Dresden!

Ok so finally here is an update for Dresden.  After getting on the 9:14am train out of Geneva we arrived in Dresden at roughly 8:30pm last Wednesday, where we were met by a smiling waving cousin Peggy; and so, the adventures in Dresden commenced!

A view from the train as we entered Dresden

After catching up with the rest of the family and meeting for the first time baby Emma (and playing with ever-growing Colin) we were treated to a nice relaxing meal of potato soup with German style salads.  It was delicious!  The next couple days consisted of getting our bearings in the city and figuring out the public train/bus system (which is highly efficient) and seeing some of the 'old town' and 'new town'.  Due to the massive destruction of the city from fire bombing during World War II, the 'old town' actually has more modern buildings in it, as they had to be rebuilt entirely, whereas 'new town' while being newer in terms of date settled has more historic buildings.  During the rebuild (which took some 40 or so years in some parts) they did a fine job of matching the style using sand stone. 

Yours truely, surveying the scene.

A statue of the "August the Strong" first king of Saxony and a local legend.

One of the beautifuly rebuilt buildings in Dresden's 'old town'.  Note: the sand stone turns black after a while giving the city a very contrasting character when combined with the gold statues and trim that are found on most historic buildings. 

Another view of the old town historic district.

Being as Dresden is nestled squarely around the Elbe river, there are many boats that frequent the waters, such as this steam boat which adds some flare to the character of the city.

A few more shots from old town.  Unfortunately, we have such an abundance of pictures of this part of the city it would be a bit much to post them all on the blog.  There may be a few more in following posts as we pass through this part of the city frequently on our way to other attractions.

After making it over the bridge into new town, we decided to end our day at a little cafe we found on the corner of the pedestrian mall.  There were children cooling off in the fountain and many Dresdners sitting around us who had the same idea.  After a round of German Erdinger we made our way back to base.  More to come!

Until next time,

John and Matt

Night Life

Sorry for the delay in updates, our internet access in Dresden has not been as simple as previously, but here is a small one, hopefully to be followed by several more.

These are a couple pictures from the public viewings of the soccer matches while we were still in Geneva.  Soccer matches are almost more of a cultural event in Europe than they are a sport so literally  thousands of people come out to watch, socialize and let loose.  We also had the good fortune of watching the England vs Italy game at Mathieu's place which was much more calm and a fun get together!

This is one of the bands that we saw during the music festival (their name escapes me).

These three were taken on the street above and slightly behind the area where we were watching the live music.  The churches in Europe are quite impressive in their scale.

Thats all for the Geneva pictures from our first visit, I am going to attempt to get some of the Dresden pictures uploaded in just a few minutes while the internet seems to be cooperating.  We've had a blast here in Dresden and have much to share so stay tuned!

The UN

Matt and I were able to get a tour of the UN that was both interesting and entertaining.  After learning about how the system works, it is a wonder that they are able to get very much accomplished with all the differing opinions flying about, and with no real power to force any countries to abide by the rulings, its also a wonder the UN is as effective as it is.

 The international communications building which has a lot to do with making sure all the messages get to where they need to be across the globe.

 It is difficult not to be inspired when looking down the row of flags from 193 countries around the world.  One is left with the sense of real importance.

 The largest conference room in the UN, this one seats 2,000 people including delegates and public spectators.

This massive three legged chair placed across the street and directly in front of the flags is there to remind everyone of the dangers posed by landmines throughout the world.  Costing only 1-5 dollars to create and upwards of $2,000 to remove not including the immense danger posed to those who remove them landmines are an absolute menace

Not far from the UN this is the Red Cross headquarters; also the building where our host and friend Yvette works!  You may notice the flag is at half mast; Yvette informed us that this is because one of their colleagues was killed recently on the job.

More Geneva!

Here we are again in beautiful Geneva but this time I'll let the pictures do the talking!

