Scene 22 - 11 July
Today is an important day - its the day of the Final of the World Cup! It's also Henrik Larsson's birthday. We agree to forget it until the night when we'll buy him a cake or something he'd like more like beer and then surprise him. Of course, here, by 'we' I mean Gobi, Eugene and I. Today is also a Sunday, which means that I'm going to church in German for the first time to see how much really I understand in German.
Anyway, all this is something to worry about later; right now we're still in Prague and wondering how to get out of here. After breakfast, the receptionist at the counter advises us to take the tram rather than stupidly taking the Metro like we did to get to the hostel in the first place. After all, taking the Metro would involve changing train twice in a ten minute journey; and the tram is more direct.
Getting out of Eastern Europe is harder than expected since it seems that so many people are trying to do it. Stereotypes again. Ahh.. Anyway, there are many people at the train station waiting to get onto the Prague - Dresden train.
Like typical Singaporeans we rush onto the train just as it opens its doors. What we don't count on, is that Eastern Europeans seem to be better at it than us. However, the true kiasu-ness shines through ultimately as Eugene ghosts past one guy who was about to enter a cabin and finds himself in the cabin before that guy. I manage to glimpse the guy's shocked expression as a little chinese man suddenly appears like a leprechaun in the cabin in front of his eyes.
That little chinese leprechaun then lets the three of us in.
Soon a lady starts knocking on our window and gesturing to us wildly and mouthing to us in a language we can't understand. I interpret what she is saying as "wind down the window". Eugene, on the other hand, thinks that she means close the curtains.
Besides, I dont know how to wind down the window. However, before we get to drawing the curtains, an old man comes into our cabin and tells us that he had reserved all four seats in the cabin. So basically, he's saying "scram".
By now, the train is about to leave; so we quickly rush out of the cabin and run on the platform side. Its not the first time that we're running on the platform for a train that we might very well miss, but each mad run is its own experience.
As we run along the side, panting with our gigantic bags we try the immediate next cabin; but the person assures us that there are no seats on this cabin and tells us to go straight to the first cabin. So we run there, dump our bags, sit quietly, and breathe.
*
The train ride to Dresden from Prague is not too long - only about 2 hours. This is perhaps another reason why Dresden is a popular stop off - because its 2 hrs from both the capital of the Czech Republic (Prague) and the capital of Germany (Berlin).
*
Alighting in Dresden, the train station is typical German. Trains running on time, etc etc. But once we step out of the train station, take a tram down to near our hotel, things change. Dresden has become a dead town. Its almost as if they're still hiding from the horrible allied bombing that virtually destroyed this town at the end of WWII. Which brings us to just why Dresden is famous - it was nearly completely destroyed by allied bombings at the end of the War. And, afterward, it was actually rebuilt. One of the famous monuments in Dresden, the Frauenkirche, was actually rebuilt from as many of the original stones as possible. But once more, I'm getting ahead of myself.
Back to the fact that Dresden seems like a dead town. Perhaps its attributed to the fact that today is a Sunday. Wait, that means I have to go to church. Which means that I have to FIND a church. But first, to the hostel.
After walking quite a fair bit, we finally find the hostel. Or as its called, a homestay. ITs not really a homestay, mind you, its actually a hostel. But nevertheless, we find it. We ask the friendly receptionist why Dresden is such a dead town. Rather than the answer we expect (The allies are cominggg!) he tells us that its the heat.
Ok that most definitely makes more sense because right now, the temperature outside is just too hot. I'm Singaporean, and if I say that its too hot, its too hot.
Still, I have to walk all the way down to the city center across the river to find the Catholic Church for mass today. The guy at the reception desk assures me its ONLY a 30 min walk, and says its very walkable. Considering the heat, URGH.
But I do it anyway. And its actually walkable.
*
Gobi doesn't trust my navigational skills (for perhaps good reason as I've been lazy to guide in the past few cities), but I know better. Still he's got me doubting myself so I'm exceedingly careful not to get lost in this city.
Its still afternoon and I'm sure that evening mass is in the evening. So I take my own sweet time walking down to the 'Old Town'. There is irony in the name, because the 'Old Town's' buildings are actually newer than the New Town's ones. For the simple reason that the Old Town's buildings are the ones that were firebombed during the war and were only rebuilt after that.
You can actually see the cranes. I hear that's ACTUALLY how they built the Old Town back in the day.
I get to church just in time for the Mass. The Polish Mass, that is. Ahh, so the Polish immigrants are the Catholics here. There is a German Mass at 6.30pm, so if I go for that instead, where I probably would be able to understand at least a bit of what's going on, I have about an hour to kill.
So I walk down the River Elbe. Considering the weather, I reckon that there are at least a hundred better things that I could be doing instead. Including jumping into the first fountain I see. Another problem is that I've forgotten to bring any money.
So here I am in the blazing heat, without any money, waiting for mass. A plus point, I pass by the place where I see what I think is the German national U-19 girls soccer team training. Can't really see clearly what's going on so I shall just walk on. Finally my hour is killed and I go for mass.
