Colditz

Sunday morning so what time did we have to get up? 6-30 which is 5-30 UK time!  Nice breakfast but then had to pack, check out and be on the coach at 8am! Everyone else in Berlin was still in bed when we left. Drove for 2 hours then stopped at a service station near Leipzig. To get into the toilets you have to put 70 cents in a machine which opens a turnstile to let you in, but also gives you a token worth 50 cents that you can spend in the shop. The only way to get back out of the toilets is back through the same turnstile which just clicks back to let you out. The problem was that there was a coach load of people queuing to get in and they wouldn’t let those who were in back out, so it just got more crowded in there. I blame Brexit!
First proper stop was Colditz castle. Our guide was a Yorkshireman! He was funny though. The castle has been there for 900 years but all us Brits are bothered about is 1941 to 1945 when it was used as a prison for British officers. They actually built a glider out of bits of wood, fabric and porridge in the attic and intended to fly off the roof, over the river but the guards found it before they could use it!
There was only one cafe open in the little town on a Sunday so our whole coach load descended on it for lunch and we only had limited time. The Rumanian guy who owns it was literally running round taking orders and serving food but he served everyone in time. What a hero.
We then drove to Meissen where they make porcelain. It’s a difficult and complicated process done entirely by hand which makes it horrendously expensive. They make a very intricate (and large) jewellery box which costs over half a million pounds and they only make one every now and then. They made one last year for Victoria Beckham! They had a cafe and had some cake with a very long German name which translates to rhubarb cake so i had to try some! It was nice.
Arrived at our hotel in Dresden at 6-30 after a very long day on the road. The handwriting on our room key envelope was so weird I thought it was 427 when it turned out to be 421. The worrying thing is that it opened 427 much to the consternation of the people in that room! Good job I barricade us in with a chair at night!