Dresden, Germany

Our boat in Dresden

The floor under our feet creaked and the walls around us groaned. Only an hour ago we arrived into Dresden from Berlin. 

Close to the eastern German border it felt a world away! Now we were excitingly checking in and boarding our hotel boat for the evening. The old white vessel lay moored in a quiet patch of the large Elbe river protected from the wind and, being low season, we had got a great rate on a cabin. 

We set down our bags below and went exploring. On the deck at the front of the boat we saw the receptionist who had checked us in. He enthusiastically said in a broken German accent "Looks, here I haves beavers". Intrigued we peered suspiciously overboard looking for these beavers. He said "zer is two babies, but we also haves zee fox here, now we haves one babies, the fox ate zee babies I finds zee babies head over zer, now beavers are shy". Having never seen a beaver we asked were they were, he said blankly "well zee is sleeping" and he walked back inside. 

Making eye contact we couldn't help but laugh at the random encounter and saying goodbye we took the ramp back onto dry land to check out the city of Dresden. 

Dresden is the official capital of the German state of Saxony. Its historic core, mostly dating back to the 18th century, is divided into two by the big River Elbe. (The river with the beavers and our moored boat). On the south side of the river is the Altstadt (old town) which is full of grand churches and museums. The elegant streets and shops of the Neustadt (new town) are on the north side. 

A bear on a bike

Exploring Neustadt

Soviet architecture 

We started our afternoon exploring Neustadt, which is technically older then Altstadt. The old is new and the new is old! When Dresden was firebombed in 1945 by allied forces, its cultural and historical old centre was almost wiped out.

But many of the destroyed buildings have since been reconstructed as the city was determined to restore its old glory. 

Beautiful streets

The elegant Neustadt neighbourhood on the river's northern banks was built during the reign of August the Strong (1694-1733). 

However it was wiped out in 1732 by a great fire. After it was rebuilt it was named the new town, (since at the time it was newer than the old town). Then, somewhat protected from the bombings of 1945, it survived the war when the old town was totally destroyed. The names old and new just stuck!

First we tottered around to see some of what the guy on the boat said were 'very fine examples of Baroque architecture'. Although we weren't really sure what that was or which buildings we should have been looking at we generally started to get the idea (big, old looking etc).

We just plodded about and walked and walked around without really an agenda until the cobbled streets began to hurt our feet. There really were some very beautiful buildings mixed between generic and tired looking apartment blocks. We later learnt these standard run of the mill buildings are classed as 'Soviet architecture'. 

Winter's steakhouse, Neustadt

Although the Neustadt had a strange feel about it: imagine small dark alleys, lots of darkened brick and graffiti covered walls, the streets were very clean and there were plenty of people milling about. 

We came across some particularly colourful buildings in the Alaunstrasse quarter and they were just so funky! We liked that people had given them a bit of life and character!

Lots of colour

Bright and cheery! 

Interesting art

A window into something else

The sun setting on the Sachsisches

As the sun began to set and the wind dropped, we returned to the river's edge to breathe in the view. It was a lovely evening, clear and the rain was gone!

Looking over the Elbe River at the old town

As we slowly made our way back to the boat a golden glisten caught our eyes. We walked up the embankment and investigated this sparkle. 

August the Strong

There in a brick plaza stood a large golden rider. It was August the Strong or the Saxon Hercules, a Saxon Royal who rose to be King of Poland, lover of a lavish lifestyle, collector of fine arts and noted as perhaps the most arrogant of Saxon emperors. 

Why he stood there, well we're not sure but gosh he really shone. Around us the twilight sky darkened and the glow of the street's lamps made it feel quite magical! 

The next morning after a restless sleep under sea level (the little cabin got really warm) we set off for the historic old town, Altstadt. The sky outside was blue and sunny, it was absolutely freezing cold but clear and the crispiness was refreshing. 

When the Wettin Dynasty ruled the state of Saxony from Dresden (for 800 years) many beautiful palaces and churches were built. We begun our walk about the historic centre (the Altstradt) over the Elbe river at the foot of city's Catholic Church. 

Here we go, off to the old town

This impressively tall church was re-opened only a few years ago after being destroyed during World War II firebombing. Being the only people there on a cold weekday morning we took advantage of the serenity and explored all the corners of the large courtyard. The detail of the giant statues was quite amazing. To the left of the church down a narrow-ish alley is Augustus street and its famous golden tiles caught our attention. 

The Furstenzug or just known as the “Procession of Princes” is a large mural painted on 23,000 Meissen porcelain tiles. It portraits the many Saxonian kings, lords and electors between 1127 and 1904.

The Furstenzug wall, Procession of Princes

King Christian II and Johann Georgi

King Moritz and August

This piece of art survived the 1945 bombings (thankfully because rebuilding a 23,000piece puzzle would be an absolute nightmare!). We oohhhed and ahhhed over the golden wall, walking its length one way and back again on the other side of the road. Interestingly they all actually had a similar style of dress, we would have thought that style would have changed to a greater degree over 800years.

