You Go Nate!

How I Spent My Sommer Vacation - Part VII (July 15th):
THE TWINS OF SILESIA

I woke up early to catch the train from Dresden to the easternmost city of Germany. I was headed to the town of Görlitz, on the border with Poland. I had bought a "Saxon Ticket," which is basically a train ticket that is good all day on any of the regional trains within Saxony. I was sitting happily in my seat watching the pretty scenery and eating my breakfast of schinken and waffles when the ticket lady came around asking for tickets. I showed her my Saxon Ticket and she said (in German), "Nope! This doesn't work." She pointed out that the ticket is only good after 9AM and it was, at that time, 8:2something. So she said unflinchingly, "You have a choice, you can either pay the €16 that will get you to where we'll be at 9AM, or you can get off at the next stop." I could tell she wasn't going to budge on this so I told her I would get off at the next stop.

So we stopped in the town of Radeburg and I had to wait for over an hour for the next train. I was kind of upset and so I took a little walk into town (with my big and little backpacks). It wasn't a very exciting town. It is most well known for its big brewery.

Here's the exciting church of Radeburg...

So I boarded the next train to Görlitz and I was on my way again.

Here is Görlitz...

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After an hour or so I arrived in Görlitz. What's in Görlitz you ask? Well this beautiful city has pristine architectural specimens spanning almost it's entire history. There are medieval towers, Renaissance structures, 18th century house rows, and early 20th century "Art Nouveau" department stores. It's also one of the primary city of the region of Silesia.


Silesia is a region and culture that has never had a nation of its own. It stretches from eastern Germany to Poland and down into the Czech Republic. Many times people just lump all Germans together as "German" but they don't realize that there are different ethnic groups inside Germany as distinct from each other as from other European nations. The Bavarians, the Schwabs, the Saxons (sorry, no Geats), the Silesians, the Sorbs, the Low-Germans, the Low-Saxons, along with many others make up a very heterogeneous nation. The name "Deutschland," at its ancient roots, means in fact, "land of the people." "Allemania" and "Allemagne," the Spanish and French names for Germany mean "of all the men."

I arrived at the train station and put my big bag in a locker and headed out into the city.

The city was untouched by the bombs of World War II. It was also specially protected during the Communist era with an order that nothing be torn down and replaced with Commy-buildings. Thus what you have is trip back through time as you walk down each street.

Here is the Art Nouveau department store "Karstadt," and one of the three medieval towers in the city. This tower has the imaginative name of "Dickturm," which means "thick tower." No jokes please.

Here's a better view of the Karstadt. It was built in the 1920's and is one of the few remaining buildings of its kind left in Germany.

...and inside:

Here's another Art Nouveau building with two women as pillars of the balcony:

I found another medieval tower and this one was climb-up-able. So I went to the top for a look...

I found a great view of the city of Görlitz...

The St. Peter's Church and another medieval tower....

Here is the town hall, the Trinity Church and in the background is the block apartments and smokestacks of Zgorzelec, Poland.

Here is the Trinity Church. It's clock is actually seven minutes fast. This is because in the Middle-Ages there was a workers rebellion against the powerful cloth and brewery guilds that ran the city council. The conspirators met with the intention to end their meeting at exactly 12 midnight to avoid the night watchmen (like Mitch), who were would be on the other side of town at that hour. The city council (like Mike) tricked them by ordering the church bell to chime at seven minutes before midnight to fool the rebels into the streets and the arms of the waiting guards.

Inside this old church is a fascinating sculpture of Jesus just sitting there thinking:

Back out onto the pedestrian plaza and down the street....

Passing quaint alleys...

...and charming doorways...

Here are some interesting Renaissance buildings. The one on the right has mathematical and astronomic depictions on its façade.

A Baroque building...

Another house that thinks it's all fancy...

Before long I came to the river Neiss. This is the border between Germany (left-side) and Poland (right-side). I had never been to Poland before so I was excited as I crossed the bridge and entered the great Slavic land.

Way to go Nateski!

On the German side of the river was the St. Peter Church so I got my lousy picture taken from Poland.

I crossed the bridge back into Germany. I would return to Poland in a couple of hours. I wasn't through with Görlitz yet.

I found another interesting Renaissance house with blue (right?) bricks.

Cool...

And right down the street was the third medieval tower, the Nikolai Tower (capped with a Baroque dome). It was here in its shadow that I had lunch.

Rick Steves had much good to say about the restaurant here and its traditional Silesian cuisine. I decided to go all out and order the Silesian specialty: "Schliesescher Himmerlreich" or "Silesian Kingdom of Heaven." It consists of pork cutlets and dumplings with fruit (in this case apples, pineapple, prunes, and apricots), and a creamy sauce. Let me tell you, it was incredible, a very unique dish. It was like a museum in your mouth. Many times eating the local cuisine is one of the best and most intimate ways (*ahem*) of absorbing another culture.

After my delightful lunch I continued my exploration. Here is a street that made me feel like I had really stepped back in time a hundred years or so...

Here is the same street from the other direction, it's funny how different it feels in this picture.

Görlitz is located exactly on the longitudinal meridian of 15 degrees. Now hang on to your hats people, because that's just the beginning. They also have a monument to show this important landmark. I was hoping to flush water down a drain to see if it would spin one way or another depending on which side I was on. But I just didn't have enough water handy for such an experiment.

I was near another bridge that went into Poland (the John-Paul II Bridge) and so I went back into Zgorzelec.

Welcome back to Poland...

It was fascinating to see the stark contrast between Poland and Germany. Zgorzelec was much more run-down and chaotic on the street level than Görlitz. Everything was in Polish (no German that I could see), and all I heard being spoken was Polish. It was fun to wander around and not speak or understand a word.

The nice old buildings are much more run-down here.

...but still charming...

Here's an official-looking building... not sure what it is though:

And then I found this Culture Monuement. Not sure what the story is here...

Right next to the Culture Monument is this forest-park with some of the coolest dirt-bike trails I'd ever seen. I sat and enjoyed some Polish Forest Solitude.

And then I walked a stone's throw away to the riverbanks where I rested a while longer.

Here I am saying "Poland" while in the country of Poland itself.

Then it was back to Germany... Goodbye Poland.

There was a nice park on the German side near the river. I took my shoes off and had a nice POWER NAP then headed back into the city. It had been a full day and after two nights of mediocre sleep in the Dresden hostel and two full days of sightseeing, I was kaput. It was all good, however, because later that afternoon I gathered my bag from the train station and took a short train ride to my the final destination on my trip; and there I would sleep like a king.

Görlitz Picasa Album:

Görlitz & Zgorzelec

Next time: Another new friend, another new country, and the coolest rocks in Germany (and one topped by a castle).




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