Day 85: Meissen

July 6, 2022

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Ellen LeeHave you ever thought about getting a walkie talkie thing to stay in touch in case you get separated? Handy idea. They have helmets with built in communication too. Just to let you know about the 6 LiGo batteries and mileage. Towing a 40+ lb trailer, bike loaded about 40 lbs I ride on assist level 2 & go around 37 miles, mild wind & few hills up bridge ramps. With added battery of 36v 20 Amp, I am testing still.
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2 years ago

Steve Miller/GrampiesTo Ellen LeeIn Mexico the 6 Ligos were giving such long range that we were talking about bringing fewer. Like, it was 100 km.
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2 years ago

Dodie had long known about Meissen porcelain pottery, so when we were set to pass through the town in 2019 she was excited to see everything about it. We didn't end up making it here in 2019, so this time we were determined not to miss out. That's why we scheduled a rare extra day in the town.

We had already scoped out the factory tour yesterday, so after a no holds barred 10 jammer breakfast we scooted on over to the factory. "Scooted" is not quite accurate, because in the convoluted narrow streets when some cars blocked my progress, Dodie could not see that I was not following. Then when I got to the next intersection - no Dodie. Following our agreed procedure, I held that position and waited. When Dodie realized I was not behind, she waited bit, but no Steve. Because of one way streets she could not directly backtrack, so she went back to square one and ran the route again. Sure enough, halfway along there I was, starting to wonder if I should carry on to the factory, return to the hotel, or stick in the street forever. I did try phoning Dodie, but as everyone knows, she will never answer.

The drill on the tour is that on some days there can be a two and a half hour complete tour of the production facility, but this was not one of those days. A step down is five rooms, in which five workers/artists perform a small demo of what they do, with a background music track and narrative in German. You can also hold an mp3 player to your ear, to hear the spiel in English. We found this format and tour almost useless. For starters, it takes a lot of focus to have a German dialog going in one ear and English in the other. And the workers, freed from explaining or interacting, seemed ultimately detached and bored. We spent most of our time trying to not be squashed together with the other unmasked tourists.

This man was the most bored of the lot. I never did figure ut why he was throwing these shapes.

This lady was assembling figurines from parts, using a slip of clay as glue.

I think this lady was drawing freehand with charcoal, and later the drawing would be made permanent with glaze.

After a first glaze firing, an overglaze is applied and fired again, to put in the design.

There were three other parts to our Meissen factory experience. A big one was the shop where you could buy a wide range of the current products. Then there was a multi-level "museum", which had on display scads of Meissen items from the distant past up to the present. And finally, the Cafe, and a chance to actually eat off some Meissen crockery.

Here we go with each of these sections.

The Store

The thing about porcelain for me is that it is shiny and supports bright colours. The bright colours are often used in drop dead gorgeous designs, painted images and scenes. Really well done porcelain and its designs just lifts your spirits. So I was kind of bummed at the start of the store to see very plain designs that to me seemed uninspired. The main wow factor was the unbelievably high price tags on this rather ordinary looking stuff.

I missed getting the price tag into the shot. This bottle stopper and bottle of local wine was just 139 euros.

When we visited Villeroy and Boch in France, we were worried about being able to buy and safely transport anything, but succeeded with a really nice Christmas ornament. I thought maybe the same could happen here, but not for 189 euros!

Some of the small stuff was downright weird, like these monkey musicians. Miessen loves this theme, and we saw a larger display like this in the museum. That's 599 each, eh, not for the set!

If you don't like monkeys and still have some cash, try these figures!

The core area of a pottery store for us would be the tableware, and within that, what can we buy in terms of a boxed set?

The basic answer is 14 pieces of dead plain service for two, 530 euros.

I would hate the plain white and would save up for a design. Dodie's choice is this one, 2089 euros.

On the other hand you can also get Dodie's design with gold trim. I could be persuaded on that! By the way, I think the Meissen crossed sword trademark is built into each design somewhere. I do spot it in these examples.

Or maybe we would go completely off the rails, with a fish, like this.

Or maybe a pattern like this? Or let's face it, we are going to stick with the junk we bought at Walmart.

Put a comment in and vote for one of the five possibilities above!

Ok, if you are not happy with the five choices, they had trays and trays of other patterns:

The next level in the store was stuff that was for sale, but you would have to be nuts of buy it, like this:

Sure, it's colourful, what you would expect for 6490 euros. Some items in the store reached as high as 600,000 euros, so for some buyers this is a cheapy.