Semperoper Opera House

Skywards view

The Georgenbau 

Back at the cathedral we took a left turn moving between the royal palace courtyard and church arriving out at the grand Semperoper opera house. Home to the Saxon State Opera and the Dresden Staatskapelle, an orchestra with an uninterrupted history of 460 years! Aligning ourselves up for a photo we took a few snaps and suddenly realised how cold it was. Was that rain? No, oh my, it was snow! Where did the snow come from?

John in Neumarkt square

We shimmied along quickly, keen to not stand around in the sudden flurry of snow, and made a prolonged stop for breakfast. After warming up our next stop was at another church, Dresden's Frauenkirche, the 'church of our lady' built in the 18th century. Perhaps the highest building across the old town's landscape, its big domed roof sets it apart from the pale pastel buildings around it. 

The church of our lady

Dresden piano salon

Almost all but destroyed it was completely rebuilt from scratch after the war. This morning it was closed for a service which was a shame.

Dresden Albertinum

Beautiful porticos

Walking along the streets

Signing sculptures on the church

Not at all hard done by though, we began to walk along the nearby Bruhl’s Terrace, a 500 meter stretch along the Elbe river. Called “The Balcony of Europe”, it used to be the city wall and was later the parade ground of Dresden’s High Society. With great views on the Elbe we saw exactly where the snow was coming from. We pretty much raced through the winter gardens, cold from the onslaught of wind.

Walking down the Bruhl Terrace

Next on the map was the Zwinger Palace. We weren't expecting a lot since visiting the amazing palaces in Potsdam, so we were really surprised! From the exterior the palace is fairly hidden an the old brick walls give nothing away, but walking in you're confronted with a large beautiful terrace. The name of the palace actually derives from the German word Zwinger, which is an enclosed killing ground in front of a castle or city gate; where cannons were placed between the outer wall and the major wall. 

Entering the Zwinger Palace

How very royal! 

So although the origin of the palace name is a little aggressive, the surrounding buildings with their shiny golden roofs are stunning. Outside to one side of the palace is part of the original moat and looking across the water it really feels protected!

Inside the Palace gardens, Zwinger Palace

Walking back to the main square we were enthralled by an adorable wooden winter village (shame there was no snow covering the ground this year) but we stopped for a warm drink by the outdoor fire and watched some locals ice skating! 

Dresden was magical and we had a wonderful time exploring the old and refurbished buildings! Come summer we would love to return and meander down the river but now the German adventure ends as work starts on Monday! 

Tot siens,

John and Kara

Warm German wine by the fire

Inside the Zwinger Palace

Potsdam, Germany

Fluffing about in Potsdam,  Nikolai-kirche

Are we, the rest of the western world, doing it wrong? This whole going to work process? We had a moment of doubt at 10am this Monday morning as our train creaked and moved toward the city of Potsdam. Around us several commuters quietly in a nonchalant fashion sipped on large bottles of golden larger like it was their morning coffee. 

We felt so unprepared and the water bottles in our hands were screaming out our tourist status. It felt like we were missing such a key ingredient on how to commute on a German train. 

Around 11am we arrived, completely sober mind you, into Potsdam the small capital city of Brandenburg. Potsdam is to Germany what Versailles is to France or Windsor to England but on a slightly larger scale. Directly along the city edge of Berlin against the river Havel, Potsdam has been occupied for over 5,000 years and many of the best and some of the worst moments of German history happened in Potsdam. On an international scale it's home of the well known Potsdam Conference, the largest post-WWII meeting between the Allies (the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States), during which they decided how to administer punishment to the defeated Nazi Germany, as well as establish post-war peace treaties and outline the terms of surrender for Japan.  

Inside the Landesrechnugshof Brandenburg

As a little background, the city is known to have been home to Slavic migrants as far back as the early Bronze Age (2000BC). However the old city town itself dates back to the year 993, then a small village in a country that was still to become Germany. 

The following centuries saw onslaughts of crusades and pillaging. Christianity flourished and conflict pursued for generations. By 1531, Potsdam was a thriving market town. 

Battles for land and estates continued and over the years not one but hundreds of royal palaces and estates of great sizes rose from the ground. It was these beautiful collection of stunning UNESCO heritage palaces set within large parklands that were waiting for us on this cold wet winter's day.

As a steady stream of rain hit the pavement we set off from the train station with a very eager plan and a city map on which we circled almost everything we could possibly see. 

The first thing we saw from the station was the towering Landtag Brandenburg snuggled against other also large and dominant town buildings surrounding a small cobbled square. Across the perimeter the Alter Markt stood silently in the rain. Ohh so pretty we thought! It was then it dawned on us that we could catch the city trams on our travel pass, so we got on the next one tottering past, for all of one stop! We were already in the old historic city centre. 