Here we have the "fountain" in the middle of the marina area of Lake Geneva.  Yvette said that during the world cup soccer happenings they somehow managed to suspend a soccer ball atop this massive geyser.

A few more shots of the lake's marina and some of the sweet ships that were tootling around.

Geneva is chock full of various statues and fountains; the above area few that we thought were especially majestic.  The fountain pictured was smack in the middle of a little park which overlooked the lake where Matt and I rested on a bench and did some people watching.  The Swiss are a charmingly strange group who often make funny sounds at each other while passing on a sidewalk or other public place.  As we were returning from an outing with our host Yvette, we were greeted by some of her neighbors by a 'chu chu' sound; quite amusing.  Everyone we have met here so far has been very kind and hospitable and luckily for us, well versed in English (as well as 2-3 other languages).  They say America is the melting pot of the world, but I have found Switzerland does a much better job than we do.  The culture here draws from not only the neighboring countries but from many people across the globe.

Yesterday (Saturday), we went to the opposite side of the lake to celebrate the birthday of one of our host's friends (I believe his name was Rob, although we have met many people so I may be confused).  We cooked bacon-wrapped sausages among other things on a nifty little one-time-use grill that seems to be the rage over here.  Before we ate delicious BBQ however, we first took a little snooze in the sun, worked on our 'tan' (our blazing whiteness prevailed), and took a dip in the lake, which much to my surprise was decently warm.  Here are some pictures from that little excursion:

In classic style, our luck held out and we were able to see the Swiss Alps on the other side of the lake.  We were told that this is a rare site as they are usually covered in clouds/fog for 300 or so days a year and are only visible when the weather is warm enough to cook away the moisture.  It was beautiful!

Some more cross lake shots.  With scenery like this it is no wonder the Swiss are so cheery (might have something to do with their bank accounts as well :p)

Your intrepid adventurers soaking up some Swiss sunshine prior to our dip in the lake and subsequent feast. Try not to go blind, I was slightly worried that the sun reflecting off our amazing whiteness might interfere with the air traffic from the nearby Geneva airport.  Fortunately, no planes crashed and we managed to avoid a sunburn.

 Yvette, Mathieu (an old friend of Yvette's and new friend of your adventurers) and of course Matt.

Yvette, me (John) and Mathieu enjoying a refreshing beer after a refreshing swim.  Mathieu was kind enough let me borrow some swim trunks so I could enjoy a dip in the lake!

Aside from day trips to the lake we have also been treated to some excellent night life on account of the 2012 European Soccer championships and a music festival that has been filling the city with sweet jams.  More on the nightlife in a post later.  As for now we are heading out to the edge of the city with Yvette to wish well a friend of hers as she departs Switzerland for her home in Canada!
Until next time,
John and Matt

First 2 days in brief

We made it hitch free to Geneva and as it turns out the place we are staying used to be the quarters for Voltaire's servants (imagine that).  This will be a brief update, a bigger more picture filled one will follow tomorrow as we are too tired to do such this evening.  What we have done so far includes; watching soccer matches (on public TV's surround by crowds of cheering Europeans), navigate Geneva's bus system with much ease, took a brief walk across the river to check out Lake Geneva and its geyser of a fountain, used our very poor french to buy groceries and we even got to see some live music (as it turns out this weekend is a music festival in Geneva, who knew).  More details and eye candy on deck for tomorrow so stay tuned in (if that can be applied to the internet) and enjoy our ramblings!

Dulles Airport (Washington D.C.)

Waiting for our flight at Dulles. It is scheduled for a 5:42 p.m. departure (11:42 p.m. Switzerland time). Hopefully no delays or surprises await us.

To the airport

After a long night of packing the long awaited moment has arrived and the wagon train, as it were, is moving south to Virginia to begin our grand adventure!  Stay tuned in to Ye Odle Blog (this) for updates, pictures, locations and the general skinny on what your fearless travelers are getting into.  More posts to come soon!