By the way, I don't think it would have made much difference had I attended the Polish mass.
When mass is done, the sun is lower in the sky and the weather is kinder on the skin. Hence, walking back is easier. Much easier.
Now, as I mentioned earlier, today is the 11th of July and we have to watch the World Cup Final between Netherlands and Spain. After dodging a couple of places deemed too dodgy by our resident dodgy-place-meter Eugene, we end up in a Turkish place which was relatively empty considering its World Cup Night.
By the time we enter the place, actually, its already the second half and its SOOO different from Munich where the atmosphere was alight. Here, nobody actually cares who won, it seems. That obviously makes sense because Germany aren't in the final. It seems that they, like us, are slightly supportive of the Dutch cause. For some reason.
Double disappointment. The Dutch lose, and the Kebabs sucked to the core. Urgh. Now I know why Gobi is so hesitant to eat European Kebabs. And here I thought Germany is the Turkish Motherland. Urgh. The fact that Henrik Larsson has thrown away half his food isn't surprising. The fact that I follow suit, however, is an indication of how bad the food was.
Finally we reach back to the hostel and I am bushed. Turns out the my travel companions had been sleeping the whole time I was out walking the Old Town. But I can finally sleep now.
Oh wait. I forgot to mention. 11 July is Henrik Larsson's birthday. Now, we all know what Henrik Larsson likes second best in the world (no. 1 being of course Asian girls). As I was saying, number two is beer. So we had been planning to surprise him with a beer party when we came back. Well, fine. A beer. As in one can of beer. It should not be forgotten, here, that we are Asian. Stereotypically speaking, that would mean that we're cheap. Ignore the fact that Henrik Larsson's birthday present was supposed to be one can of beer. We move on to fact number two - there is no beer. You see, for some absurd reason, they don't sell beer past 10pm in Dresden.
To think we complain in Singapore.
So, we end up getting him an ice cream from the dodgy shop down the stairs. Gobi says there was a professional serial rapist behind the counter. I don't know. I was too busy playing my part in the 007-style mission that was getting Lase a present without him knowing. Apparently there was a pretty girl in the shop too.
I don't know what Gobi and Eugene were thinking leaving the shop with those two people in them.
Oh yes, it has just come to my attention that the Train ride from Prague to Dresden was in a First Class Cabin. I don't know how we pulled that off. Eugene attributes it to his and Lase's blond-hair and blue-eyes. The poor disillusioned Chinese Leprechaun.
Scene 23 - 12 July
Today is another of those days that will whir by unnoticed. Today, though, the excuse is as much the unbearable heat as it is the fatigue. And of course, add to these factors the fact that there honestly isn't much to see in Dresden.
In our intelligence and defiance to the fact that European weather can ever compare with the searing heat of our beloved homeland (by we, of course I mean Gobi, Eugene and I; and by homeland I mean Singapore for Eugene and I, Australia for Gobi), we decide to brave the unbearable heat and torture our Scandanavian counterpart.
We are going to CYCLE around the bike-friendly ruins that is Old Dresden. Now, I mentioned a while ago about the Historical significance of Dresden with respect to WWII. Today we are going to visit all those places that were rebuilt to look just like the original state.
Of course, here we must pause to recall the last time we cycled on the wrong side of the road. But this time, I'm sure we can just stick to the rule. Keep Right Unless Overtaking. Its quite simple, really. I hope. Besides, Dresden still seems to be pretty much a dead-town because of the heat. So as long as we're not cycling in an air-conditioned room or anywhere near a gigantic fountain, I think its fine. So, I mark out anything that resembles a gigantic fountain on the map.
I have got a confession to make here - yesterday, on my long long walk before mass, I went searching for a place. A place called slaughterhouse 5.
Why? Kurt Vonnegut was trapped there during the allied firebombings; and this inspired him to write the book Slaughterhouse 5.
So? Erm. Secret.
Moving on, today all of them come join me for my quest to search for Slaughterhouse 5. Today, we are all on bikes; hence we might be able to go further. We go past the German U-19 girls soccer team training ground, past a fun-fair that seems very very creepy - a quick flash to the Sullivan Brothers' Carnival from Heroes and back again - and then we're at this strange place. Now, are we at Slaughterhouse 5? No one actually knows. I know we're somewhere AROUND where it is supposed to be.
There is this building with a picture of a cow on it. That seems like something that a Slaughterhouse 5 should have?
Though I'm not sure about the wisdom in depicting Kurt Vonnegut as a cow.
I snap a shot of the said Slaughterhouse,
AT long last the sun sets and we're headed back to the hostel with the erm.. happy.. receptionist. Gobi uses the phrase overly-friendly - further proving the fact that no matter how homo-phobic I ever be, he (Gobi) will be worse off than me.
Tomorrow we will be going all the way to West Germany - across the Rhine in fact; and we'll be visiting Daniel Hach and his family. I'll probably tell you all more about them on the train there.
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