Dresden, Germany
Friday 7th July
Chris: Bought fresh croissants and yoghurt at the camp shop, breakfast; Nice hot shower and off to town. Bus stop right outside the campsite. Get off at the hauptbahnhof.
Dresden was terribly badly bombed late in the war and very little reconstruction was done during it’s time under communist rule. DDR.
The broad modern promenade with shopping arcades caused Rose’s eyes to twinkle, although largely window shopping as we are keeping things tight(ish). Even found a Primark! with a Sale!! We needed one or two items. Another bath towel, a spare cushion, candles . . and those Flamingo LED twinkly lights were a must have.(rose: AATB went out the window for 5 min, but even I found myself only looking for sale goods at Primark, what is happening to me!)
Then a really fascinating and educational walk around the old centre, which is and has been restored since reunification. The magnificent baroque style Frauen Kirch where some of the saved fire blackened sandstone bricks, can be found amongst the newly hewn stone.
Formerly called the Florence of the North, every corner one turn leads to yet another awe inspiring vista of buildings. The Germans certainly like to do things BIG, the size of the squares, boulevards and buildings is all on a Wagnerian scale.
The weather being really hot and humid we grabbed a couple of beers and pretzels on the far bank of the River Elbe before finding a team to take us back home. Just in case we needed to eat something in the middle of the night we took a quick stop at a great looking supermarket. Some wine, beers ( in fact we bought radlers, this is a popular drink here, basically a beer shandy, but also made with grapefruit , orange or other fruit. Refreshing. ) Yoghurt, mayo and chocolate biscuits. (For me)
Rose: I really loved Dresden, I am quite fascinated about East Germany and the way it was. The walk around the old town was really a highlight for me. The baroque palace Zwinger was breathtaking. And the Furstenzug murals 102m of Meissen tiles depicting the 8 centuries of Saxon rulers was a treat.
Our bus, no 66, arrived as we got to the stop. On we jumped, proud of our timing. 25 minutes later, didn’t feel like we were getting to where we were supposed to be? Not paying attention we were on the wrong Bus 66. Jumped off somewhere in the sticks and rerouted ourselves. A 20 minute trip became 2 hours.(rose: at least I never got blamed for this wrong bus!)
Oh well, let’s treat ourselves to dinner at the campsite stube. Pork seems to be the meat of choice, but very tasty. Off to bed, checking out in the morning; heading off to Czech Republic.
Parsleys Pursuits 