Dresden is known
as the "Florence of the north", and you can see the resemblance
in the Zwinger Palace.
...and other buildings, including...
...the opera house.
We go on a walking tour of the downtown.
This is a mural depicting famous political and military leaders throughout
history.
The darker stones are the originals. The bombing of Dresden was brutal;
the only piece standing of this church was this one corner, and they rebuilt
the rest.
This is looking back from the riverwalk up restaurant row to the historic
downtown.
And here is the other side of the riverwalk: the River Elbe.
And looking upriver.
Here's our handsome foursome on the riverwalk overlooking the Elbe.
This was a surprise find on our walking tour. Right after we got there,
they fired up this massive organ with "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring."
A beautiful reconstruction.
We stopped for lunch on the platz. We had a funny interaction where Kimberly
originally ordered a Coke and I ordered a milkshake. We changed our minds
and I wanted a Coke and Kimberly switched to a beer. We asked the waitress
if "it was possible" to change to a beer, and she said, "No.
It's not." We thought she was joking with us, but silly us, Germans
don't joke. She was saying we could not have a beer because the draught
machine was broken. We could have a bottled beer, so Kimberly chose the
"Spanish" bottled beer, only to end up with a Corona with lime.
The little bistro on the platz where we had lunch.
On to Berlin for our final stop. "You're probably wondering why
I called you all here today."
Some more walking around. If I remember correctly, this is in front of
the performing arts center, which is between the French Cathedral and
the German Cathedral. Our hotel was right across from the German Cathedral.
Several times we saw these pedal-powered sightseeing bars, where a group
of ten people pedal around the city and drink beers as they do so. A local
guide / driver keeps them from driving into too much traffic.
A quiet evening in the huge chocolate shop next to the hotel: they had
things like the Brandenburg Gates and the Titanic made out of chocolate.
