some of the people i was drinking with were born in the 90s closer to my niece's age than i like. November 5th i woke early to get my train from Berlin to Dresden. I slept most of the way. hopped out at the wrong station though. First shop i found was a craft store yay. resisted cute german christmas delights. i wandered around the historic center of Dresden. I felt lost as I have no information about the city. The buildings are beautiful but they are black. There is a lot of construction. All tourist signs are in German I'm thrilled to see they are setting up the old square with Christmas markets. So beautiful. I sit in the palace courtyard listening to a musician play accordian and watching groups of school children being given tours. I bought many snacks and fruit at Aldi. such a good cheap option for travelers. i spent less than €3. My hostel room is odd. 4 people = 1xbunks & 1double bed. i chose top bunk. no lockers eek.. today was sunny and warm I made sure to soak in some rays and stay out walking for hours. In a shopping center i loved the variety of cheeses and sausages. I thing Dresden would make a fab spot for xmas shopping. Although Dresden has modern and old i like the feel of Eastern Germany more than west which I thought was too posh/rich /fancy. I know Im only 7 days in but in my head I'm plotting extensions to my trip through albania/croatia etc. i went up to the bar to get my free drink and found it abandoned and silent. disapointing after the wild nights in berlin. i bought a half litre of Radeberger and read my book with some football on in the background. a second beer and a bowl of pretzels from the bar. Another guest arrives and tries to hit on me until he runs out of english and we are left confused. i read in bed, bunk mate is an 18 yo photographer from the south of germany. he leaves at 7am again. Another roommate loudly enters late. unzips everything sorts through many plastic bags tested the bed for a bit then decided to leave. Friday 6th wandered around Dresden again, another sunny day. walked right across town. I went to an old dairy, Pfund's, with blue tiles and fancy cheeses. would be nice to be here longer and cooking treats. i went in the old church Frauenkirche its decorated with pale blues and golds. the reconstruction is very good. i am learning a lot about the history of eastern and central europe from being here and from MIchael Palin's book that i just finished. I sat in the courtyard of the palace Zwinger letting the sun warm my bones and listening to the bells play on the quarter hours. i enjoyed the shops in Dresden, free samples of chocolate and Christstollen. xmas decorations and pretty wooden figurines. my journey to poland was delayed one hour on the tracks however i spent most of the time asleep anyway. the man oposite me lovingly opened an open suse box he had just bought read every page of the manual as we traveled. i was surveyed about my trip entirely in german, with passengers translating. each time i explained i did not speak german the surveyer replied yes and kept on in german anyway. the lady selling train tickets to Krakow did not speak english and Pauline arranged it all for me as we waited for Pawel to get Jan from the airport. I'm a little worried about my adventures in Poland with such a language difference.