Dresden, Continued

So, like I said in the previous post, we absolutely loved Dresden. We also loved the fact that we got to see Dresden wth some of our fellow Fulbright friends. Here I am with our friends Sam and Jamie (currently residing in Mainz) and Rebecca (currently residing in Aachen).

Sam, me, Rebecca, Jamie

Overlooking the Elbe River is the Bruelsche Terrasse, the so-called "Balcony of Europe." Formerly Dresden's defensive rampart, it is now a promenade lined with linden trees and bustling with people. The trees aren't in bloom yet, so it looks a bit drab now, but the view of the builldings and the river is still nice.

In the picture above the Academy of Fine Arts is the large buildling on the left with the glass dome. The Catholic Hofkirche is the tall spire in the back center. The smaller dome to the left is the Zwinger Palace, and the large building to the right in the distance is the Opera.

We walked across the bridge to the opposite side of the river to get the best view of this part of Dresden.

Below you can see the Frauenkirche (see previous post) rising up in the center of the picture. You can also make out one of the nine 19th century paddleboat steamers Dresden boasts as the world's oldest and largest fleet of historic boats of this variety. We hear there are still signs on a few of them promising a "ten-year warranty."

Looking down the Elbe River from the top of the Frauenkirche.

This mural, called The Parade of Nobels, is painted on 24,000 tiles of Dresden porcelain. It's as long as a football field and illustrates 700 years of Saxon royalty. Amazingly, the tiles survived the 1945 bombing.

Down the street from the Parade of Nobles is the Hofkirche, a Catholic cathedral. Dresden was a stronghold of the Protestant Reformation, so it is surprising that the city has such a prominent Catholic church. Today, only about 5% of locals are Catholic.

There were lots of horse-drawn carriages clopping down the cobblestone streets beckonings tourists. Penelope tried to get up close and personal with this particular horse who was on break.

This is a mural on the side of the Place of Culture building depicting the communist themes of workers, strong women, care for the elderly, teachers and students, and the red star. Such communist propoganda is quite rare in post-communist Germany.

The rebuilt Semper Opera

The Zwinger Palace. It's actually a complex of Baroque buildings built for the Wettin dynasty, the rulers of Saxony for over 800 years right up until WWI. Now, it mostly houses museums. We spent a few hours in one of them, the Old Master's Museum, which houses works by Raphael, Titian, Rembrandt, Rubens,Vermeer, and others.

Here I am after entering through the gate and facing towards the inner courtyard. This is where I stood for a good several minutes while the Father wandered down the steps, snapping photos and forgetting that I could not get the stroller holding a sleeping Penelope down the steps by myself.

Inside the palace courtyard, where many a royal wedding were once held.

Facing the other direction inside the courtyard. The Glockenspiel pavillion is behind us.

The Glockenspiel is made of 40 porcelain bells that play every 15 minutes.

And that, my friends, is a recap of our trip to Dresden. I don't think many travelers to Germany put Dresden at the top of their list, but we would highly recommend it, especially in the spring or summer. Call us crazy, but we actually ended up enjoying Dresden more than Berlin!