Dresden October 2010

Part of the palace in Dresden; the Zwinger palace and a statue of Emperor Augustus.

We left Leipzig reluctantly, that Monday morning, October 18. We walked to the train station, which was right across the street, dragging our bags behind us, had our usual breakfast and then boarded the train to Dresden about 11:00am. It was a fairly short ride to Dresden, just a couple of hours. We were staying at an NH in Dresden, but I wasn't sure how close to the old town we were.

It turned out that we were nowhere near the old town. We were in an area out in the boonies, in among car showrooms and repair shops. What an rundown area! It was interesting,though, because the apartment buildings lining the streets were being renovated piece by piece. Old, rundown, grey apartment buildings were being transformed into newly stuccoed, painted ones. It reminded us that Dresden was part of the old East Germany, and renovations from the Soviet-style block apartments were less than twenty years old.

The NH hotel - a Spanish chain in which we have stayed several times - was a very nice one, but so far out from town. We figured that this area had enough space for big tour buses to be parked, so tours used this hotel to house their groups. Indeed, there were several tour groups staying at this hotel while we were there.

We checked in and found out that a tram straight into town was just "up the street, a few minutes walk". We were suspicious of these directions " just a few minutes walk", because the walk was usually at least ten minutes duration. However, we unpacked and walked up to the tram stop. It was not too bad, I must say, but at least a ten minute walk in good weather.

We bought a week tram ticket at the stop and waited for the #3 tram. Sure enough, it was only a few minute wait and then we were on our way. The ride into town was really a nice ride, and it took us over the river Elbe with a magnificent view of the city: the opera house, the castle, the churches. It was really worth the inconvenience of being so far from the city to be able to see this view everytime we rode the tram.

We got off where we thought it might be the way to the old town, and made our way through restaurants, cafes, shops and more churches. We came to the square and lo and behold, there was another NH hotel, right at the edge of the square. "Why didn't we stay at this NH hotel?" Jack wanted to know??? I didn't know either, except that maybe it was more expensive than our hotel? I would have to check it out. In the meantime, we spotted an arcade, which is a shopping mall, and made our way toward it. We also spotted a bankomat, for future reference for cash. We were off to a good start.

The arcade was a three-story glass building, with everything imaginable inside: stores, restaurants, grocery stores, drug stores and even a post office. There were stores outside the arcade also, the upscale stores we had seen in Berlin and in Leipzig. This place was thriving. We found a food court in the lower level, full of places to eat. Jack spotted a good bratwurst stand and we ate there almost every day. So did everyone else; it was always full of people, either taking a break from shopping or starting their day with a hot cup of coffee and a bratwurst roll or a plate full of fried potatoes and schnitzel.

I had heard about Dresden all my life; what a beautiful city it was and how it was burned to the ground by the Allied bombing, mostly in hopes that the German people would be so disheartened that they would press their government to stop fighting. That didn't work, so the whole city was destroyed. Then after the war, the Soviets took over and they didn't much like the Germans either, so they did not try to restore the city at all. They just threw up some cheap housing and probably some factories and didn't worry about the old town. It wasn't until Germany was reunited in 1990 that West Germany started pouring in millions of German marks into Dresden, to restore its beautiful churches, opera house, palaces, etc. So all of the reconstruction was really less than twenty years old. What was surprising though, was that the buildings looked old and worn out. It turns out that the stone they used for the restoration is loaded with some kind of chemical which turns black with just a bit of air reaching it. So the buildings looked like they needed cleaning, and they were really pretty new.

There were photographs all over the city, showing the total destruction of the city, the mounds of bombed-out buildings and the half buried churches, etc. But now the city was recovering and

tourists were coming back to the city. We figured out that there are many West German tourists coming to Dresden now, to see how the city has renovated itself. There are lots of Europeans coming to this city and enjoying its beautiful sites and museums.

We made our way to the tourist information center, because we wanted to see what music programs there were in the ten days that we were in the town. We immediately bought tickets to the opera and to a ballet, and we also found out that Kurt Masur, the famous German director, was going to direct a Mozart at the St Nicolas Church, so we wanted to hear that. We also bought tickets to the Messiah at that church. We wanted to hear the music, but we also wanted to visit the the opera house and the church where the concerts were to be held.

We were not disappointed; the opera house is just beautiful. I brought my camera the second time we visited to get a chance to capture the beauty of the building. The first concert was Giselle, the ballet. It was a modern approach to this classic ballet, but it was very beautiful and we enjoyed it.

The second visit to the opera house was to see Rossini's "The Girl from Algiers". I looked it up on the computer so we would know the story. It is a story about a beautiful girl who is kidnapped by a Turkish shiek who wants a younger woman for his harem. But the girl works hard to bring her boyfriend to the palace to rescue her, and sure enough, she tricks the Turkish sheik and she escapes with her boyfriend after some shennanigans. It is a light-hearted comedy and it was fun to watch. The leading tenor, the boyfriend, is a Mexican from Vera Cruz, so I felt like we had a neighbor in the cast. His voice was beautiful and he was really expressive, and the crowd loved him. I think he got the biggest applause of all the singers.

When we left the opera house, we just had to cross the street and wait a few minutes for the tram to take us to our hotel. What an easy way to get back and forth to these downtown venues.

During our stay they were working on the tram lines so several times the trams were rerouted into the city. So we got to see different views of the city and really got to know our way around. We also had to find the stamp store to find some old covers, so we investigated new trams for the ride. As we rode the new rides, we would be on the lookout for interesting places to eat or other sites that we wanted to come back and investigate.

A big draw for the city is the Zwinger Palace, a complex of buildings, connected by a beautiful garden. This was the place where the royalty lived, and they have restored it to its former splendor. The days we were there were sunny and bright, so we were able to get some good photographs.

One of the most interesting collections we saw there was the China collection. In the late 1600's the Dutch and the English had established themselves as sea traders, and they brought back beautiful porcelain and jade from China. These pieces were very costly and therefore very popular with the aristocracy and rich middle class. Many of these pieces are shown in one of the wings of the Zwinger palace, and they were unbelievably beautiful.

There were many shipwrecks during those years, so much of the porcelain was lost. That gave the German emperor Augustus the idea to start his own porcelain factory. So, about the year 1702, the German factory of Meissen was established. He hired local pottery artists, who passed down the craft year after year. They gradually designed their own "china" and it became more and more beautiful and precious. Now it is just as expensive and exquisite as the original china.

We took the train to the Meissen factory, right outside Dresden, and took the tour of the factory. They have artists showing how they make the porcelain and how they decorate it. The job looks very tedious and no room for errors. Their showroom had many examples of their work for sale, from dishware to tea services to elaborate decorative pieces like clocks and lamp bases, etc. We bought a few small cups for some friends, and I picked out a small plate for myself.

Later on, in stores in Dresden and in Vienna, we saw the Meissen porcelain in the window, with pieces that were worth thousands of dollars.

Our time in Dresden went much too quickly, and before we knew it, we were packing our bags and boarding the train back to Berlin for a couple of days before we left for Krakow. Dresden is a beautiful city and it is great to see it in its former glory and so many visitors there to enjoy it once again. I would recommend a visit to Dresden to anyone who wants to see a beautiful part of Germany.