A quick note from the road . . .

I'm writing from Dresden, where Jordan has somehow managed to find us a hostel room in the hip part of town. We had lunch in a restaurant with ayurveda in its name.

Our four days in Prague were fun. It was great to hang out with Nancy Kates. We especially enjoyed seeing the Jewish cemetery, the Infant of Prague, the many beautiful Art Nouveau buildings, and the one really warm spring day when we could sit on the grass. It was odd to see large groups of young tourists marching through the streets singing what I think were Italian soccer songs -- something we do not see in budapest! We went on possibly the worst walking tour ever, allegedly about communism and its fall in Czechoslovakia. The guide was clearly old enough to remember communism (and probably its introduction), but otherwise ill-suited to his task. More on this some other time.

Dresden has some incredible buildings, and of course one is always aware here of the many beautiful buildings that did not survive the Allied bombing in February of 1945. A large church here, which was badly damaged in the bombing, has just three years ago been restored.

For those of you starving for Devin news: Devin has learned to snap her fingers, a major accomplishment of which she is quite proud. She has apparently been working on this for quite some time, as she recalls being in the Ducks, her previous class, when she started to try. She saw a manual typewriter for the first time in a restaurant in Prague, and wants me to get her one "when I'm bigger". I guess I better locate it before they all fall apart!