Field Trip: Meissen

Have you ever been someplace where you felt completely out of your league? Like you were a fraud and if they found out, you would immediately be escorted out. That was how I felt today at the first stop on our field trip to Meissen. What was I, a country-bumpkin-farm-girl-from-basically-the-middle-of-nowhere doing in the oldest porcelain manufacturer in Europe? Where the least expensive tea cup I saw was 68 euros (that's around $100, folks!) and many of them were A LOT more. One tea service (for six people) I saw was over 3,000 euros! I saw second quality teacups for over 300 euros each!

Of course, there was another thought swirling through my brain. You must remember that I am not exactly the most coordinated person on earth. I can be clumsy at times (even though I try really hard not to be). There is a memory that, while I no longer have nightmares about it, I will remember it all my life. I was 12. We were on the one and only official family vacation we ever took. To Niagara Falls. I was in a gift shop, standing in front of a shelf of knick knack souvenirs. Next thing I know (to this day I have no idea what I did to cause this), an entire shelf of snow globes were on the floor. Broken. I was mortified. Embarassed. Wanted to melt into the floor. Thankfully, my parents did not have to pay for said broken snowglobes. My parents were nothing but gracious (as they tend to be:). (Another example: you know how Corelle dishes are not supposed to break? Let's just say I've proven that one wrong....multiple times...)

So, needless to say, I have a fear of breaking things in stores. When I am in a store with fragile goods, my senses are on high alert. Thankfully, I think I have acquired at least a bit more grace in the past decade or so. Plus, most of the procelain today was in glass cases. :) It was interesting to see the process by which the porcelain is produced. It is very tedious work, which is done by hand - both the making of the pieces, and then the painting. Everything must be perfect.

I didn't take any pictures - because I was too absorbed in observing all I could (and making sure I didn't break anything:). But here are some pictures of Meissen porcelain that I stole online:






After leaving the porcelain museum and enjoying a nice German meal (I love German food, but it is heavy - not something you want to eat every day!), we went to the Albrechtsburg Castle. The first part of it was built in the 900s (No, I did not forget the 1 in front of that. Yes, it was originally built over one thousand years ago!) We took a tour of the dom (cathedral) - some of the stairs we climbed were 700 years old! We climbed to the top of the tower, where we enjoyed a rainy, but still beautiful view of Meissen. And the connecting schloss (castle/palace) was beautiful! The ceilings were intricately painted. As beautiful as these palaces are, I can't imagine living in one - they must have been so dark and cold!

I will leave you with a few pictures of the Albrechtsburg Castle and overlooking Meissen.

Mom likes to see me, not the buildings. :)

Don't look down, Mom! :)