"Welcome to "OLD" Europe" german_eagle's Profile

It's hiking season again. Perfect weather at the moment! This picture was taken at Kleiner Zschirnstein in Saxon Switzerland. View goes north toward Königstein. This hike is even doable for people with fear of heights :-)

In the last weeks I managed to write some tips almost every day. I updated my Kurort Rathen and Stolpen pages, created a new page on the nearby town Hohnstein - both towns in the National Park Saxon Switzerland region, fitting for the coming walking/hiking/cycling season - and I am almost finished with my Chemnitz page. I recommend the latter to anyone who is into places that don't jump into your face with sights, museums and monuments. It's a great city for someone who is curious to explore off the beaten path - and you'll discover fantastic sights, believe me!

I also did an excursion to Großenhain, a small town some km north of Dresden. Nothing overly exciting, but famous for its Baroque church. More on the new Großenhain page.

I continue working on my Dresden page, which will probably always be a work in progress. So, since there's little hope that I'll ever be finished with that page, feel free to have a look at it. I added many restaurant tips, sports tips, updated Things to do and Off the beaten path as well as transportation tips. Yet to come are Local Customs. And I'm sure I'll come up soon with more tips in other categories as well :-)

Christmas Market in Dresden

I am glad I found the VT website. It is fun to (virtually and/or personally) meet people from all over the world. It broadens one's mind and helps to prevent/reduce stereotypes and prejudices. (Well, sometimes it might happen that you find stereotypes to be proved :-))

I am grateful for all the tips, advice and recommendations given on VT. Most of them are very helpful.

winter impressions in the Harz mountains

I was born in East Germany, 20 years before the wall came down. This means that travelling as a teenie was limited to Eastern Europe. So I could not visit some of the most favourite spots like Paris, London, Florence etc. at this age. But to be honest - I didn't really miss them. For example, I travelled quite often to Prague (only a three-hour drive) and found it to be much more romantic and charming than it is now, though restored, with all the tourist crowds.

My parents dragged me around East Germany and these East European countries a couple of times each year. It must have been their preference of mountains which had let my addiction to beautiful scenery grow.

After travelling Spain, Italy and Greece in the early 90s as a student I went to Switzerland in 1993 and immediately fell in love with it. So I travelled this country excessively during the last ten years. You won't find a lot of pages of Switzerland, though, because I had no digital camera at this time. Well, my addiction to Switzerland is still there, but due to business reasons I had to reduce my vacations there this year. In spite of that I started to explore Germany, especially East Germany and the region where I live - Saxony. I was surprised to find so many wonderful small towns, fascinating works of art and beautiful scenery, which I had no idea they would exist.

Frauenkirche in evening light

When visiting my pages you will very soon notice that I am a fan of architecture, art and culture. Aside of that nature - scenic views. Most of my Must See Tips are on such sights. I am probably biased being so fortunate to live in a jewel of a city - Dresden, which is famous for its architectural sights and art collectionsas well as lovely landscape, but also for the tragedy of the destruction in an air raid 13/14 February 1945. So far my Dresden page does list plenty of "Must See Tips" and "Off The Beaten Path Tips", some other helpful tips on restaurants and stuff, but relatively few insider tips for nightlife and cheap accommodation. I plan to add such tips soon, so please be patient and visit the site again later.

You will also notice that most of the places for which I have built pages are located in the vicinity of Dresden. My intention is to show VTers the beauty of the region where I live, the East Germany state (Bundesland) Saxony. In my opinion you cannot do justice to Dresden and/or Saxony with a visit of only two days or so. See my Land Sachsen page for suggestions where to go.

When it comes to travelling we all have our - different - preferences. One goes to a beach to relax and have fun, others rush like a whirlwind through cities and countries (If it's Tuesday it must be Belgium :-)).

I hate packing/unpacking, check in/out a hotel. Driving in a city is a hassle for me. When travelling to other countries I am trying to dive into that different culture as far as I can. My pace gets slower while on vacation ... Food is absolutely important. I don't mind to have a wurst or sandwich during the day, but no fast food chains!

I use to stay more than only a couple of days in one place and do day trips from there, preferrably by public transportation. Ecology is important to me - please do take care of mother nature, my fellow travellers!

Before going on vacation I try to get as much information as I can. Guide books, internet sites, personal recommendations etc. are my sources. That also means that in return you may get plenty information from me about places I have been to.