German Chocolate & Other Erinnerungen

March 2, 2013--Dresden (continued)
Outside, we discussed what to do next. “You want to do sightseeing or shopping?” Lad’ka asked.

I checked my watch. We had three hours. “I think we should start with sightseeing,” I said.

“But we will go shopping too,” she said.

“Absolutely!” I said. “I need some chocolate. I ate half of box of the Milka chocolate the other night.”

She laughed, “Me too! My brain tell me to stop eating but my hand would not let me!”

We walked back to the historic district, between ornate building and under decorative archways. At one point, we came to a wall with a huge mural of various kings riding into battle. “Is very pretty and famous,” Lad’ka said, “But I do not know much about it.”

We took lots of pictures of it because it was fascinating to look at. It was mostly painted in yellows and browns and must have stretched about a quarter of a mile. Across from it, various street vendors were selling things like magnets and postcards. We looked at a few of their displays but I don’t think any of us bought anything.

As we continued through the historic district, Lad’ka pointed out the opera house and several statues. She took us to see a famous building called the Zwinger. It is a very stunning building that has been used for everything over the centuries it has stood in Dresden. At one time it was part of the fortress but later because a facility for agriculture and research. It has also served as a palace for various royal families, as well as a museum. Currently, it houses a large art exhibition, but it was closed for the weekend.

The most beautiful part of the Zwinger was definitely the courtyard. It was covered with green grass with various fountains scattered about.  Lots of tourists were mulling about and taking photos. I realized I’d forgotten my Vigil triangle, but I wanted to send some photos back to the Boy Scout s anyway.

“Lad’ka,” I asked. “Could you take some pictures of me?” She agreed. Instead of holding the triangle, I held up the Region’s “gang sign” (a W formed by making two acute angles between both index fingers and thumbs.)

“You are crazy tourist,” she said.

We found our way up to the room of the Zwinger and took more photos up there.

“We should get a group shot,” Lee said. We considered asking someone to take it, but then he decided to just set the automatic timer on his camera. Thibaut, Lad’ka, and I lined up while he and Leo set up the picture. “Take three steps forward,” Lee said. We did and then they both got in the picture. A little orange light flashed and there was a click. He looked at it, and said it came out really well.

As we left the Zwinger, we had a little over two hours left. We talked about maybe paying for the tour to go up into the dome of the Church of Our Lady. Starting back in that direction, we took pictures every which way of all of the cool buildings that surrounded us.

Coming back into the square by the church, we passed a very modern looking building. It was called “Museum of Verkers.” It caught our interest so we went inside. Looking at the maps and brochures, it appeared to be some sort of transportation museum. As Lad’ka, Thibaut, and I looked at the maps, Lee and Leo disappeared. Soon we saw that they had walked past the ticket counter and into part of the museum. Thibaut went to join them but Lad’ka cautioned me not to.

“I do not want to be harassed,” she said. They came back out and said we could probably go into the first few rooms.

“In my country we have a saying,” Lee said. “Act like you don’t know what is going on.”

We laughed.

“In my country we have a saying,” I said. “Ask forgiveness instead of permission. It’s how we wind up invading so many countries.”

We laughed even harder. As soon as I said it, I wondered if I’d crossed a line, but Thibaut reassured me, “That is too funny.”

We left the museum and continued back towards the church. As we did, Lad’ka noticed a tourist information center. “Hold on,” she said, and darted inside. We all followed her.

She rummaged around different displays while we again looked at magnets and postcards. Soon she came back with maps and pamphlets—all in English—that had more info about the sites we had seen today.

“You are the best Lad’ka,” Leo said.

“Yes! Yeah for Lad’ka” Thibaut said. She blushed.

We finally made it to the church and went back inside. The place was now crawling with tourists and we made our way over to the two women by the basement that were selling tickets.

“I think you can speak English to them,” Lad’ka said, pushing me forward.

“Hi,” I said, hoping they would return the greeting.

They did, “Hello.” They both smiled, which was not something I had been expecting. I had gotten used to seeing straight faces or having my accent mocked.

