8-22,23 2013 Dresden

On Aug 22 we caught a train to Dresden.  We had 3 train changes on the trip which are always stressful.  Usually the connection gives us only a few minutes to get to the other train but today it wasn't bad.  We got to Dresden and found our hotel which was just off the Elbe radweg, cleaned up, and rode into the "old section" of town.  I'm sure most of you know Dresden was fire bombed by the Allies in Feb. 1945 and the city was pretty much destroyed.  Since then the city has been rebuilt back to the way it was prior to the bombing at least in the old section.  The above pic is the "Frauenkirche" which was completely destroyed.  The reconstruction didn't start till 1994 and completed in 2006.  At first they left the pile of rubble as monument to the horrors of war but then decided to rebuild after 40 yrs.  It would better serve our readers if they went to Google Earth and could get a better oversight of Dresden.  Most of the things are so big it's hard to get a pic that show the true scale.  Also look at some of the before and after pics of the bombing.  It's really quite impressive what has been done.

We were hungry so we sat down at a restaurant on the Frauenkirche square and had pizza and beer.

After dinner we walked around the old town.  This is the Stable Courtyard on the back of the "Residence"

Neu Market Square looking at the Frauenkirche.  There must be 100 restaurant lining the square and all were doing a brisk business.

The next morning we went to see the "Zwinger", probably the most famous building in Dresden.  It too was destroyed in the bombing but rebuilt quickly by the Russians and Germans.  It was originally built between 1710 and 1732 in phases.  This pic is of the Ramparts Pavillion

This is from the balustrade of the Ramparts Pavillion looking back at the Western Gate

Another pic from the Ramparts Pavillion

Ramparts Pavillion

A nymph at the "Grotto of the Nymphs"

Grotto of the Nymphs

Some nymphs around the Grotto

The Semper Opera house.  The cities have learned to charge admission now so we didn't get inside the opera house.  After this we started riding to Prague.  We are doing a section of the Elbe bike trail.  The trail goes from Prague to Magdeburg in Germany.  The whole trail is 500k long but we are only doing 214k to Prague.