October 5-7, 2009

Monday we started our day with a private tour of the primate section of the Leipzig Zoo. It is both a zoo and a research center. We saw chimps, orangutans, gorillas, and more. From there we went to the Max Planck Research Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. We saw their ability to take digital images of bones and then print a 3D model of them. That night we went to a Rotary Club meeting and had dinner with the members.

Tuesday we were up early to catch a train to Dresden. The day started with some drizzle, but it cleared up by the afternoon. We walked through the pedestrian shopping area. My eyes were huge as we passed H&M, Lush, Accessorize, New Yorker, Mango, and more. It finally felt like I was in Europe. Unfortunately, we just kept walking. After being taunted by those delights, we went on a private tour of the Green Vault, which contains the largest treasures of Europe and is in part of the Dresden castle. My favorite room was the Jewel room and I also liked the 41 carat green diamond. From there we had a traditional Saxon lunch, but I didn’t particularly care for it. Next we went to the Church of Our Lady, which was reopened a few years ago. Dresden suffered major damage from bombings in WWII. While the church wasn’t hit, it caught fire and collapsed the day after the bombing. Everything has been restored as accurately as possible. Next we climbed to the dome for a great view of the city.

After that we did a walking tour of the city which included strolling along the River Elbe, viewing the mosaic of the Saxon sovereigns, the Zwinger Palace gardens, and the Catholic Church of the Royal Court of Saxony.

After a full day in Dresden, we took the train back to Leipzig. From the train station, my host Julia, Dena and her host Thomas, and Ryan and his host went for drinks but ended up having dinner and drinks. We headed home around 11pm.

Today we left Leipzig again and headed by van to a small town called Riesa. Our first stop was the mayor's office at the Riesa Rathaus. We met the mayor and a possible nun impersonator gave us a tour of the former monastery, which is now the mayor’s office. She also presented us with a gift. Next we went to the Riesa noodle factory and started with lunch. I had spaghetti bolognese. It was good. The noodles were made there and the sauce was the yummy European kind with more meat than sauce. Dena got spaetzle and cheese with bacon. I wish I had gotten that but after yesterday's food fiasco, I was nervous. I tried a bite and it was really good. They had all sorts of different shaped pasta for sale including dinosaurs. Next we went on a tour of the factory. We had to wear funny hats and cover-ups. It was hot in there and it was actually a pretty warm day today so we kind of wanted them to wrap things up sooner than they did.

Next we went to an orchestra and listened to their rehearsal. Just before leaving, we stopped to see a tall iron sculpture of an oak trunk, named "Elbquelle", by Jörg Immendorff.

Once we got back to Leipzig we were taken to the Porsche factory for a private tour. We got there about 7pm and weren’t even expecting to go. This was the highlight of the day for me. Not only was it great seeing a luxury car assembled, but also it was interesting to see a car in all its different pieces being put together. Of course they had it down to a very efficient science. They had Cayennes and a new model called Panemera. I understand that they were producing the first cars ready to be sold in America. It's a four-door sports car. They said the new hot color is various shades of brown and the next hot color will be blue. I personally liked the GT silver. They also have a showroom where they do events, so I got the information about that. There is also an onsite racetrack and off road area where you can drive your car if you pick it up there to check out the performance. Of course they also do their testing there too including various types of road conditions to see how the car performs. We just got home from a day that started at 8:30am and now it's 11:30pm. This is what every day is like, so I'm super sleepy.