I’ll start off by saying I completely underestimated Dresden. Whether it be the history it possesses, the nightlife, architecture or atmosphere, it is definitely now one of my favorite cities I’ve ever been to. The amount of attractions and things to do was surprisingly impressive, as this city of approx. 500 000 never came close to boring us.
We got off to a late start (a problem associated with using “Mexican time”) but we arrived in the afternoon after a solid 5 hour bus ride. After a quick bus tour of the city, we jumped off and walked through the “old city” (Central part of the city with all the old buildings- churches, castles, opera house ect…). What really struck me as unique in comparison to other cities was the proximity of all these buildings, one after another, it seemed, as the entire old city was preserved/rebuilt. The only thing more impressive then the buildings themselves is to see pictures of how destroyed this city was after WWII. It honestly looks like a junkyard full of rubble with small remaining sections of certain buildings sticking out. Many of the buildings are made up of a mix of a grey/white material and a charcoal looking material. The lighter color portions are those which were rebuilt after the war (well mostly after the re-unification, so not that long ago). While being told about the history and re-building of all these historical places, I couldn’t help but be amazed at the amount of money and work put in to rebuilding this overwhelmingly impressive city from the destruction it faced. The mix of both very old and also modern architecture reminded me a bit of Berlin.
Instead of making the futile attempt at describing these buildings, I’ll just let all the pictures do the hard work for me! As interesting as they look in the pictures, it is still much more impressive in person. I forgot to mention that before we took the bus/walking tour, we stopped at the oldest dairy/milk shop in the world for a quick snack. How wonderful, I can now cross that one off my bucket-list… By the way I bought a freshly made/prepared buttermilk. Although I managed to drink the whole thing, that is definitely something I will probably never do again.
Another nice thing about Dresden is the huge river (the Elbe) that runs through it. It has giant green space on the side of it with tons of room and paths for walking/biking. We also got real lucky with the weather we had there, it felt like a normal Canadian summer day there for me. I honestly think that it may have been the hottest weather I have ever experience while still wearing a shirt (which isn’t very often after the snow melts), but I still saw many German people wearing pants and winter-jackets.
We stayed in a very young and lively part of town. After walking around for a solid chunk of time picking a restaurant, some friends of mine and I grabbed a couple beers (usually 0.50 euro for a decent 500mL) and had those while hanging out at the hostel. After that, we walked the streets for a while and then found a nice place that offered a beer garden type atmosphere outside then a dance club inside. Like what seems to becoming a habit, our night ended a little too late and was followed by too little sleep.
The next morning, we somehow got out of bed and headed to _____________, a very large and beautiful garden/palace. Too many things to mention, but it did posses a rose-like tree which since around 1800, has been had to have a insulating cover built around it ever winter. It now has this giant glass building that is built on tracks so it can be opened and moved to the side for summer.
We then bused to a beautiful green area near the river that had large rock formations and was also the site of a “quasi-quarry” hundreds of years ago. It is now a scenic stop and a very popular area for climbing. With a path and bridges you can use to walk across from one cylinder shaped rock formation to the next, you were able to see the incredible views and witness those who posses a true fear of heights… I’m not sure which I enjoyed more.
Afterwards, we made a stop at Festung Konigstein, which is this absolutely enormous fortress/castle/mini town. I especially was impressed with the height of the walls around it. It was built on a hill, but these walls went straight up for what seemed like forever. I can’t imagine what kind of tool you could possible use to get over these walls unless it involved something that flies. Once getting on top of the hill/fortress, we walked around and took in the view (from which you could see into Czech republic). The buildings weren’t too over the top as it’s main function was protection, but it did at one time hold the largest wine barrel ever. Another thing to cross off my bucketlist… The main problem/challenge they faced with this fortress was the need for water. It took something like 20 years before they started building it to first get a working well. It seems like a little too much time, but after seeing the well, you could understand how it wouldn’t have been an easy task. It was 156 meters deep and big enough to drop a car in. I never have problems with heights, but looking down into the well (which was covered by glass… mostly) I felt my stomach turning a little. Dropping water down, we had to wait a full 15 seconds for it to drop. The one picture of a green circle is an attempted photograph of it.
Getting back to the hostel, we arrived with just enough time to go out to eat, buy some beverages, and hopefully shower. This night proved to be a little more “intense” then the last. Some may have needed to “call it quits” a little early, but some of the rest of us went from place to place and hung out into the daylight. I managed to somehow find a solid hour or so of sleep, while some others rode the party straight into the next days tour. That night, which is still providing a great deal of laughter, would have to be one of the most fun here.
Feeling pretty good considering the night before, my friends (Alex, Brianna and Hiliary) and I decided to go rent some bikes after breakfast and bike through the city. This has always been my favorite thing to do while trying to see a new city, and it was tremendous. I have to admit, with all the breathtaking-buildings that surround you, it really is difficult to fully appreciate all of them. After biking through the “old-city”, we rode the transparent Volkswagen factory. They call it that because nearly the entire outside is made of glass. I can’t say I expected it, but the inside was just as nice as the outside. By that… I mean I can’t understand why they would let someone like me in. Without shaving in the last week or two, I probably resembled what the Aussie call a “bogan”. Inside, you could see a couple interaction displays, into the assembly line and eat at a nicer restaurant (pianist included). After we left, cruised around the city, we headed to the river valley. We met up with some friends, then continued our ride another 20 minutes up river to where there are three huge castles neighboring each other with the river in their backyard. Here we stopped, walked through a small vineyard, and had oven roasted pizza and some wine. I say that to emphasize that, however little, there may be a small amount of sophistication to me. After that, we found some ice cream, then met up with the rest of our group in the gardens to go back. Within half an hour of sitting down, I’m confident that ever student in the bus was interring a coma due to the lack of sleep gotten over the weekend (I forgot to mention there was another birthday the night before we left).
I will try to add more pictures and whatever I forgot in the next couple days. Its’ now time for a “Mexican birthday party”.
Ciao
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