Holidaying
Trip Start
Aug 02, 2007
1
68
73
Trip End
Jan 06, 2009
Dresden,
Saxony,
Germany
Friday, November 14, 2008
We took our holiday last week, I had a week off work and so we headed to northern east Germany to do some exploring. I had been told many times by many people that Dresden was a great city, and I didn't want to leave Germany without visiting Berlin. So, we combined the two into a fabulous trip. We took the trains to get all around, as it is quite possibly the easiest form of transportation ever. I'm falling more in love with train travel (and less so with planes! security drives me up the wall!) every day
Along the River Elbe
. 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 impressive. Although the frauenkirche looks old, it was all rebuilt as it was practically levelled in WW2. There are old weathered stones woven into the new stones used to rebuild the church, giving the building even more story and character. My favorite place was the Zwinger, which is an open courtyard enclosed by the structure. Walls create a boundary, while at the same time are all window panes, creating a very open look. The tower on one end of the Zwinger has a very unique set of bells for the clock tower. They are porcellain, and make an amzingly delicate twinkling ringing. It is a cool contrast to the many other clanging bells of the church towers in the city. The center of the Zwinger is all green grass and fountain pools, I'm sure it's a great place to spend a summer afternoon.
In the same square are also the Opera house, the Hofkirche (church), the schloss (castle) and a few other older looking buildings
Color effects and the golden Rider
. The opera was closed due to rehersals, but photos of the interior looked quite impressive. It was great fun just wandering the city, admiring all the old and beautiful buildings. We didn't get as much of the history here as in Berlin, but sometimes one can appreciate the value of something just for how pretty it is. ;) Our second day was spent mostly at the zoo. I know, you're thinking, why go to a great foreign city just to go to the zoo?! Well, I haven't been to a European zoo before, and there actually are a couple of cool other species I've not seen at American zoos. And, second, it's just fun!! So we admired the elephants, were wowed by the orangutangs, never found the zebras...and had a blast!!
Ok, one last plug for April's blog. I'm adding photos that I think are different than what she posted...so read them both! :)
http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Rilla/
