My dearest Freiberg

Freiberg is always worth visiting!


This little town in the heart of Saxony, more exactly midway between Dresden, the capital of the state, and Chemnitz, is my "German" home town.

Freiberg...here we go!

I lived for almost 8 years in Freiberg. During this time I got my Phd and worked in a research institute. In Freiberg I  made an uncountable number of friends from all over the world, I did some voluntary service in some schools and in the local theater. Till today I am connected to this extraordinary project in Kenya (www.openhearts.jimdo.com), which started in Freiberg.

The upper market (Obermarkt).

Freiberg is a 850 years old and very picturesque small town. Its history started with the discover of silver in the region, justifying its mining tradition and its tradition in mining education in the Technical University and Mining Academy of Freiberg (TUBaF). Freiberg is also known as the door to the Saxonian ore mountains (Erzgebirge).

The upper market (Obermarkt).

The most famous spots of the city are the Upper and the Lower Market, the Freundenstein castle, the St. Maria Cathedral, Donat tower and the Nikolai church.

The Nikolai church at the "Butter Market".

The Donat Tower.

It was good to meet the old friends, above all, my German family, the Bienecks, and feel the Saxonian warmth again.

The "Roter Weg" house.

Freiberg is kinda temporary station in the life of almost all the people I met there. It gave them such a great time, lots of fun and adventures, in their lives, then let them go. This is what this lovely little town is.

The restaurant potato house (Kartoffelhaus).

Note: I'm specially proud of the little bit of Saxonian accent on my German I got along the years!

It was good to see you again!
Glück auf!

At home in Saxony

Being back in Saxony is always a great feeling specially for meeting old good friends.


"I've walked through these streets before
Ive walked through these feelings before
I've felt these streets before"

Dresden Neustadt.

Martin at his Phd celebration in Dresden Neustadt; the family Dunger, Corina, Susann and Volkmar in Dresden town, my German family, the Bienecks, Gabi, Hartmut, Martin and Thomas in in Halsbach; and to ben with Anja, Frauke and Marina in Freiberg and to GDR museum on Radebeul.

Dresden Neutstadt. View from Martin's flat.

Dresden Neustadt am Albertusplatz.

Dresden Neustadt am Albertusplatz.

In der Neustadt.

The restaurant Kartoffelhaus in Freiberg.

The Albrechtburg in Meißen.

All the places and so many memories. Such a short and intense time.

Thank you all beloved people.

Visiting my German homeland: Saxony

Just got a ride (mitfahrgelegenheit.de) and heading up north to my German homeland , Saxony, more exactly, to Dresden and Freiberg.

It's a bit suspect that I say that, but Dresden is one of the most beautiful cities in Germany.

Excited about meeting old and new friends and partying with them.

On the road now! ...vuuuuuush!

Jitka Dunger: who's that girl?

As I mentioned in some post before I came to Lithuania to visit this friend of mine, Jitka. The deal was to visit her before she would return to Germany in Mai. So here I am!!

Jitka under a pet's skin.

Let me tell a little about her!
I met this young little lady almost ten years ago, after I moved to Freiberg in Saxony. Her mom, Corina, was the coordinator of the PhD program I was accepted in, used to take her little daughter once in a while to some of the events with the international Phd students. We got close friends and now, ten years later, we have a lot of stories to tell.

Jitka in Alytus.

Jitka is now 19, finished the high school last year and decided to go to a foreign country to do some voluntary work. She's been living in Lithuania alone for a few months and working as social assistant taking care of children, between 6 and 13 months old, all coming from socially problematic families.
What did move her to leave everything behind and accept this challenge?
In her own words:

Playing in the park.

"Since the 8th class, I was 14 by then, I wanted to go to a foreign country, get in touch with a different culture and learn a foreign language. I didn't want to go straight to the university after the school and thought about doing some social work. My first choice was Russia, but It was really hard to get a chance there, so after some further research and a few attempts I came to Lithuania with the support of the International Youth Voluntary Service, which is connected to the International Red Cross."

On the top!

Soon Jitka will be back home with the plan of starting the studies in Sport Therapy, possibly, in the Humboldt University in Berlin.

This young lady is such an example of determination and dedication and has given me some lessons about it lately.

All the best sweetie!