Walking down the main street

Small churches tucked at the road end

Here the soft pastel buildings lined the main street leading toward what looked like a castle. It was the Nauener Tor (new tower) which, on closer inspection, really did look very new. Very grey and very new. We walked along peering down the road leading to the red bricked Dutch quarter before turning right towards Potsdam’s miniature Brandenburg Tor, a Roman-style triumphal arch similar to the large Berlin city landmark. 

Nauener Tor, Potsdam

Brandenburg Tor, Potsdam

Unlike most of Potsdam’s historic center, which was heavily damaged in the World War II bombings, the palaces inside the city's large Sanssouci Park remain intact. As we wandered around, alone on the quiet wet cobbled streets looking for the park entrance we hoped we were heading in the right direction. However soon enough we stumbled upon the 700acre park entrance and were staring straight up at the Schloss Sanssouci (Sanssouci Palace). 

Scholoss Sanssouci

The golden yellow palace sits atop a terraced garden like a beautiful rising sun. A king of the Prussian dynasty, Frederick the Great had designed and commissioned the surrounding gardens to cultivate his plums, figs and wine. 

The king didn’t want the beautiful view to go to waste so he thought of building the palace on top of the garden to serve as his summer residence. Although a lot of the regal palace statues were covered from the brutal winter weather we could still feel how magical it must be in summer. 

Approaching the stairs

We bounded up the garden stairs and peered in the windows (the museum was closed today).

Located about two kilometers away and still within the parklands is the Neues Palais or the New Palace. We could see it and it didn't look too far away as we set off in a straight line from the king's summer residence. But we totally misjudged the enormous size of the palace and the walk felt forever! Also built by Frederick the Great, as his main home, it was designed to show Prussia’s glory and power after the Seven Years’ War. 

Close up of Sanssouci

Within the green park, successive monarchs constructed their own palaces, pavilions and pleasure gardens throughout, including a Chinese teahouse, a Roman villa and baths, an Italian Renaissance orangerie, a Romantic hilltop ruin, vineyards, and a monumental neo-classical palace with a Grotto Room elaborately decorated in seashells.

We saw a few of these as we powered through although because of the time of year many were covered from the elements. 

Approaching the Neues Palais

As we arrived and stood alone at the back of the Neues Palais we felt like it was the biggest palace we had ever seen. It was ginormous. Large king statues stared down at us from the rooftop and the building was so beautiful. 

John jumping and falling faster than the rain

Circling around the palace's exterior we realised our itinerary for our Potsdam visit was quite ambitious, we wouldn't be able to visit the palace if we wanted to check everything else off on our list. Really once we stepped foot inside Sanssouci Park, we knew it wasn't going to be easy to see everything whilst all the while walking through the rain, but we had no true idea of the size of these palaces!! We continued on, upbeat and again in awe as more magnificent towering buildings (these ones belong to the city university) came into view directly behind the new palace. The park was a walkathon and so to give our feet a break we jumped on the next bus as it came around.

University of Potsdam- wow! 

Front side of the Neues Palais

Can you imagine studying here!

Back in the city, we transferred onto the tram line and next headed toward the Glienicke Bridge. The bridge crosses the Havel River, connecting Berlin with Potsdam.

Glienicke Bridge, Potsdam

It is named after nearby Glienicke Palace, a small charming estate. The current bridge was completed in 1907 and major reconstruction was necessary after it was damaged during World War II. 

The bridge is popular as during the Cold War it was used several times for the exchange of captured spies and thus became known as the "Bridge of Spies". We took a quick photo climbed underneath to see what was there and walked back to the tram. 

John outside the Marble Palace

We were so hungry by the time we returned to the historic centre we think the lining of our stomachs were eating themselves. We sat down to a hearty chicken schnitzel for lunch pretty much licking the plate clean. 

With food in our bellies and warm again we ventured back outside and took a city bus on the 603 Cecilienhof line. From here we could explore the New Garden built by King Fredrich Wilhelm II in 1787, the Marble Palace and the Schloss Cecilienhof. 

It was difficult to know where to get off the bus and we got off a little too soon but with the rain only pattering down slightly we opted to explore more of the garden park. 

Taking the long way in the New Garden

Cute little rest stop

Next on the list was the Belvedere auf dem Pfingstberg.

Outside the Belvedere auf dem Pfingstberg

The Belvedere on the Pfingstberg is a palace atop the Pfinstberg mountain. It was commissioned by King Fredrich Wilhelm IV. The twin-towered building was modelled on Italian Renaissance architecture, and it was built in 1847.

Standing at its feet it looked glorious and the white roman columns had us wishing we were back somewhere warm and sunny! 

Heading back a third time to the city we walked slowly stopping to look at some interesting looking houses and by the time we returned to the train we were weary and tired. 

Old wooden house

Interesting roof tiling

Not really having paced ourselves but covered a huge distance in one day our legs ached and our shoes were wet through but we were happy to have seen such beauty. We would strongly recommend a trip to Potsdam!

Tot siens,

John and Kara