Hanami

It's april now and last week the weather decided to change radically. We had days with 26°C already and it's just soooooo nice to have those temperatures again after that awfully cold winter (with -24°C).

In Feburary it was looking like this still:

And now evereything is blooming and "greening"! I'm so happy that winter is over - I don't like it... I love summer, when the sun is shining and when everything is green and it's warm. Soon - at least I hope so - there won't be cold nights anymore and I can enjoy some more warm summer sunshine!

I was disappointed by the fact that last years hanami in Japan just sucked because it was simply too cold. But now I have a beautiful hanami in front of my door - no need to go to Japan *__*

















Upper left side is our cherry tree in our garden (with eatable cherries *__* SOON SOON!!!!) and the right one is standing in front of my window in Marburg.

















I took pictures of two different pink cherrytrees as you might see - the right one is way more white than the left one.

In case I can find a still blooming magnolia tree - I think I'm almost too late to find one - I will post some more pictures. Starting on wednesday I'll have a painting class and I would like so much to paint some water color pictures of those blossoms! Sadly, I can't handle water colors XD

By the way - I just came back from my portuguese exam and got the feeling that I might have passed it... I want so much to join that class! Can't wait to see the results!

A weekend in Dresden

For all who don't know where Dresden is: it's in eastern Germany. I have to admit I don't travel that much inside Germany. So it was also my first time to go to Dresden. The reason why I went there was a serious one though but well, let's first start with some nice impressions of the city.

After at least 5 years that was my first trip I did together with my parents again. We spend our trip in a caravan and I enjoyed the wonderful not peaceful nights together with my parents in one room/car. (...) The camping side was around 15km far away from the city center. I felt a little bit like on a farm surrounded by sheeps and cows.
























I don't know exactly why there was this naked guy standing on that building with his huge - well you can see it on your own, but it was impressive. The right picture shows Yenidze. It was an old tabak factory. The big, small tower is the chimney. Now there is a big restaurant and a lot of offices inside. Sadly I was on the wrong side of the railway so I only could make a picture of a lot of cables :( .



Then we went to the old center. It's famous for the old buildings that got destroyed during the war. Some parts are still the original ones but a lot of things were built completely new.



















Here on the left you can see the entrance of the "Semperoper". It's one of the most famous opera houses in Germany. 6 years ago there was an awful flood in Dresden city that destroyed a lot of the old buildings (they are actually next to "Elbe" one of Germanys biggest rivers). The Semperopers basement was - as far as I know - completely destroyed and it took a while until everything was repaired again. Also Semperoper is shown in one of Germanys beer commercials ;).



After that, we moved further to the "Zwinger". This building complex was also destroyed during WWII but now it's completely rebuild.
























































One of the city's attractions is the carriage. There is even an old one that was once used for delivering mail. It's the only vehicle that's allowed to run in the inner part of the city.
























This is Dresden's famous church "Frauenkirche". During WWII the church was destroyed and the relicts remained more than 40 years in Dresdens center until the city decided to rebuild the church. During those 40 years the church served as a monument for the war.











In the afternoon we went to see the "Bastei". The bridge connects the city Neurathen and the Bastei. The bridge itself is around 80m long and built in a height of 163m. The cliffs surrounding the bridge are particulary loved by climbers. Well, I personally was happy not to stand on one of the rocks...





















Yes it was really high there. I tried to figure out how people once used to climb around there to defend the castle... I think it was not that secure. Anyways, my parents and me decided not to go to the plateau, because - well - not that we were afraid but... we just didn't go! I was kinda relieved when I reached the stairs to the parking lot again.

The reason for that trip by the way was a visit in a clinic spezialized in people who lost there taste and smell. I got an appointment there and I had to make some tests that proofed what and how I can smell. Looking through the MRI pictures the doctor could verify that I might get back my smell though it will take some more months (years). I still have a kind of haematoma that has to disappear first to give space to the smelling nerves. Also, those nerves have to grow together again before I'll be able to smell again. Well, good news at the end, now I just have to wait a little more.