Little things

:: On the way to Prague: The breath-taking view of cottages planted alongside emerald green waters and lemon-green hills ::

The blogging affair is beginning to take a toll on me. Days are cut shorter, the weather got colder, train schedules, bus rides, hitch hiking, more planning, more photos, more memories to take stock of. All that traveling is beginning to weigh.

But then, I remembered how life springs little surprises on us when we least expected it to.
Like the picturesque view from the windows as the train rumbled and whistled from Dresden to Prague. Transient but absolutely gorgeous scenery makes train-taking such pleasant journeys. Beautiful things in life are ephemeral because they force us to sit up and pay attention. That is why everyone loves travelling, that is why everyone loves sunsets.

Medieval town Dresden

Christmas Eve saw us moving on to the last state in Germany, Dresden. Bunked into A & O hostel and it is an excellent choice for backpackers. It costs about 10 Euros per night and i would gladly rate it a 4.5/5 in terms of service, cleanliness, efficiency and overall layout. I have high expectations usually for accomodation and I must say, I am impressed. Made some friends in the process, more backpackers from Canada, Japan, Brazil and Mexico. It felt like a mini backpackers community :)

We reached Dresden in the late afternoon on Christmas Eve and I was appalled at the sight that laid before my eyes. Dresden then, could only be described in absence. No shops as their windows were shuttered, no proper vegetation save for some dried weeds by the roads, no flowers, no people, no crowd, no restaurants. Zilch, nada, nien.



I was so amazed by the empty street, I felt like I owned it. Occasionally, one or two cars whizzed by, other than that, the roads were quiet. Wine bottles that rolled on the floor sounded almost eerie. To freak myself out further, I pretended to be a zombie from the movie '28 days later'.
;)
:: Christmas dinner ::

This year is interesting because it's the first year I've spent Christmas without (not only without turkey) dinner! How ludicrous aint it? Christmas without dinner? Boy, I was sufffering from hunger pangs. But misery loves company. All the other backpackers in my room arrived to find only closed restaurants on X'mas eve faced similar plight. We pulled our resources together and snacked on a meagre dinner comprised of some chips, an orange and 4 slices of wheat bread.

I tried not to think about home, hot cocoa and turkey. Or Christmas ice-cream cakes with peppermint mocha. This is how it goes, some days we had to rough it out, some days we allowed ourselves some epicurean indulgence. Afterall, a backpacker's got to have some good fuel too right? Try lugging all that luggage around in the harshness of winter whilst trying to find your hostel ! :(

:: As the name spells it, 'Theaterplatz' ::

:: A peek of King August the Great from the arches that darkened against the glinting sunlight at 'Theaterplatz'::

:: A bird's eye view of Zwinger Palace. Indeed Baroque style- vast space, fountains (though not spurting in winter) and gardens ::

The next day, we took a tram down to the famous 'Zwinger' and 'Theaterplatz'. Apart from being a ghost town, derelict as can be on Christmas Eve, there is actually a very distinct old world charm about Dresden. Magnificent castles, garbled fountains and horse carriages trotting on the streets, actually just walking around the medieval town felt like I was transported back in time. Afterall, time is only relative, as Einstein puts it.Once in a while, a gentleman opens the door for you, or takes off his hat and bow. Seriously, how often do you get that?

Dresden makes a good stopover if you're coming from Berlin or Leipzig. By car, it's only about 2 hours' drive or less. It is close to Prague as well. What I personally adore about Dresden is the architecture it boasts. And of course the Baroque style that speaks of the very essence of the architecture.
I love Baroque art. English gardens, sculptured fountains, vast space and the very fact that Baroque architecture is made with the intention to impress an audience.

:: An interesting fact. These buildings were once plated in shiny copper, before time and weather rusted them into a peculiar shade of green ::
:: The princess surveys her city beneath her ::
:: And she walks down to greet her people ::

Into the wild

On Christmas eve, we drove to Pegau, a forty minutes drive from Leipzig to visit the old, small village-like town. Pegau is famous for traditional wine-making since the early 17th Century. This trip I have deliberately avoided travelling to the West, meaning Frankfurt, Munich, London. The east, sometimes more unexplored, speaks in a louder voice. In a large city, we struggle to make our voice heard over the din. Traversing from one cosmopolitan city to another would have rendered my trip meaningless.

