Story and Photos by Monique Burns.
Leaving Weimar on the fifth—and final—leg of my odyssey through eastern Germany, I carved out a few days to visit Eisenach, the one-time home of the great 18th-century composer Johann Sebastian Bach and of Martin Luther, the 16th-century Protestant Reformer whose hymns inspired the famed composer. I had already explored Germany’s great capital of Berlin, swooned over the artistic glories of Dresden, hiked in the craggy sandstone mountains of Saxon Switzerland, and walked in the footsteps of the great poets and philosophers Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schiller in Weimar. It was time to visit Eisenach and pay tribute to several other remarkable Germans, namely Johann Sebastian Bach and Martin Luther.
An Eastern German Odyssey, Part Four: Cultured Weimar
Story and Photos by Monique Burns.
Visiting Berlin, Germany’s “Capital of Cool,” I immersed myself in contemporary art and design and reached back in time to World War II and the Holocaust. In Dresden, the graceful Saxon capital and so-called “Florence on the Elbe,” I marveled at Renaissance treasures and bold Expressionist works, then explored counterculture shops and music clubs along hip Alaunstrasse. At the nearby Meissen Manufactory, I was dazzled by European porcelain, the “white gold” invented in Saxony. I then hiked through phantasmagoric sandstone mountains in the wilds of Saxon Switzerland National Park.
An Eastern Germany Odyssey, Part Three: The Saxon Elblands
Story and Photos by Monique Burns.
When Saxony’s rulers really wanted to let their hair down, they headed just outside Dresden to castles and country houses along the River Elbe. There they hunted in the open air, cultivated fine wines, and oversaw porcelain-making and various other artsy pursuits. Visitors to the Saxon Elblands can still enjoy the legacy of those fun-loving rulers. In Radebeul, I tasted sparkling wines while touring Schloss Wackerbarth, where one of August the Strong’s favorite courtiers built a lavish baroque estate. In Meissen, Saxony’s porcelain capital, I toured the famed Meissen Manufactory and explored Germany’s oldest castle, Schloss Albrechtsburg, where European porcelain—known as “white gold”—was first created.
An Eastern Germany Odyssey, Part Two: Glorious Dresden
Story by Monique Burns.
South of Berlin, north of Prague and west of Warsaw, Germany’s eastern reaches are rarely associated with the kind of over-the-top grandeur found at Louis XIV’s Versailles or Peter the Great’s St. Petersburg. But, for 800 years, the lords of Saxony turned Dresden, their capital city, into a dazzling treasure trove. August the Strong, 18th-century Elector of Saxony, filled ornate baroque palaces with thousands of paintings, sculptures and jewels from around the world, including Raphael’s famous “Sistine Madonna.” Along the River Elbe, August and his court disported themselves at castles like Schloss Wackerbarth in Radebeul, Saxony’s oldest sparkling wine facility. In Meissen, in Schloss Albrechtsburg, August installed artisans to recreate the secret formula for Chinese porcelain, the era’s “white gold,” and established the famed Meissen Manufactory.
Story and Photos by Monique Burns.
In the decade since the 25th anniversary of German Reunification in 2015, tens of thousands of Americans have headed east to Berlin, Europe’s undeniable “Capital of Cool” where hip cafés and contemporary galleries vie for attention with masterpiece-filled museums and World War II historic sites. Two hours south lies Dresden, the equally fascinating and art-filled capital of the German state of Saxony. Razed to the ground in World War II, then hidden behind Soviet Russia’s Iron Curtain for nearly 50 years, Dresden has reemerged in all its baroque splendor. As an added bonus, Dresden is the gateway to Saxony’s countryside, to “Saxon Switzerland,”whose ruggedly sculpted sandstone mountains draw nature lovers, painters and photographers, and hikers, from experienced mountaineers to nature-loving trekkers like me.
Story and Photos by Monique Burns.
Films like “Pride and Prejudice,” featuring the wealthy but aloof Mr. Darcy and the poor but brave Elizabeth Bennet, have charmed moviegoers for decades. But few know the real Jane Austen, the writer whose insights into the manners and mores of Regency England inspired six of the world’s best–loved novels, including Sense and Sensibility, Persuasion and, of course, Pride and Prejudice.Reading Austen’s works is always a treat. But the best (and most adventurous) way to commune with Jane Austen and her unforgettable characters is to follow in their lively footsteps.
Story and Photos by Monique Burns.
In search of Jane Austen, the English author who penned classics like Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility, most people head to Bath, less than two hours west of London. There the 18th–century beau monde came to dance, attend concerts, flirt with suitable mates, and “take the waters” at ancient Roman springs. Briefly a Bath resident, Austen set two of her six novels there: Northanger Abbey and Persuasion.
Norway: Cruising, crab hunting and fine cuisine
By Monique Burns.
In Norway, I signed on for Hurtigruten’s six-day coastal cruise in late summer when the Midnight Sun stays high in the sky through much of the night. After a couple of days in Oslo, treating myself to Edvard Munch’s work at the National Gallery and the Munch Museum, and innovative New Nordic cuisine at waterfront Louise Restaurant & Bar and at Ekebergrestauranten high in the hills above the Oslofjord, I made the two-hour SAS flight north to Kirkenes, six miles from the Russian border.
Adventurous Pursuits in Coastal Peru
By Monique Burns.
Ernest Hemingway came to the Peru Coast in 1956—partly to hunt black marlin, partly to oversee the filming of his monumental novel, The Old Man and the Sea. Sixty years after his visit, I, too, head to coastal Peru. None of my magazine articles have been optioned for Hollywood blockbusters. Nor will I fish for black marlin—much as I’d like to. But, make no mistake, I’m bound for adventure.
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