Dresden
www: Dresden (Wikipedia)
The day on which I finally left Weimar and Thüringen arrived. Bags packed, ready to go, off I go to Dresden. I always wanted to visit Dresden – it’s a city that I had never visited and, as I was going to Prague afterwards and the train goes through there anyway, it would be silly not to do a little detour and take a look to see what it had to offer for a day or two.
After meeting up with a friend who was brought up here, off I went to the hotel near the Neustadt. I knew from the map that it was relatively close to the Innenstadt – but just how close, I had no idea.
After passing several impressive facades, statues, fountains and DDR style buildings, we came to the bridge crossing the River Elbe. From here, you can see everything – the various churches (there are a lot of them, it seems!), government buildings and the art and music academies. Added to this, it was the so-called ‘Christi-Himmelfahrt’ (‘Ascension of Jesus’) holiday, plus the ‘Männer Tag’, where men stereotypically get a trailer full of beer (kegs, we’re talking here – I saw some bloke swigging from a bottle of beer at 9am), get on a bike and head out into the countryside and have a royal piss up. It was, thus, busy with a great and lively atmosphere!
The Innenstadt is a rather compact place. Three or four squares (crammed with Sehenswürdigkeiten, it must be said) and that is it, or so it seems. Very attractive though – certainly not to be missed!
The Neustadt area, near the hotel, is also attractive in a different sort of way. One half is dominated by a huge clock tower, a view along to the Innenstadt bridge via the ‘Hauptstraße’, with many cafes and restaurants littering the place. The other half is full of studenty clubs, bars, pubs and the like. It looks a little more run-down, but still has character.
In short, I had a great day. It was lovely to speak German for a whole afternoon non-stop (with a bit of English thrown in here and there), have a good laugh and see a new city. I realised how much I missed being in a large(ish) city – the hustle and bustle, the little nooks and crannies, the large areas to explore. While Weimar did me proud for sure, it made for a welcome change.
This was also my final day in Germany for a while – a brilliant way to round it all off. I sat in the hotel bar for a quick drink earlier and just gave a smile to myself. All in all, I’m very happy with what I’ve achieved this year. Can’t say much more than that – it’s all been said in previous posts here and there. But yes – good feelings all round.
It feels strange to say ‘That’s that’, but no doubt I’ll be back in Germany for an extended time in the future. Anyway – must dash! Next stop: Czech Republic.
Dresden photos can be seen here.
