Dresden

Jacob and I have been to Dresden before but only at night and only for about 4 hours. We thought it would be a nice spot to stop between Berlin and John and Amanda’s terminus European city, Prague. After purchasing our tickets from a pink-haired lady in the Wittenberg station, we hopped aboard a packed commuter train. We had a hard time finding spots, especially for our luggage, but we managed. Amanda and I spent about 45 minutes talking about soup, stews, and other hearty winter food which made us even hungrier than we already were.

Packed trains make for quality friendship time

We had to transfer and our next train was even more packed than the first. We had to split up a bit. I sat next to a quiet woman absorbed in a book, Amanda sat across the aisle and one row behind me, John sat next to Amanda and across from a person who liked to stare, and Jacob sat several rows in front of us next to a girl who "was very respectful of his space." It was a bit tricky when they checked our group ticket and we had to point to the people who were included on the ticket. Amanda and I talked across the aisle about life (and also more about soup) in our annoying American accent (I’m assuming that’s what the woman next to me was thinking). Soon enough, we were in Dresden!

Since there were four of us, we decided it would be cheapest, fastest, and least hectic to take a taxi to our hostel. After a brief issue with actually finding a driver who was a) interested in exchanging money for a ride to our hostel and b) could fit all of our bags, we were on our way. On our way to the wrong hostel that is. Even though Jacob told him to go to Louisenstrasse AND showed him the written-out address, the driver took us to Weisenstrasse (rhymes with Louisenstrasse). We informed him that the place he was attempting to drop us off at wasn’t correct. Then he got pissy, even though it was his mistake and it didn’t matter for him anyway, because he charged us for the entire thing!

Eventually we made it to our hostel and after checking in, (and after all that soup talk) we were pretty hungry! We got a few recommendations from the woman at the front desk of our hostel and hit the town. First, we tried a place called “Bottom’s Up” but there were no tables available, so we headed to another place called “Bautzner Tor.”

Hat tip to the woman at the hostel, because it was awesome. A "GDR Style pub," the place had great ambience—lots of antiques, mismatched furniture, topped off with a poster Lenin—really good local beer (some of the best we’ve had on the trip so far), and very tasty, reasonably priced food. Satisfied and full, we headed back for some sleepy time.

It takes 4 people a long time to get ready in the morning, especially if they’re sharing the bathroom with other people on the floor (that was my only complaint about the hostel. Well, that and the creepy window that looked into a kitchen which we weren’t sure was public or not). We got out shortly before noon and walked to the old part of the city. On the way there, my purse broke again. This purse has broken in the following places: Front pocket buckle, left-hand side shoulder strap fastening loop (currently being held together by a carabiner), fastening loop on the right-hand side, and the clasp portion of the right-hand fastening loop

A striking resemblance to this woman

Since this photo was taken, I've had to tie the shoulder strap to the purse's top handle-- I predict that button will go next. It's only a matter of time. ANYWAY....

Most people know about the firebombings of Dresden that decimated the city. The old part of the city has been pretty much been treconstructed to it’s former glory when it was known as the “Florence of the Elbe.” First stop was the Frauenkirche---reconstruction was finished in 2005.

The darker stone was left over from the rubble—the only remaining portions after the bombing were portions of the two side wings. For a fee, we were able to climb to the top of the dome to get a 360 degree view of Dresden. The view was cool, but my favorite part was seeing the pews below us get smaller and smaller as we followed the circle ramp up and around the dome.

After the Frauenkirche, we found a soup place and had a quick bite to eat, did a little walking around and shopping, and soon enough, it was time for a beer!

We enjoyed the Bautzner Tor so much, we decided to check it out again.

Still awesome. For dinner, we headed back to Bottom’s Up to try again to get a table. We succeeded! It was also a great recommendation. Lots of good food, good prices and lots of Belgian beer.

The next morning we caught an early cab to the train station to catch the next train to Prague! We were thrilled the driver brought us to the train station and not the schmrain smation.