Europe Trip 2010: Day 5, Conference & Neustadt Bahnhof

Day 5 of our European vacation was probably the most uneventful day of the trip– Teisha was at her conference all day, Andrew was doing some email catch-up (and writing these delightful summaries), and not much site-seeing was to be had. So we each set out to make up for it in our own way: Teisha went camera-crazy at the incredible breakfast buffet, and Andrew took some time getting to know the Dresden tram system and visited the New Town station to check it out. Like usual, all of the Day 5 photos are available, but it’s much more fun to read all about it in the rest of this post.

As I said, the breakfast spread at the Maritim was superb– not only a dazzling variety of choices, but high quality and tasty as well. Did I mention that “vacation” and “meal” appear to be synonyms on this travelogue? That was never the intention, but we always seem to remember the camera at meal-time; the rest of the time, we’re living in the moment. Ah well. When there’s delicious German food to be had, I can’t regret immortalizing it a little bit. Did I say dazzling variety up there? Why yes, yes I did. Let’s see what Teisha’s camera-work captured:

Here’s her overview photo to capture the venue.

Then, we’ll start the tour with the “wet” salads (curry, cheese salad, egg salad, carrot salad, potato salad, shrimp and fish salad, cucumber salad, cottage cheese, and some others).

And, of course, a wide selection of cheeses and meats– both hard and soft cheese, and many different slices and sausages of meat.

Teisha also really enjoyed the cold fish salads (the purple one is pickled herring, which was quite tasty and not really “fishy” at all).

The Germans also didn’t disappoint in the bread (Brot) selection, with sliced breads, multiple varieties of rolls, baguettes, a variety of cereals, and delightful (and again, very non-greasy) pastry treats.

Given the “meat and potatoes” reputation of German cuilinary arts, one thing that’s surprised us is how much fruit is available on every corner– a local chain called “Vita Bar” seems particularly common, and you’re more likely to see someone walk by eating a pear than a donut.

Wow. So much food. So, what did we actually eat? Here’s the final spread, along with a very satisfied photographer enjoying the “fruits” of her labor.

Breakfast done with, our brave adventurers went their own ways for the day, with Teisha keeping the camera at first, and capturing a few sights from the conference.

The craziest things to see were still the amazing “brand-awareness” of Novus Biologicals, with an antibody car and a pair of antibody princesses.

The conference was in full swing, and even featured a massage parlor for tired scientists.

Teisha took one last photo from the conference before meeting Andrew for a conference-sponsored lunch and handing off the camera– a gigantic (the size of Andrew’s full torso) flask for growing large numbers of cells. That’s a lot of cells, in what they dub a “cell factory”.

Andrew was feeling a bit stir-crazy by now (working on your vacation and hiding in the hotel room being two no-nos of the “serious”, frivolous traveler), so he set out to experience a little more of Dresden. This was accomplished through an impromptu voyage to Neustadt Bahnhof (New Town Train Station), which allowed Andrew to sample the excellent Dresden tram system again. If I lived in Dresden, I’d never own a car– in fact, Mike Tipsword from Day 2 has been here 8 years and has never needed one. There’s an extensive series of trams / light rail cars that interlace the whole city (most locations are 2 or 3 blocks from a tram stop), and a given tram arrives every 8 to 12 minutes. Not only that, but every stop has electronic signs that update constantly, telling you how many minutes until the next tram. The trams themselves are quick, clean, and quiet. Just delightful.

Observation of things like the tram system on this trip have really made both of us feel that the United States is so backward in some ways. As you’ll see on Day 6, traveling through the country-side and seeing all the nuclear and wind power stations only emphasized how forward-thinking Germany is in comparison.

Anyway, digression over. Andrew visited the Neustadt Bahnhof and took some photos. Here’s a few highlights (note the electronic signs for the trains– they’re identical to the tram ones).

Every train station we’ve been to in Germany has a cute diorama / model train set of the local area, and Neustadt was no exception.

And I finally had a chance to see a proper German brat store.

Day 5 ended with Teisha and Andrew both exhausted and feeling ready for a change of venue– coming on Day 6! Thanks for reading.

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