{"id":54,"date":"2007-10-01T01:00:00","date_gmt":"2007-10-01T01:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wjimhudson.com\/?p=54"},"modified":"2007-10-01T01:00:00","modified_gmt":"2007-10-01T01:00:00","slug":"2007930our-fifth-day-spent-in-dresden-html","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wjimhudson.com\/?p=54","title":{"rendered":"Our fifth day (spent in Dresden)"},"content":{"rendered":"

We decided to sleep in a bit today. We had a leisurely breakfast downstairs and then hit the metro for the main train station to catch the 12:16 to Dresden. We got off the metro, walked in and consulted the departure board\u2026 no train to Dresden!!! Asking the information center, I realized I had made one of the classic mistakes. Our train was not leaving from the main station but from a different one three metro stops away. We ran for the metro and luckily still made it in plenty of time.<\/p>\n

\"Train<\/p>\n

We met some other Americans on the platform. One couple was traveling to Vienna on the train just leaving. The other couple was heading to Dresden like us but en route to catch a second train in Dresden for somewhere else in Germany. We ended up sitting in this compartment along with a couple of Czech girls.<\/p>\n

Riding in a compartment like that puts me in mind of the Hogwarts Express (especially after just seeing the movie again). Three seats on either side face each other with a sliding door entrance at one end, a window on the other. So in effect, six people ride in their own separate world from the rest of the train. The train followed a river virtually the entire trip to Dresden. At one point we went past a ruined castle, but most of the trip was past picturesque river towns and cottages. It was hilly topography with the land rising up on either side of the river \u2014 not steep cliffs, but a gradual rise. At the border, one Czech and one German border agent checked and stamped our passports.<\/p>\n

We arrived in Dresden at a thoroughly modern train station. While not as large as say Paddington in London, it had a clean, well-lit train shed and a great number of shops. We exited the station and walked along Pragger Strausse – the main pedestrian walkway which was lined with shops and restaurants \u2014 all closed since it was Sunday. As in Prague, American fast food was everywhere: McDonalds, Burger King, and Pizza Hut were all present.<\/p>\n

\"Zum<\/p>\n

We decided to start our Dresden adventure with a little lunch, and we settled on a little pub called Zum Goldenen Ring<\/em>. I had a wonderful beer called Wernesgr\u00fcner – the best I have has in my personal opinion (or maybe I was just very thirsty). We started with pumpkin soup followed by sauerbraten, sauerkraut with red cabbage, and dumplings \u2014 quite good.<\/p>\n

\"Semper<\/p>\n

After lunch we decided to do the self-guided tour Rick Steves had in his book. During our meal we had talked about the devestation from the firebombings or 13 February 1945. They are amazingly still working on the rebuilding over six decades later, but what they have accomplished is simply amazing. We began at Theaterplatz with an impressive view of the Semper Opera aka Saxon State Opera House. Dresden was once the capital of Saxony. Semper was the name of the architect.<\/p>\n

\"Crown\"Glockenspielpavillion\"Orangery<\/p>\n

Next we visited the Zwinger, the palace complex of the Wettin dynasty who ruled Saxony for 800 years, up until the end of WWI. The prince elector of Saxony was one of the handful who chose the Holy Roman Emperor. As you walk into the courtyard, you see the Crown Gate descending into view – it\u2019s a majestic gate with a crown on top (hence the name). Another side is Glockenspielpavillion housing a clock and bells made of porcelain. Another side was an orangery Augustus the Strong built for his orange trees. He also had a huge porcelain collection which was much en vogue during his time.<\/p>\n

\"Taschenberg\"Kulturepalast\"\/<\/p>\n

Outside we walked between the Old Royal Palace and the Taschenberg Palace (no a hotel). The Communists had rebuilt the Zwinger and had a plaque commemorating the liberation of Dresden from facism. They also built a large mural on the next building we saw, the Kulturepalast (Culture Palace) \u2014 a performing arts center. The building was blocky and modern, and the mural depicted Communist themes like strong workers, the red star, etc.<\/p>\n

\"Hofkirche\"\/\"Saxon<\/p>\n

We continued along the Royal Palace and saw bomb damage still being repaired. The amount of work already done is amazing, and it is sobering to think it was all wiped out in a single night. Exiting the palace gate, we saw the Hofkirche cathedral that Augustus\u2019 son built to placate the pope (the dynasty itself was Protestant). On the outside of the palace there is also a large mural depicting the history of Saxony.<\/p>\n

\"Br\u00fchlsche<\/p>\n

We continued up on th Br\u00fchlsche Terrace – an elevated, linden tree covered promenade along the river with lovely views of the the riverfront, Augustus Bridge, and the city\u2019s historic paddleboat steamers.<\/p>\n

\"Frauenkirche\"\/<\/p>\n

To soak up the atmosphere, we munched on a couple of pretzels next to the river before continuing on to the Frauenkirche – rebuilt between 1992 and 2005. They tried to resuse as many original stones as possible. The Lutheran church is 310 feet high and was built originally by Augustus the Strong. One of the British bombers during the raid ended up making a replacement cross for the one melted during the fires.<\/p>\n

We hiked back to the station, bought a chocolate croissant and a creme-filled Schweizerwaffel which we enjoyed later back in our room. The trip back was quick and scenic. We picked up a prepaid phone at the mall that we can swap SIM cards in and reuse during subsequent trips to Europe – the easiest way to call home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We decided to sleep in a bit today. We had a leisurely breakfast downstairs and then hit the metro for the main […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,17,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-czech-republic","category-prague","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wjimhudson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wjimhudson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wjimhudson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wjimhudson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wjimhudson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=54"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wjimhudson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wjimhudson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=54"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wjimhudson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=54"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wjimhudson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=54"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}