Hanging Out in Neustadt

Two of my classmates live in Neustadt, the "New City" neighborhood of Dresden. Neustadt is north of the Dresden city center, on the other side of the Elbe River. With its cobblestone streets, old building facades, graffiti, and plentiful restaurants and bars, it feels like a completely different city from Dresden. I've been there a few times at night as well as during the day and there are always lots of people on the streets.

Last night my classmates and I met our GIS teacher there, at Reise-Kneipe, the travel bar. They have a great selection of unusual drinks. Last night I had some fresh mint tea and mango juice, and last weekend I tried a bottle of Müller's Malz, a strange slightly sweet, alcohol-free, organic malt drink.

The first time I visited Neustadt my classmates took me to see a place called Kunsthof-Passage. Through a passage from one of the main streets, you enter a network of courtyards with different themes. The courtyard that attracts the most visitors is the Hof der Elemente. One wall has storm drains in the shape of trumpets that funnel water into each other. I've heard rumors that the drains make music when it rains. Facing this wall is a golden wall with curved metal ribbons.

The next courtyard over, the Hof der Tierre, has a giraffe and monkeys on the wall, as well as rattan-like balconies. The other three courtyards are the Hof des Lichts, which has cornflower blue walls and bright red window and door frames, the Hof der Fabelwesen, and the Hof der Metamorphosen. We were in a bit of a rush the day we visited; I hope to return later to explore the courtyards a little more.

Another one of the landmarks in Neustadt is Martin Luther Platz, a square that contains a tall, dark church built in the late 1800s. It's a surprisingly quiet area for being just off one of the main drags. There's a comfortable pub just around the corner from it called Bottoms Up. I discovered it with my Spanish and Italian classmates when we were tired and hungry after a long walk across town. It turned out to have great food; their vegetarian lasagna, which is made with different vegetables every day, really hits the spot.

Last night we went to Bottoms Up after leaving the travel bar. The waitress recommended for me and I tried an extremely potent (11% alcohol!) and sweet Belgian beer called Kasteel. It was served in a special glass with a small glass castle on the stem. After drinking half of it I could barely keep my eyes open and had to switch glasses with my Irish classmate, who was drinking a tall glass of Erdinger Weißbier. I slept well last night.

Martin Luther Platz is beautiful and somewhat eerie at night. Last Monday I rushed past it on my way to try out a yoga class with my Russian classmate. That class was quite an experience. The instruction was mostly in German, with a little English. This was ok for the poses, because I could try to mimic what the teacher and the other students were doing, but I missed a lot during the lengthy meditation and laying-down times. I realized my lungs are quite weak when the teacher instructed us to do rapid breathing while holding certain poses, as well as during the several times we chanted "Om..." I wanted to laugh a few times, especially near the end of the class when the teacher led us through different squatting tip toe poses. One of them was especially difficult - we had to squat on our tip toes, extend one leg straight out, and put our hands in prayer position (samatvam asana?). I struggled to maintain my concentration as people thudded to the floor all around me. I was quite relieved when the class ended! There's nothing like yoga to point out where you're weak - I was sore in unusual places like my shins and upper back for the next two days at least!