Dateline: Chemnitz
Bob and I took the train from Amsterdam to Duisburg, Germany, where we changed to an overnight train to Dresden, via Berlin. It was quite windy and cold in Duisburg as we walked around looking for a cafe at 10 pm, but when I awoke on the train at 4 am as we came into Berlin, it was snowing, and there was snow on the ground. Once again I had trouble getting back to sleep, so I stared out the window at the giant speed-blurred snowflakes until we finally came close to Dresden, where they were clearly shovelling out from under a substantial snowfall, and it was still snowing. We walked through a desolate, not-yet-open-for-business downtown and found a place to get a bit of breakfast. At around 9, we met up with Bob's "relatives" from Chemnitz (formerly Karl-Marx-Stadt of the DDR). Bob's last name is sufficiently rare that he and his family can assume that anyone who shares it is related – the family in Chemnitz (and another branch in Liege, Belgium) is probably about 10 generations removed but they've definitely traced the connection.
We saw some old parts of Dresden (tho much is reconstructed since the city was so completely destroyed in WWII) and ate breakfast again with Michael and Kristine, and drove to Chemnitz (about an hour on the autobahn through light snow) by lunchtime. Had some delicious potato dumplings for lunch, with purple cabbage and roast beef of some kind in gravy, pretty traditional saxon dish I guess. It was good. We went shopping (I bought some gloves for the cold and a map of Berlin for when I get there, since Bob will no longer be as functional a guide there), and then spent the afternoon at Michael and Kristine's apartment. I can follow bits and pieces of the conversation, but my utterances are limited to Danke and Bitte. Occasionally Bob provides running translations but mostly I just sit and smile and absorb the whole thing impressionistically. After supper we drove to Jens, Sylke and David's (Michael and Kristine's son, daughter-in-law and grandson) in Euba, about 5 km south of Chemnitz, very rural and euro-pastoril scenic – like a swiss postcard with the fresh snow on everything.
Dateline: Jena
I didn't last long before needing to go to sleep. I had a glass of sekt (sparkling wine e.g. reisling) and it knocked me out. I woke at 4 am per my new pattern, but managed to get back to sleep, so for the first time in a few days I managed a full, restful night's sleep. Michael and Kristine returned for breakfast, thought Jens was gone early to work (he drives a train).
Train from Chemnitz to Jena between 12 and 2. Jena is where Bob studied as an undergrad in 1986, he has friends there with whom we are staying now.