Hotel Dresden Altstadt

What a sad day. We roared our way through Berlin for the last time. Made great time and got to Dresden fine. Had a bit of an issue finding the garage again and there are lots of cobbled roads. Between driving on them and the van roaring it was a bit stressful but we got there in the end. The guy who hires them out is so cool... very chilled and relaxed. He took us ...

The Rebuilt City &#8211; Dresden<br><br>Dresden was pretty much wiped out in World War 2. It has since been rebuilt but the fires that burnt the city down remain and a lot of the old statues and buildings are stained black. I have been sick as a dog and nearly tainted the city with a bit of chunder! <br><br>So I don't have much to say ...

... may surrender. Many civilians were killed and beautiful buildings destroyed. The actual city of Dresden is over 800 years old, all that was lost in 1945. <br><br>After a two hour train trip north, I was suddenly in southern Germany, another country. You go two hours north in Australia, you might be at the next town in most cases. I was just getting used to Czech way of life, and I was totally overwhelmed when I got out of the station. But for a super-tourist ...

... very few, comparatively to other cities, war factories. In fact, everything thought that this city was safe from attack because Berlin was so near. Dresden had even had 10 false alarms for air raids. Because everyone thought the allies wouldn't bother Dresden, the officials had no real bunkers or air raid shelters for the general public. Military personnel had bunkers but mainly ordinary people might just have basements or such.<br><br><br><br> Arthur "Bomber ...

... peanut butter and Nutella). We also grabbed some free wireless on Katy&#8217;s mini computer, which was nice. <br><br>After lunch, we decided to go to the famous Zwinger. It was such a beautiful palace. We weren&#8217;t quite sure if you had to pay to get in, so we just wandered in and around the place. I could&#8217;ve spent several hours at the beautiful building, but we didn&#8217;t have that kind of time. If I ever go back to Dresden, that is somewhere I am going to spend ...

... up the wall!) every day. You're delivered right into the center of a city, you can walk to your hostel, walk to all the major sights, it's just fabulous. So, we saw Dresden. We spent 3 days there, and it is just as beautiful as everyone says. There are amazingly old buildings, all concentrated in one area, giving a fabulous scene along the river. The Frauenkirche (church) is one of the most famous buildings, but the others compete for most ...

... was full. Stupid lazy people I thought, there will be heaps of room at the end of the train. The next carriage was fuller - people standing in the aisle. The next had a gang of people in the boarding area. It went on like this until I got to the end, just as the whistle blew for the train to leave. I dived into the last compartment just as the doors closed. I didn't really fit. With my backpack on my back and my beergut on my gut, I was incredibly awkward trying to find somewhere. It ...

... total annihilation was intended to convince the remaining hold-outs that not only was there no hope of turning the tide but, also to make them understand the consequences of pursuing such a fool's errand. Effectively, what one now sees when visiting Dresden comes in three flavors; bland Communist era-designed buildings, the oft daring (but locally controversial) post re-unification stylings or, achingly beautiful baroque masterpieces that are (generally) in some state ...

... and headed down for a quick bratwurst. The opera house very quite nice but I'm glad I didn't pay five Euro for a tour. As the production started I kicked of my hells, which were killing my feet, and just settled in to enjoy. I think the couple next to me thought I was drunk because I was smiling from ear to ear and hanging off the edge of my seat. It's amazing how much travelling can make you really enjoy things you take for granted.

... and go sit in the hall next to the bathroom on the floor! I paid 78 euros and had no seat... and the ride is 5 hrs... So... after 2 hrs I get up and find an empty seat. The train conductor guy then comes up to me and wants to punch my ticket... i tried to explain to him and he was nice enough to let me stay on the train. I just could not figure out how my ticket disappeared...then i looked at my shopping ...