Fire-Bomb Central aka Dresden

I was so excited to get to go to Dresden for the afternoon because I knew that it had been totally demolished during the war. I really didn't know what to expect when I got there but what I found I didn't expect at all. The Old Town of Dresden had been rebuilt since the fall of Communism and the Old Town reflects that ancient feel. There is a huge gate with menacing guards protecting the city, the Swinger Complex with all the museums felt like that they had been there forever and the buildings felt like they had been there forever.

Zwinger Complex

the Opera House

small dome of the Opera House

the Glockenspeil

The Parade of Princes- history of Dresden (rulers and fashion)

Probably the most famous place in Dresden is the cathedral that burned for two days during the fire-bombing before collapsing. There are some really interesting storeis about this place. First of all, Coventy, which had been bombed to hell as well, is now a sister-city with Dresden. They gave Dresden a replacement cross to put on the top of the church to memorialize the friendship between the two cities after all the atrocities committed during the war. They also found the original cross from the top of the cathedral in the rubble and turned it into a memorial inside the church. On the outside of the church, you can see the original stones mixed in with the new stones. Inside, the cathedral looks less like a cathedral and more like the inside of a little theatre in London.

I spent my afternoon getting out of the cold and exploring the Albertinum, which had a lot of really fasicnating artwork. The townstairs was all wonderful sculptures and casts, including a cast of Rodin's "The Thinker" and we all know how I love Rodin. Upstairs they had rooms full of mostly modern art, including Otto Dix's "War Triptych" and an artists who paints everything upside-down. GO figure. It was a great place to spend  few hours getting out of the cold, enjoying seeing the artwork of people who I had about but rarely seen their work. Plus, it was pretty inexpensive and close to the river so I could see some great views.

I spent my last hour wandering around a little bit of the New Town but it was basically a bunch of closed stores and I couldn't find a grocery store. That was unfortunate (but thank goodness for Crobag!) There was this great CLEARLY Communist designed mural on one of the buildings on the way back to the station, as well as gorgeous views of the river with some very Constable-eque clouds. I really wish there was more time to enjoy Dresden, see more of the New Town, go into some of the museums, see the Green Vaults, etc., but for a quick stop-over on the way to Berlin, it was definitely worth it!