September 8, 2024

September 8, 2024

We like the hotel we chose in Dresden, Germany. Unfortunately we didn't expect their summer heat to last into September. Vintage means no A/C and our convenient location next to the train station means lots of noise if we open the window. Despite this I slept very well.

This morning we took the local commuter train east following the Elbe River. Just short of the Czech border we got off and took a little reaction ferry across to the town of Rathen. There we found a trail that climbs the steep bluffs into Saxon Switzerland National Park.

The sandstone cliffs are deeply gouged into scenic pinnacles. They have been a Saxon playground for centuries. Over 170 years ago a bridge was constructed linking several of the rock spires. This Bastei Bridge is now an icon of the National Park. Today there is an extensive hiking trail around it with many lookout points. This nature hike is a nice change of pace from pounding the city pavement yesterday.

Back at the bottom we have lunch al fresco on the Elbe shoreline. Aimee has a Sweet Potato Soup, while I try a Russian/East German specialty stew called Soljanka. This sour soup is quite tasty. Of course I wash it down with a Radler beer.

On the train back, we disembarked early and walked to the Dresden Panometer. This is a panoramic art installation inside an old Gasometer, or natural gas storage tank. This area was part of the Dresden gas works and this site had several of these building-size circular brick structures.

I expected to see a display on the bombing of Dresden, but instead it has been replaced with a temporary exhibit on the Amazon rainforest. Aimee and I find it only mildly interesting. Neither one of us likes jungles.

Afterwards we hopped back on the train and took it a few more stops to Dresden main station. There we caught a tram to the Old Town. We wanted to visit the Frauenkirche but it was closed for a concert. Instead we walked by the Parade of Princes Mural. This 300-foot-long scene was created to celebrate the 800th anniversary of the Wettin Dynasty. All the Kings of Saxony are represented chronologically in Meissen Porcelain tiles.

We are thirsty and out of water so we walk west to visit the former Yenidze Cigarette Factory. The building was built in 1909 in an imaginative Turkish style to advertise the imported tobacco. Now it is an office building with a rooftop beer garden and dome restaurant. We rehydrate with a couple Radlers while enjoying the city view.

For dinner we return to New Town by tram and eat at a Vietnamese Restaurant named after the Cuchi tunnels we visited outside Saigon. The meal and mango dessert were quite tasty.