Hello from Dresden & Berlin (Germany)
Date: 8/31/99 1:16:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

As you might know, Dresden was a artistic and cultural
center in all Europe before the war. It was destroyed
and burned almost entirely in 1945, unnecessarily as
Germany had already lost the war by then.  Probably it
was a pay-back for the German bombing of London for days.

Meanwhile I am meeting interesting people along the way,
like the 2 Chinese girls (one from Hong Kong, one from
Malaysia) who made Bratislava a Roman Holiday, the 2 Serb
guys, both physicists, with whom I had a wonderful all-out
chats at the hostel in Budapest, the same with a young Serb
couple at the same hostel the next morning, a Cambodian
French teacher also there, etc. etc.

In any event, after Dresden I moved on to Berlin, staying
in East Berlin as most of the history is on this side. As
with Dresden, the entire city is undergoing a huge
renovation, seemingly every building has a crane next to
it. Indeed, I was told that East Berlin is presently the
biggest construction project in the world. (Consider the
destruction in these parts and the communist rule for
decades ... ) I decided I like Eastern Europe and
Europeans.

2. Cities on a 2-day schedule. Almost all European cities,
can be seen in 2 FULL days, as follows:

1) Upon arrival, change money, confirm your hotel or hostel
from the station or airport. Then go to the Tourist Office
or Info Desk and get a map of the city. In case it is not
clear, ask the person there to mark the old city. This is
where you will find charm, social life, etc. And this
reduces the city to a more manageable size, taking out the
commercial areas and suburbs, etc. that look the same
everywhere.

2) Day 1. Depending on the size of the city, allocate some
8 to 10 hours to walking to get the pulse of the city (old
town). Even at stroll speed, this should cover 10 miles or
so, which is a lot of sightseeing. For example, in Prague,
I took the 20-min tram from the hostel to the smaller train
station there, near the fringe of the Old Town, and began
walking towards the river, taking time to inspect
everything interesting-but without long museum visits at
this stage. Then I crossed the river thru the 2nd bridge
above the famous Charles Bridge and began climbing to the
Cathedral and Castle on that side of the river, across from
the old town. About 4 hours later I was at the Charles
Bridge. I crossed it to the Old Town and walked around the
charming winding streets all over the Old Market Square,
also for coffee and people watching.

This was an arduous exercise but I had the city covered in
one day, also visiting the insides of several churches and
other interesting buildings. The cathedrals in various
cities, though most imposing constructions, are similar in
design, like the tall and "ribbed" dome ceilings. Some of
the smaller churches, like the Blue Church in Bratislava, I
thought, are more quaint. The castle, that seems to exist
in every old city, usually on the other side of the river
and across from the Old Town, are huge entities and deserve
some inspection. (The most impressive castle on European
mainland is the one in Neuschwanstein, which you can reach
easily from Munich.)

The first night I went to one of the best Czech restaurants
in town, Simon Restaurant & Bar, and ordered probably the
most expensive local menu of anyone there--and I was
treated accordingly, also by the manager.

Day 2. Is devoted to several activities, like visiting the
main museum for a few hours, taking a river cruise of 1 or
2 hours-almost all of these cities are located along a
river, like the Danube in Budapest-and selective walking to
the nicest destinations marked from the previous day's walk
for more leisurely sightseeing. And I topped the day off by
going to a concert at night. It was "Gypsy Concert" in
Budapest (so so) and Vivaldi's Four Seasons in Prague
(good).

For Berlin I had allocated 3 days; I increased to 4 days
and also decided that I would not mind living here. It is a
24-hour city pulsating with life. None of those jet black
(say) "Los Angeles at Night" post cards here; this place is
alive, not only with cars but also with PEOPLE, in cafes,
restaurants, bars, pubs, walking, dancing, having fun ...
even in East Berlin.

Berlin is a huge city and has many interesting parts at
various locations. DAY 1. 1 had the native manager at the
hostel mark the most interesting parts in East Berlin for a
leisurely walk. The walk took 9 hours, covering all nuances
of that part, including the ethnic, upscale, Bohemian,
artsy ... parts, checkpoint Charlie and the museum there,
and the preserved portion of the Mauer (Wall) on Muhlerstr.
DAY 2. 1 devoted this day to recapturing some memories from
my previous visit to Berlin when I was attending the
gymnasium in Germany. I began at the Kurfurstendam in West
Berlin, which is like the Times Sq. and Broadway of NY, and
visited 3 more museums: Dahlem (at the Free University),
Schloss Charlottenburg, and Pergamon.

DAY 3. 1 allocated this day to the inspection of the "Unter
den Linden" Boulevard--like our Constitution Ave. and the
Mall in DC-passed under the Brandenburger Tor (Gate) and
joined the hordes of people climbing to the dome of the
Reichstag. By the time I was back on the ground, there was
a Woodstock-like party down below, with 5 bands playing at
the same time in different parts. I stayed there to early
morning hours.

DAY 4. Russian War Memorial, then cafe life and people
watching, getting ready for the next destination up in
Baltic Europe, and a wonderful dinner with a 22-year-old
girl with purple hair working at the hostel.

Music. I am impressed with how music in Europe has
progressed. Although they also play American music, the
native music is very innovative. It is mainly a disco beat
accompanying Latin, Caribbean, and dance themes: FUN music,
without our wailing tones and rap messages. I even heard
disco beat accompanying American Indian chanting. It was
really nice...

I am leaving on a 20-hour plus bus ride to Baltic Europe
this afternoon.