Today we took a 2 hour drive to Dresden, a town that was mostly demolished by bombings in 1945 but is now being rebuilt. Going to Dresden was my first legit experience with the autobahn. Honestly, I didn't think it was as crazy or scary as I have heard it made out to be. Most cars were driving at reasonable speeds. Every once in a while a car would come zooming by at speeds around 100 mph, but it wasn't scary or intimidating. Then again I wan't the one driving.
Dresden was a beautiful city, situated right along the Elbe river. We started by doing a walk along the river and the edge of the inner city. The weather was sunny, warm, and pleasant. We saw several churches including the Frauenkirche which was rebuilt in 2005 after extensive damage from the war. We don't have photos of the inside because it said no photography even though everyone was taking photos, of course Mark refused to. :) But the inside was very ornate with lots of gold detailing and beautiful paintings on the ceiling.
The other cool thing we saw was the Zwinger courtyard, which was a party palace for royals built in the baroque style. When we first walked into the courtyard, my reaction was the classic "Wow!". It was a very impressive complex.
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| Oh, dad. |
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| We decided to move in. Admiring our new balcony. |
Other than that we basically just walked around the city and took in the sights. Dresden reminded Mark of a mini-Florence. We enjoyed a lovely picnic lunch overlooking the city and then headed back to Berlin.
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| Lunch break with a nice view. |
We arrived back early enough that we could get a little more sightseeing in. We went over to the historic Olympic Stadium where Jesse Owens made history and won his medals. The stadium is now home to Hertha BSC, Mark's favorite European soccer club. Afterwards we headed to Spandau for dinner. Spargel (white asaparagus) is currently in season and we all ate spargel-themed entrees. Mine was a homemade pasta with creamy cheese filling and an asparagus cream sauce. So creamy. So delicious!
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| Ha ho he! |
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| The S-Bahnhof |
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| Probably the best meal we had at a restaurant. |
From there we headed to the Zitadelle, an old Medieval fortress. Mark and I walked around a bit while Claire found a playground and played with Grandma and Grandpa. Mark had gone on a field trip to the Zitadelle back in the day which is how he and his family discovered it. When the mosquitoes started coming out we headed back to our hotel.
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| These statues were undergoing restoration, though that probably doesn't mean having their heads replaced. |
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| The brave knight rides her steed out of the fortress. |
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