:: Sunset at Pegau. A star-shaped sun encircled in gold pierced through the dark silhouettes of the trees in winter ::

:: The white froths waves, like fingers snatching and pulling at the dark blue stream ::

Geography can induce such joy at times. Half of the world is suffering from Man's mishandling of his own environment-global warming- all the more this compelling landscape inspires awe. Nature has a sublimating effect of making us feel so small, so tiny, so insignificant. At the same paradoxically, it magnifies our perspectives, enabling us to find (at least I hope to find), amidst such untrammeled beauty, more accurate views of human nature.

:: Giants in the making ::

The last of Leipzig

By now, it is rather apparent that I adore Christmas Markets. They have a way of unleashing the inner child in me, rather unabashedly. Joined with other kids, I climbed onto the seat of the ferris wheel, a tad too enthusiastically, ensuing in a bevy of Europeans giving me the thumbs-up signs and hollering, "Konichiwa!". For some reason, I get the "Konichiwa" or "you speak Japanese?" too many times, from strangers to bus conductors. I don't blame them, it's hard to tell Chinese and Japanese apart, the way I can't differentiate between a Swedish and a French.
I tell you, when I go a-gallivanting on a carousel, it is so easy to forget I am an adult sometimes. I have a good mind to invite my grandmother to carousel with me in the near future ;) why not, my friend brought his grandma to Mambo. Beat that!

:: Dining in a famous steakhouse, El cuador's, in the Deutsche Bank building::

:: Oz's mom, a 'pi pa' musician, holding up our farewell gifts for the family ::

Oswald's parents were nice enough to give us a dinner treat on the last day at El cuador's, Argentinian Steakhouse in the Deutsche Bank building (the biggest bank in Germany). The Rib-eye steak was indeed an epicurean treat to hungry backpackers and the best part is the soft and buoyant layer of fat in the middle. I don't blame you if you're drooling by now, it really is one of the better steaks I've tasted thus far.

I was thankful for the dinner because the next day on Christmas, we had zilch for dinner.
You;ll see Dresden, the ghost town, soon.

A pause between moments

Early at 8:30 am in the morning, I was up, packing my bags and ready to go. We hitchhiked a car from Hamburg to Leipzig from a German couple who were on their way to Leipzig as well.
A very lovable pair who tolerated my incessant whizzing and sniffing in the car, the lady even gave me her packets of tissues. Gee, how was I to know that Leipzig was even colder than Hamburg!
:: The city left me with one last surprise in the morning as small and soft snowflakes fell from the skies onto the car ::

:: There is not so much a place as silence between moments

My lovely host in Leipzig was Oswald, a German-Chinese gentleman whose family was also kind enough to host us for three wintry nights. He lived next to the forest and I was grateful for the short but much-needed getaway from the oppressive cities with their neon signs and carbon monoxide.
The intimacy with the snow-capped land makes me feel simultaneously vulnerable, exhilarated and peaceful. The beauty of such a thing is difficult to explain and perhaps only fully appreciated by the capacity of the viewer. But nonetheless, the enthusiasm to share the countryside (ok, not really a countryside per se), the forest in winter, is but a feeble attempt to recapture the beauty at that moment.

I was reborn.


Later that day, en route home, we visited the horse stable- Reintanlage Bohlitz Ehrenberg.
Children accompanied with parents stroke the manes of the horses while avid horse lovers galloped away gracefully around the snow-covered stable. The manes of the horses shone in the gleaming sunlight as they kicked their hooves in the snow.

Christmas Markets in Hamburg

Hamburg for me, was the only region that we did not draw up any concrete plans for due to time constraints but yet, it dropped pleasant surprises in many ways. Sometimes it is best to let the land unfold itself and lead you than to restrict yourself with timetables. We walked along the main city area and chanced upon the Christmas market- Hamburger Weihnachmarkt- right outside the Parliament House. The latter caught my attention first because of its grandiosity in erection, coupled with the intricate sculptures on the pediments and friezes.

Germany is renowned for its Christmas markets; the miasma of the place and people in Hamburger Weihnachmarkt was as joyous as a blithe spirit in Neverland. It was my maiden attempt at drinking hot wine- Gluhwein in German and feeling properly festive for once. For once, nothing felt truly commercialized. Everyone broke in applause and hearty laughter when the flying Santa with his Reindeer flew overhead (on cable lines). It was a lovely sight indeed !

:: Our new-found happy but drunk Canadian friends :: It's amazing what several cups of Gluhwein can do in oiling the wheels of conversation.

At night, our brave souls led us onward to the cold harbour. It was impossible to give the harbor a miss for after all, Hamburg is a famous port in Europe. Ergo, the harbour is the heart of the city. At night, I came to realize that cold is powerful. Those gale-force winds whipped around and threatened to throw my petite physique off ground.

