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| The New Town, in all its hip glory. |
I went to Dresden. Again. Last weekend was my 6
th
trip in the past four years to the Vonnegut-famed city, including a two-week stint for a
German course in February highlighted by a monumental, albeit brief, run in
with
Bill Murray.
But I still went. Again. I grabbed my friend Caroline, left
Jeremy to hone is hausfrau skills, and went.
Again.
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| Graffiti dances over the New Town |
Our time in Europe is coming to an end; and we wrestle with
trying something new versus revisiting our favorite places. We have so much
earth in Europe we haven’t walked on, new cultures (and food!) to experience. So
why visit somewhere you’ve been many times before?
It’s simple. When you revisit a city, your surroundings
become more vivid. It’s like watching a movie more than once – your understanding
of the plot deepens, you notice secondary nuances.
Likewise, with a city, you begin to learn the culture outside
of museums and tourist-packed walkways. The city becomes more familiar and you
become more familiar in it - people stop to ask you for directions; glances and
friendly smiles from passersby on the backstreets become commonplace.
You are in it. And Dresden in one of favorite places to be “in
it.”
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| A glimpse at the Old Town from the Elbe River. |
The city was completely destroyed during World War II, and
until the ‘90s, remained in a somewhat state of devastation. Now, it is a
rebuilt version of its historic self. The baroque architecture is peppered with
new innovative structures creating a unique mix of old and new.
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| Vonnegut's protector. |
The Elbe River separates the New and Old towns. The New Town
is actually the eldest, as it endured the least bit of destruction and was
rebuilt first. But it appears newer with its gridlocked rows of concrete
communist-era buildings, tagged with elaborate works of graffiti.
The Old Town was
built with new materials masked by the rubble of its former self to give that
old town feel. The Frauenkirchen, a beautiful church in the center of the Old
Town, was rebuilt meticulously using original pieces placed in the exact same
spot as it stood in the former structure.
And it works. It all works. The city is inviting. The New Town is hip and fresh, full of artists and hippies, bars and vintage clothing store. The locals of the New Town refer to their side of the river as "the dark side."
The Old Town is refined with quiet restaurants and quaint shops lining cobble-stoned streets, flushed with churches, monuments of yesteryear, and an impressive castle once belonging to Augustus the Strong.
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| Nightlife. |
It is without a doubt worth a visit to Dresden if you find yourself in
Germany. For me, it may even warrant a move. Because like St. Louis and Honolulu,
Dresden feels like home - not just “a” home, but home.
And sometimes it feels
good to just go home.