You can see how the store started slow, with 14 pieces of plain white dishes, and ended by blowing our fuses with a 6000 euro peacock. But now the Museum was no holds barred. It implicitly showed how plastic medium like clay and paint could assume an infinite variety of forms, rolling through dozens of eras in time, schools of artistic design, and individual famous artists. It was way more than you could just walk though and absorb. Here are some random shots, the best I could do.

Some of the pieces were made so long ago that the artists were going just by stories of what certain animals looked like, like this lion.

The factory experience had three more special things I would like to mention. The first was a ceramic wall depicting birds. It was really colourful, and for the ornithologist maybe instructive or entertaining.

Something they were very proud of was a statue they called Saxonia, made to commemorate the 25th anniversary of German reunification.

The final thing, inside the store, was the seconds and clearance department. It was tempting to think there could be something affordable there -- but no:

In this crate of clearance dishes, each one is over 100 euros. I found one soup bowl for 89 euros, but Dodie pointed out I don't really like soup!

We had a final shot at experiencing Meissen in some way, and that was to eat off some of their stuff in their cafe. We chose the Meissen Torte, and the latte came with the Meissen logo. I thought that was the cat's meow, though admittedly the torte was rather dry.

The closest we are going to get to owning a Meissen branded anything, and we ate it!

Although we were tired after going through the pottery experience (and you the reader may be tired too!), it was still just mid-day. We fired up the "15 Things to do and see in Meissen" and realized there were still two churches and maybe more of the Market Square still in the hopper.

The Market square has the rathaus, a historic apothecary building, and generally a good place to sit and watch the people.

On the way back downtown, the stream that runs through it all.

People in Markt square, plus a view of the Meissen Frauenkirche, our next target.

The main claim to fame of the Frauenkirche by the Markt Platz is its Meissen porcelain carrillon, that plays hymns through the day. The church was built in 1450. In 1929 the carrillon (glockenspiel) was installed.

Dodie guessed that it could be possible to climb the tower and to look at the bells from behind. So of course she sent me. I went into the church and asked about it. The lady there spoke only German, but somehow I gathered that it was possible. I had to leave my passport and get a key, go outside the church and circle around to a certain door, let myself in and relock behind me. I did that, and when the door locked I really felt like I had been transported, alone, to 1450. It began with one of those steep stone spiral staircases - I am familiar with those. But then there were only rickety wooden staircases. These went up and then up again. There were no signs, no guidance. I just assumed that I could keep ascending so long as I saw something to climb. I was passing big beams that certainly had been hewn in 1450. I fancied myself an ancient monk.

And yes, I came to the glockenspiel, and also a large metal bell in the same chamber. They started to play just a little - I think they chime the half hour. As with the other tower in Italy (Aquileia) it would have been really deafening to be there when the thing would ring.

From this chamber, the wooden steps kept ascending, so so did I. I came to an empty room, and then to one with a wood stove in it. Bad idea, with all the beams about. Finally I opened a small door that gave onto the railed walkway that can easily be seen from below the tower. I was absolutely too petrified to venture out there, but I stuck my camera out. The photo doesn't look like much, but I felt it.

Once again for this trip, I remembered poor Dodie, who had been left out in the sun somewhere, with a "be right back". But I descended slowly. Well at least they had my passport should someone wonder whose crumpled body was at the base of the rickety stairs!

Dodie was indeed sitting in the hot sun in the square, and had been fighting off possibly plague carrying tourists who wanted to crowd onto her bench. So we both had our tale of terror to tell to each other!

Ah some guidance - "Please close the door to prevent the tower from becoming a "bird trap""

The room at the top. Is that AC on the wall?

Camera is looking down, I am cowering inside.

Our last thing for the day was the St Nicholas church, built in 1200, the sign says (tower in 1695). It supposedly has a lot of Meissen porcelain put there as a war memorial in 1921/29, but it was locked up tight!

On the way back from the Nikolai Dodie suggested we watch for any bakeries, in case of the need for a snack. There are lots in Meissen, and I veered into one or two, but rejected their offerings. So Dodie went in and came out with two of "something". She claimed it did not exactly matter what because I will eat anything. So untrue, I argued. However, now that both are gone, it's time to turn in!

What gave Meaning to Life today? 2000 euros of dishes, we didn't buy.

Today's ride: 6 km (4 miles)
Total: 4,677 km (2,904 miles)

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