dresden to use the restroom, as this seemed a guarantee to have one. While there, I drooled over a 27,000€ (appx. $42,000) chess set made entirely of Meissen porcelain. It was basically the most beautiful set I’ve ever seen, and I would have taken it home in a heartbeat, if I had had a car to trade in for it, of course, hahaha! Lunch today was in a quaint little German restaurant on Kreuzstraβe (Cross Street). This was my first (and hopefully last) experience with herring. WOW, was that bad!!! To me, the idea of fish being slightly below room temperature and covered in an unknown white sauce and pickles is not a good thing! *shiver* (I should note, however, that Nathan didn’t actually think it was that bad – weirdo.)





After lunch, we went shopping in the Altmarkt Galerie (Old Market Galleria), a four-story mall with essentially anything you could want. There was a place there called Saturn which was a lot like Best Buy. This gave me the opportunity to purchase a back-up battery for my camera. From the mall, we headed back for the Theatre Square with the intent of touring the world-famous Semperoper (Semper Opera, named after it’s builder). However, only guided tours are allowed, and we didn’t have time. Thomas wanted some gelato, so we went to get that, met up with Daniel, and the four of us walked back over to the Zwinger Palace. We had intended to go to the top of the wall and walk the perimeter, but alas, we didn’t have the time. Oh well, maybe next time!





At 3:30 it was time to board the buses and make our way back to the hotel. Dinner was early tonight – 4:45 – but this was due to us needing to be at the Christuskirche (Christ Church) at 6:30 for our warm-up/rehearsal. At 7:30, we sang a full hour and a half concert for a very warm audience. Being Europeans, they loved the spirituals the best, something that has at times caused many of our choir members a lot of grief. Following the concert, Nathan and I returned to the hotel and crashed. I’m staying awake only long enough to post this blog, but then I’m off to bed. 6:00am will be here all too soon!!



Tomorrow is the bus ride to Naumburg, the tour of the city and concert there, then on to Leipzig to sing a second concert and get settled in at our next hotel. Can’t wait to tell you about it!!! ~AJR