We boarded our bus at the usual time, 8:00AM and set out on our way. We had a replacement bus driver, apparently there are strict government regulations about how many days/hours in a row you can drive a bus. Atilla rode on the bus with us but as he put it, he is on vacation...too funny.
Dresden was heavily bombed late in WWII and there are lots of opinions on the necessity of it due to the loss of life (25K) and the destruction of so much art. The buildings have pretty much been restored and the city is now vibrant again.
The Prussian royalty built a beautiful city, the churches and other buildings are just stunning. This is a statue of the protestant leader Martin Luther in front of Frauenkirche, a church built in the early 1700s.
Notice the banner, it reads "We can rebuild everything but the Climate".
The inside of the church is also spectacular.
The city is full of art. The Procession of Princes is a l01-meter-long mural representing the history of the Wettins, Saxony’s ruling family, as a larger-than-life procession of riders.
It is done on Meissen porcelain tiles, more than 24,000 of them. The detail is amazing.
After a brief orientation we were left on our own to wander and find lunch. There is much to see and many nice cafes. Of course we had to have a beer with lunch.
After lunch we gathered at the bus, about 2/3s of our group was doing an optional excursion, touring the Treasury and another Castle. We elected to not do the tour so boarded the bus to take us to our hotel. We thought we might get an hour or so of down time then walk back into downtown. Unfortunately the Germans are rule followers, the check in time is 3PM or later, not 2:59, so we hung out in the lobby for an hour and a half. Around 4PM we set out for the town, it was only a 20min walk.
The buildings and architecture are impressive.
We wandered the town and the Dresden Fortress, which is just massive.
At one point a quick rain shower passed through, we ducked under an umbrella at a café and were treated to a beautiful rainbow over the plaza.
Eventually we made our way back to the hotel and grabbed dinner at a local café. It was another full day and we were bushed.
Another day of walking but so interesting that each town was surrounded by walls in the past. Also, walking the streets with cars and bicycles! A fellow traveler called the bicyclists “terrorists in spandex”!
ReplyDelete