A Stop in Dresden

This morning we started our across continent travels. The ending destination for the day was Prague but we planned an excursion in Dresden since it is on the way. We booked EuRail passes before we left Iowa for our longer travel days. Once we made it to Hauptbahnhof station in Berlin we found the ticket office to get our passes validated. The train platform was full of people. Once we boarded the search was on for seats. We quickly found two seats together and stowed our belongings. Not long after the train began moving a lady came and stated she had reserved the seat Bao was sitting in. He searched different cars for open seats. Fortunately he found two together a couple of cars up from where we started. We sat across from two women from Minnesota. We commented on how much the country side resembled home. Our two hours on the train were complete as we arrived in Dresden. Bao commented on how Dresden resembled his mental picture of what Europe should look like. We walked down the main street towards the large attractions which led us to a shopping area. Marra had a great time searching the racks for new wardrobe additions while Bao wandered the rest of the store. At this point we split up (not intentionally, at least on Marra’s part) and explored the area individually.

Bao’s journey:

While Marra was trying on the clothes, I decided to go take a look around for a while. A while turned into a long time because the buildings were so beautiful. In the hour that we were separated, I was able to cover most of the historical buildings in the center of Dresden. On the way, I met

Marra’s journey:
After finding a lot of great deals at C&A, I went looking for Bao without success. Since we had already figured out the time for departure from Dresden I decided to start exploring. Over the buildings I could see the dome of the Brühlsche Terrasse and made my way towards it. I walked though a grand gateway and found the Fürstenzug (Procession of Princes) which led me to the Frauenkirche (Church of our Lady). At this point a saw the first of four wedding processionals. I started walking around smaller back streets and stumbled upon Turmaufzug. I was not really sure what it was but I noticed people getting in an elevator and a price of €3 and a description written in German. I decided to hold off on checking into what it was hoping that I would run into Bao and we could explore together. I headed back towards the main street and journeyed over to the Zinger and Residenzschloss (Royal Palace). I needed to rest for a bit and found a beautiful tree canopy with benches that overlooked the river. Ten minutes later Bao found me and we continued to sit and relax, taking in the refreshing breeze and nice view.

With 90 minutes remaining until the train we wandered the streets and returned to Turmaufzug to investigate where the elevator would take us for €3. We walked into the courtyard and a few people were getting out of the small elevator in the side of an old stone building. We asked if it was worth the price and they confirmed it was. The elevator only goes between the ground floor and the seventh floor, at that point we saw a wonderful view of Dresden from all sides. We knew we were in for a treat when we saw a second elevator that would take us up to the eleventh floor. Not only were the views breathtaking but we found ourselves up close with all the statues on the top of the building. We quickly made our way back to the train station and narrowly made it before it started pulling out of the station. Dresden was a nice contrast to Berlin and Bao is excited at the thought of going back to paint there later in his travels.