:: Hamburg harbour ::

Gone German

All hail the fair lady who rushed the early dawn bus from amsterdam, boarded the train and withstood the butt cramps from a five-hour long train ride to Hamburg, Germany.
She has arrived !:) On the 20th to be exact.
P.S there is a bigger backpack too but it was too unglam to be included in the first shot. Do not, here I issue a caveat, for a moment think that you can ever backpack in winter with a tiny trolley Ashworth luggage.

The weather was also very hard to acclimatise, it was awfully cold. Amsterdam is one of the warmest places in Europe, but may I add, thanks to global warming, it snowed this year. Almost an unprecedented phenomenon I reckon.

The famous "Stationen Hamburger Architektur" (translate: architecture of the Station in Hamburg, something to this effect, you get the drift). It is a striking architecture and has been a 100 years in view. I love the extending curves, some railway stations in Europe are deliberately aesthetically appealing like the ones in Paris too.

Germany's transport system is deserving of respect and personally, I think Singapore can learn from Deutschland a good deal. The transport system reflects the way Germans in general operate, organised and efficient. There are basically two train lines in Germany,, the U-Bahn and the S-Bahn. The former is for internal travelling while the latter is for sub-regional travelling. So basically, we took the U-Bahn when we travel internally within Hamburg. And the U-Bahn is indicated by the neon blue U sign when there is a train station nearby. There is no way you can miss it.

The public transport system is so convenient, I think it's the most common option for the majority, considering the fact that it is incredulously hard to pass the driving license in Germany.


:: The S-Bahn in crimson red ::


:: Map reading is a must. Forget about backpacking if you can't read a map, much less decipher the German words (or in any other language but your own for the matter). I must add here that I am pretty good at them now! Necessity makes a man!

:: Street artists of Hamburg ::


Pardon me for the fuzzy photo abov. I meant to show you the street signs of Klosterwall. Honestly, there was hardly any lighting on this part of the road and photo-taking was the last thing on my mind because we nearly got ourselves lost in the maze-like city area of Hamburg. To add to our confusion of German (a language I could only understood little) road signs, it seemed only the elderly knew or heard of Klosterwall, every other young person we asked on the road merely smiled sheepishly and muttered " sorry, I don't know". Perhaps, in Hamburg at least, only the old appreciated Antiques.
The brutality of winter seemed to ensnare us especially more so when we almost lost our way.

But after what seemed like eternity, there which lay ahead of us is a banner of the brightest yellow that says Antik Center, our beacon of hope. Et viola! Ole Ole Ole!

We had to walk through numerous staircases and some underground passage way. Hamburg really is a city that is so full of surprises, just waiting to enfold themselves upon me. I felt more of a connection to Hamburg than to Amsterdam. A credo I held on personally when I travel is to wait and encounter the land deep, as if it were a person. I waited for the latter city to speak, I waited and I heard nothing.
In Hamburg, I saw more than I have imagined.

::Truckloads of vintage earrings and brooches from the 60's and 70's.
Makes a jewelry entrepreneur like me melt.

The Antik-Center at Klosterwall resembled, if your're an antique fan of course, Portobello Road in the Notting Hill District of London, the world's renowned second-hand and antique market. The only difference is that it is underground and indoor here, with less variety to boot.
My tangible takeaway that night was this exquisite, jeweled musical box with a little sparrow perched atop a gold-plated acorn. The moment my eyes caught sight of this gorgeous beauty, I was bewitched. And as the melody that was produced was that old familiar tune I used to play on the piano, Fur Elise, I knew I was going to buy it. The owner sold it to me for a reasonable price of €33. I mean, after all, it's antique right?

P.S* Notice writer's obvious need for validation in this purchase.


I also purchased one of those old-school pocket vision television. This one here narrates a pictorial story of the famous "Sleeping Beauty". Once in a while, these toys bring back some long-forgotten childhood memories otherwise lost.

:: The man behind the antique goods I purchased ::


"Kunst" in German means "art", "haus" just means "house". Something I learnt in my Art and History classes, once again it came in handy in Hamburg. It felt like Art & History lessons came alive! Neither history nor art fully makes sense in lecture slides, no matter how pretty they look on the powerpoint slides. It was only then that I came to fully appreciate St Augustine's quote: "the world is like a book, and those who do not travel read only a page".

:: posing only at the entrance for the Kunsthaus closes at night :(

The jovial man whose passion for antiques brought him scouring the world, in particular England and France for antique grandfather's clocks and Victorian paintings encassed in Brass frames.


**Location: Antik-Center, Klosterwall 19-21