Dresden Weihnachtsmarkt!

Yesterday we visited the Christmas market(s) in Dresden, and I had a pretty much amazing time! We left around 9 am from Magdeburg with Laura, Megan, and Yana (who forbade us from photographing her) as our guide. We arrived in Dresden around 1 pm and met with Yana's friend from Benin (next to Nigeria, apparently) who is studying in Dresden. First we visited some churches, then we hit up the markets! The story unfolds in the web album I have created:

Dresden Advent 2007!

So yeah, as you can see it was a pretty awesome time. We finally got back to Magdeburg a little after midnight and were all totally exhausted. I slept pretty well last night... :D

Why does the stuff in this building never work?

My electrical outlets don't work right now, but it seems like everyone else in the building has the variety that function. Hopefully it'll magically be fixed by morning... If not, then I guess I'll have to deal with the scary Hausmeister lady... Darn you electricity!!! And darn you East Germany...

Stupid building, but hey! At least nobody has flooded the second floor by playing with balls in the hallway... Well, that's actually probably because we don't have sprinklers, but we do have outside doors that open inwards! And since we're on the topic of fire hazards, somebody stole all the fire extinguishers in building. Surprisingly though, Studentwerk actually noticed this and in response, they sent us letters saying to put them back. They also said if we don't put them back, then our lives will be in danger. Well gee, like I didn't know that. Maybe they should get us new ones since it wasn't our fault that some people here suck. Also if I remember correctly, I think those extinguishers were expired anyway...

Oh, and we still have only one washer for the whole effing building. I still can't believe how there is one washer for the 300+ people that live in this building.

Well, since people will probably have to come fix my room tomorrow, I guess I should get around to cleaning it since it's terribly messy. But, it doesn't look too bad when it's clean! >Signing off. <

Weihnachtsmarkt

Today I got to visit Magdeburg's Weihnachtsmarkt, woo! Down at Alter Markt, it featured Christmas spirit good times... It had a lot of the typical German festival type stands, lots of candied nuts, alcohol, and of course, wurst! One place in particular featured a 1/2 meter of Bratwurst for 2,80 EUR. See that awesomeness!



Actually, I was surprised as to how it was actually pretty tasty! Next up we found many types of Glühwein (mulled wine) and also Eierpunsch (egg nog). Both were pretty tasty! The egg nog here, I'm pretty sure, had wine in it, which was kind of a weird taste. Between the four of us that went, we tried some Glühwein with apples, Glühwein with raspberries, and the egg nog. My favorite was the Glühwein with apples--reminded me a lot of cider. I could totally go for some cider right about now...



While we were drinking that stuff, we kept hearing this weird voice which we thought was a carnival game person that wouldn't stfu. Turns out it was a talking moose head affixed to the top of the place where we got our drinkage. It was kinda creepy... Also, since I'm on the topic of sounds, they played the most random X-mas music. It ranged anywhere from traditional German folk songs to terrible pop songs, but that just seems to be the theme of the music anywhere you go in Germany, haha.

So yeah, then after hitting up the foods, we went for the crafty stuff. Actually, there wasn't much their in terms of crafts, but there were a good amount of shops with cute Christmassy stuff in the area. The mall there was featuring a bunch of Christmas stuff as well.

So overall, I had a fun experience today! I very much enjoy Christmas, and this was a good way to get even more pumped for my return trip home! I can't wait!