11/17/15 day 18: Dresden, DE

Peter and I walked to breakfast at Tiki which is a little ice cream/coffee shop 100 yards from the apartment. Jeff decided it was worth the investment to stay in a hotel down the road. Probably a wise move all things considered. Double latte and schoko-croissants and then met Jeff around 1130 and went on a short little wander around Neustadt which is a real funky neighborhood. This is where I would live if I moved here. Loads of bars and cafes and cool little mom and pop shops, people on bikes with funky hairdos, young families, the buildings have character... It's like Northampton meets Brooklyn.

We walked into a shop and noticed they sold Putamayo CDs and told the girl behind the counter who we were and she was totally shocked! She knows Dance With Me and now wants to come to Blue Note for the show. We are kind of a big deal...

We continued our walk, popping into stores for postcards and gifts for home. Germany is slowly preparing for Christmas. Man, this is the country to spend Christmas in.... Every city has its own Weihnachtsmarkt (Dresden has three) which offers various Christmas trinkets, ornaments, food stuffs, mulled wine, etc. A lot of the shops are starting to sell advent calendars which I used to love as a kid. There was even a Campers store which had a killer pair of shoes but i refrained... for now.

Met at Falko's burger joint next to the Blue Note and enjoyed some seriously delicious burgers. The craft burger movement is afoot in Dresden, much like the U.S. There are multiple on the block. Everyone's got an opinion whose is best. Kebab is still king though. One thing I've noticed about burgers in Germany is that the buns are never right. They usually fall apart for some reason but this burger was legit. And real bacon and grilled jalapeños?! Stop it right now. They even had a veggie option for Jeff. Killin.

After that we needed a walk so our buddy Max took us on a tour to the Innenstadt which looks like a movie set... I mean everything is new since 1945. Dresden was completely leveled during the war. It's beautiful but it almost looks too new. Too clean. Too immaculate.

We paid the 8€ and walked to the top of the Frauenkirche which was also basically destroyed and rebuilt in beautiful fashion. Amazing views at the top. Just hold on to your cell phone, the wind was fierce.

The Elba River looking towards Neustadt.

Facing Southwest. If u look closely you can see where the Christmas market is being set up. Wish we could go to it but it opens two days after we leave for the US.

Stopped by the little Christmas shack in the Neustadt for a warm up of Hot Mulled white Wine with chunks of ginger. Perfect to knock out the cold and lighten your feet a little. Back to the apt for a power down around 4:45.

Strong power down back at the crib. "Drool in the beard" strong. Washed my face and headed down to the corner cafe to write postcards and have a green tea with honey. It's still pretty mild outside so I sat outside, scribbled on my cards, and watched the world go by. Winter hasn't arrived but it just opened the gate and you can hear it's footsteps in the dried leaves as it walks down the driveway to the house. Blankets rest on the back of the chairs waiting for the first sign of a shiver.

Rendezvous with the lads at 7 and we walked down to the Italian restaurant where Max said was the pizza in town. Had a nice little dinner and then rolled back to the apt and got cleaned up and then walked down to the Blue Note around 9:30. The place was already full. We learned during the day that tmrw (Wednesday) is a holiday in this part of Germany so they were expecting a good crowd. There was a buzz on the streets and in the club. It was awesome!! It felt like New Years Eve but everyone says that it's like this every weekend. People sitting on the sidewalk drinking beers and  carrying on. And the weather was just warm enough that a jacket wasn't even necessary.

Show went really well! We had fun and the near 50 person crowd got into it, which in the Blue Note is a packed house. We busted out "Free Falling" which felt good and moved When We Were Young to the encore position. After the show we hung with our friends Max and Falko. Falko showed up late and missed the set so we went upstairs to the band apartment and played a few tunes and dined on delicious Pinova apples from Baienfurt. All in all a great night. Love this town and our friends who enjoy a good hang and crispy apples. Night from Dresden.