It was a delight not to have to hear more about war, brutality, unfair advantages between the East and West, and the bad news that the Soviets were as bad as the Nazis. None of that. We’re still in the east, but in an area that never noticed the war because they had chin

The temperature was a toasty 104 degrees, but we only had to face it twice, once when we had a brief tour of old Meissen (absolutely lovely) and when we walked into the factory.

Meissen was a very charming town, as charming as any in Germany.

Inside the porcelain museum. We had to be careful not to turn quickly and break $10,000 in one turn! Apparently it happened to Kieran once, so he left us at the door.

I loved all these colors!

Meissen is in the cradle of Saxony, settled 1000 years ago and chosen by the  German king Henry, who liked the military possibilities here. Natural fortresses with all the cliffs. Meissen was not bombed during the war, so everything here is naturally old. It actually looks good, but there is a bit of a grudge that after1945 and, later, after the reunification of East and West, Meissen was fine, but it is a bit bitter because it got no help for rebuilding. And that’s enough history for today.

Check out this darling town. Our only disappointment was that it was Sunday and everything was closed—except the restaurant that opened especially for us. 

Big change in attitude today. Our guide, Kieran, told us at dinner, “A German lady came up to me today and said, ‘You are fat!’” He responded. “Fat? I might be fat, but I identify as ‘trans-slender!’”

The church was lovely from the outside, and services had just finished and yet… closed. The fun part was walking through the plaza-mister, spraying misty water as high as a person… just what we needed. So sorry the church wasn’t open, but that’s Sunday in a small German town for you.