Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Chase
Chase is a jet-setting Christmas-loving penguin. While he certainly does not feel the need to find an excuse to travel, the German Christmas markets always provide a wonderful incentive to find the time to head to Europe during the hectic holiday season.
He recently had the great luck to join his family in Dresden, which is perhaps the loveliest, most Christmassy city he has ever been to…every public space seemed to house a Christmas market. And he made it his mission to hit them all.
Chase stayed at the comfortable but not too glamorous Westin Bellevue (apparently only individuals staying in preferred Starwood guest rooms are deemed worthy of conditioner). He did, however, like its location on the Elbe across from the Old Town, as the walk over the Augustus Bridge was absolutely lovely. The hotel was also in close proximity to the charming Neustadt Haupstraße Christmas market, where he found some fabulous Christmas decorations, indulged in treats, and had a glass (or two) of Glühwein. He enjoyed the festive décor (even if there were no penguins), the traditional plum men and Kurrende (choir) figures being his favorites.
Chase managed to tear himself away from all of the shopping and consumption of sweets (if only briefly) to make time for a quick trip to the town of Meissen.
He enjoyed the views from the Albrechtsburg Castle
and liked the Gothic cathedral (although he did not quite understand the point of the room where visitors were invited to watch a video of an old man playing a somewhat unimpressive organ, but apparently some people were captivated).
Chase also stopped by the Meissen Porcelain Museum.
He was not a great fan of the tour, which involved being herded from room to room to observe live demonstrations of the process of creating porcelain objects (with a pre-recorded soundtrack), but did admire the lovely wares.
Although Chase enjoyed his excursion he was happy to return to Dresden and its markets…on a short trip it’s all about establishing priorities and making the most of one’s time, and it’s hard to beat Glühwein and whipped cream topped waffles.
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