“Yes, we would like to go up in the dome tour. How much is that?” I asked.

“Is five euros, but you don’t pay for it here,” the one woman said. “It is back outside the church, around the corner, third door on the left.”

“Thank you,” I said.

We elbowed our way back outside. When we regrouped, Lee said he thought that was too expensive.

“I went up in a church tower in Barcelona,” he said. “I don’t need to spend that much to do it again. Honestly, I want to try a bratwurst.”

We seemed to be in consensus that the price just wasn’t right. Heading back toward the train station, we ducked into the mall to find German Chocolate, cosmetics, and a bratwurst.

The mall looked identical to one back home. It was crawling with teenagers and people who looked like they didn’t actually want to be there. There was loud music being played in each of the stores, and the traffic in the hallways was crowded and congested.

The first store we went into was a candy store to get chocolate. As Lad’ka and I pushed our way in, Lee suggested we divide up to get around to everything. We agreed to re-group at 4:00pm by the entrance we’d come in. Thibaut, Lee, and Leo took off to find a bratwurst, and Lad’ka and I continued to search for chocolate.

“Now you have to come with me to get cosmetics,” she teased.

“That’s ok,” I said. “You have the train tickets.”

She laughed. “You are smart in picking your friends.”

Lad’ka pointed out several brands of chocolate that were made in Germany. I bought a few different flavors to try. They were pretty cheap at 1 euro/bar. I picked up three bars and a box of truffles. The truffles were more of an impulse purchase from a display by the cash register.

After we had the chocolate, we went into a store that was called a Drogerie. I’d seen this same word on stores back in Prague, but I had assumed it was a drug store. In fact, the entire thing was devoted to soaps, lotions, and makeup. I was surprised to see that it was not at all a feminine shop, but was filled with an equal number of both men and women.

Once Lad’ka had bought what she wanted, she took me around to show me different clothing stores. They were all pretty much American brands—Levi’s and Tommy Hilfiger—but she kept asking me if they were more or less expensive than back home. I couldn’t really remember how much my clothes cost the last time I went shopping, but they prices definitely seemed higher over here.

When we were looking at a map of the mall, we ran into Thibaut, Lee, and Leo. They’d found a bratwurst although they said it wasn’t that great. As I studied the map, I found a brand that jumped out to me. It was my last name. Lad’ka took a picture and we walked around a bit trying to find it. We never did, and decided we should get out of the mall and spend some more time in the city.

“Sightseeing,” Lad’ka asked. “It is a verb?”

“Yes,” I said.

“And the past tense is?” she asked.

I looked at Lee. “I think you’d have to say ‘went sightseeing,’” he said.

As we walked back towards the Zwinger, we saw a café. Lee, Leo, and Thibaut wanted to get some hot chocolate so we stepped inside.

Lad’ka and I sat at a table while we waited for them to order. “Look,” Lad’ka said, pointing at the lady behind the counter. “Her name.”

I looked at her name tag. Her first name was Jennifer. Her last name, was the same as mine. It was so cool to see… and to realize that in some way, she was my cousin. I considered saying something to her, but listening to her, it didn’t appear that she spoke much English.

After they had their drinks, we headed back into the historical district. We got another group photo in front of the Zwinger (this time asking someone to take it for us.) I also had Lad’ka take another “W” photos for me.

“What means this?” Thibaut asked, holding his hands in the same way I had.

“I worked for the Boy Scouts of America,” last year I said. “Kind of like an internship. My office was in the Western Region, so we did the W as our hand sign.”

“Ah,” he said, but they all grew quiet. “So you were a Boy Scout,” Thibaut asked.

“I was,” I said. “Do you guys have something like Boy Scouts?”

“We have many uniformed groups,” Lee said.

“We do too,” Leo said.

They started to list them and I realized that the groups they listed were all parts of their military.

“The Boy Scouts in America aren’t affiliated with the government,” I said. “We aren’t part of the military in anyway.”

They all said that in their countries, the Boy Scouts and the military were very closely conjoined. It was very surprising to me.

