Meissen

Visiting the porcelain factory and museum  and the little town of Meissen was one of the highlights of the trip for me. When I first went to Germany I acquired 3 beautiful blue and white dinner plates which I still have.  They were from the 1920s or 30s I found out when we were at the factory this time.  I had a picture of them on my iPad  and  someone dated them from the backstamp. 

First we saw how the beautiful figurines are made - each piece is made separately then carefully attached painstakingly , painted  then finished off.  We saw 4 or 5 of the steps  involved in the making of an item.   No wonder they are so expensive they are so labour-intensive.

They had a shop which made it very hard to resist and in the end I succumbed and bought a small dish which I don't regret. It was not cheap needless to say.  However I like it and will use it and divest myself of some other china or porcelain I don't care for anymore. 

There was a pocelain museum with hundreds of items made over the centuries for the various European

and world markets with the subjects designed to appeal to the people of these countries.  Tastes vary.

After that thrilling experience we went on a walking tour of the town walking down from the high point down cobbled streets to the market square below.