Hochzeit Bojaryn

The entire reason this trip came about was the wedding of Julia Baatz & Jan Bojaryn.

Julia was Niki's exchange student from Cologne in 1998.  Julia and Niki were a perfect match and have been the best of friends ever since.  When Niki and I were married, Julia flew in to partake in the wedding.  Upon news of her engagement with Jan, we jumped at the chance to return the favor.

THURSDAY

Julia & Jan, and their 11 month old daughter, Lotta, live & work in Dresden, so their friends and family had to come from all across Germany for the wedding.  Many came in on Thursday night, so we had a big dinner party at an Italian restaurant around the corner from their flat.  The restaurant is called Toscana and has a beautiful outdoor setting which was perfect as it has been VERY hot here in Dresden this week.

At Toscana, we reunited with much of Julia's family and met some that we did not previously know.  Gerhard, Julia's uncle, is the type of guy that every party needs: funny, out-going, and has plenty of world experience & stories that keep you entertained for days.

Another of Julia's family that has a very interesting life-story was Nahle (Renata). I had a great conversation with Nahle, who is now 82 years old & is fit as a fiddle.  She lived in a part of Germany that is now Poland during WWII & very clearly remembers fleeing west, away from the Russians, at the end of the war. She has a fondness for Americans because of this experience.

FRIDAY (the Wedding)

Julia & Jan enjoy a much more progressive life than most typical Germans. Their wedding, while it echoed a traditional format, had very much their own style, in which friends, family, & the journey is more important than the end product.

The actual ceremony took place in the Standesamt, the German version of City Hall.  It was a beautiful and small traditional ceremony....with a twist.  Rather than your typical wedding music, Jan & Julia walked to songs from the Flight of the Conchords (The Muppets Life is a Happy Song) & the GetUp Kids (I'll Catch You).   This is a very atypical thing to do in a German wedding, but then again, Jan & Julia are much beyond typical.

After the wedding, we toasted some Sekt (Champagne) as we awaited our ride to the Reception.  As most everyone in the wedding party was from out of town, Jan & Julia reserved a Tour Bus for the group & we had a wonderful hour-long tour of the historic city.

The reception was at a bar called the Saloppe.  It is an outdoor bar with a gypsy/travel circus theme.  A site absolutely perfect for their group of friends, the Kölner Bunch, who grew up together camping, travelling, & partying together.  Dinner was provided by a Ukrainian Restaurant owned by a friend of Jan & Julia's.  The theme was simple: different, interesting, & fun. The food, people, & setting all fit the 'stimmung' perfectlz.  We danced, played foosball & Ping Pong, and mingled, while the kids swam & bounced in blow-up toys.  The night highlighted with a fireworks show put on by Jan's mother.  We taxied home around 4am.

SATURDAY
Unlike American wedding receptions,  Jan & Julia's friends woke up Sunday morning and made their way back to the Saloppe to clean up. There is a saying, "Viele Hände macht schnell zum Ende" (Many hands finish quickly) and we had the entire Saloppe cleaned up and ready for business within an hour.  In the heatwave that Dresden is currently battling, having to work for a few hours in the sun would've been crippling, but with 20+ people helping, easy was the work.  For a final get-together, we all went on an hour hike into the Dresdener Heide, a large forest across the street from the Saloppe.  An easy walk through the woods with friends & family that ended in the Weisse Hirsch, where there is an old Concert Hall and Beer Garden.  There we hung out & chatted with one-another as people slowly started making their way home.

Everything considered, this was a perfect wedding.  Pun not intended, but the one minus, the heat, provided a fantastic ice-breaker and created much conversation.