At that point, we had a little under 40 minutes until our train back to Prague would be leaving. We walked back through the historic district, passed the malls, and towards the station. As we walked, a woman from World Vision approached us with some pamphlets. She was speaking German and Thibaut told her he wasn’t German. She asked where he was from and when he said France, she immediately switched to speaking fluent French. It was amazing!

When they finished talking he explained that she had just asked where we were from and said she wished she had studied abroad in school.

Back at the train station, the biggest thing I noticed were all of the police patrolling around. They walked in groups and seemed to be at the corner of every hall way. “They are here for protection,” Lad’ka said, apparently sensing my observation of them. We did seem them escort several people out of the station, including some rowdy football fans of Manchester United.

Our train left out of platform 3. While we waited, I took some pictures of the colorful diesel engines that were scattered about the station. Once it arrived, we boarded immediately. We had our own private cabin again, and the train left promptly on time. As we pulled out of the station, I opened my box of truffles and passed them around to the group. They each ate one; I ate two before stowing them away.

Within minutes of leaving the station, there was a knock on our cabin door. Two uniformed guards stood in the entry way.

“Sprechen sie Deutsch?” the one guard asked.

Lad’ka said she did. They went back and forth in quick German dialogue. They pointed at each of us and we all exchanged nervous glances. I recognized the words for “immigrants” “American” and “passport.” Within about a minute and a half, the guard thanked her and left.

“What was that?” Thibaut asked.

“He asked if we were immigrants, where we were from, and if we had passports,” she said.

“That was a lot faster than customs in the US,” I said.

“I know,” Thibaut said. “When I went to US, they asked me if I was a terrorist.”

Everyone laughed. “A stupid question. Why would anyone admit to be terrorist?” Lad’ka said. We continued to laugh. Soon, we’d all pulled out our passports and compared photos and stamps. Lee certainly had the most, having been to Malaysia, China, and Australia several times.

“I really want to go to Austrailia,” I said.

“You would not like it,” he said. “It wouldn’t suit you. It is more laid back than you are.”

“I love this,” Leo said. “It’s almost 5:30 and the sun is still up. Back in Prague it’d be cloudy and dark by now.” I loved it too and watched the sunset as we rode back home.

I never actually saw it set. Within about 10 minutes, I drifted off, fast asleep.

Each time we approached a station, the announcements would wake me up. I figure the longest interval I slept was about 30 minutes. Each time, I woke up, I had another truffle.

“You are addicted to chocolate,” Leo said. “You don’t know when to stop.”

“Now you understand why I don’t want to drink beer,” I joked. We laughed again.

Our tickets were again checked twice; once by the Germans and once by the Czech. After the second time, Lad’ka gave them to me as a souvenir. I separated them, and gave one to Thibaut.

When we arrived back in the station at Prague, I got a very weird sensation. Stepping off the train, I felt like I was coming home. Hearing Czech again sounded familiar. The smells and the sounds felt like part of my own culture. I realized how much I’ve adapted to Prague and how comfortable the city has become to me. I certainly can’t navigate it as well as I can my own home town, but I pretty much know where everything is. While I may not know the quickest ways to get around, I know how to get from one landmark to another. I guess I really do like it here.

We caught the 9 back towards the dorms. Leo offered to take us to an authentic Chinese restaurant, but since I was having lunch with Zuzzana and Ivana the next morning, I decided to save my money. Thibaut and Lee joined him, but Lad’ka too went home to make dinner.

When Lad’ka got off the tram, I thanked her profusely for taking us. She blushed. “You don’t need to thank me.”

Back at the dorm, I stowed my passport and travel papers, put away my hat, coat, and scarf, and vehemently sat down to start blogging. I wanted to remember every detail and I knew that within hours they would start to fade. I wrote down a rough outline and then went over it again and again adding more and more detail.

While I was working, I took a break to Skype with my brother. We talked for over an hour and when I finished I realized I still hadn’t had dinner. I made some soup and then kept blogging. It was nearly midnight by the time I went to sleep, but the day had been an awesome adventure!

I can’t wait for the next one!