Dresden
August 26th, 2009
27.08.2009
28 °C
I left my hostel in Berlin earlier than anticipated this morning, unfortunately as a result of the very loud snoring coming from two new hostel mates. I am happy for that reason to be moving back into a girls dorm.
I was a bit sad to be leaving Berlin. On top of that, as a result of the previous nights storm, the sky was very cloudly, and looked especially ominous over Dresden, which was sweltering. Dresden didnt stand much of a chance of getting into my good books. Dresden was apparently the most beautiful city in Germany. Then, February 13 +íčř it was decimated by a series of bombs. Most of the buildings, however, have been reconstructed.
My first stop in Dresden was phenomenal, unfortunately it was also the climax of the day. I visited Zwinger first. I have no idea what its original purpose was, but it is now a lovely spot with fountains and gardens in the center of a large square. Surrounding the square is a restored building which houses random collections, such as porcelain and armour. The best part(and free part) is that you can walk up to the overpass and circle the top of the building, which offers awesome views of the courtyard and the city.
As I said, lovely, but the climax of my trip to Dresden. The rest of the afternoon, I visited the Opera house, visited a very beautiful church that had been completely restored after the war, and the royal palace. The royal palace offers tours to see the Green Vault collection. Essentially, the rulers ordered expensive random objects not to use, but to store in their vault, to show off their wealth and power. They had some very lovely items, made of precious jewels, porcelain, ivory, etc.. It made you wonder how many people starved while the kings purchased a new treasure for the purpose of merely showing off.
It started to rain quite hard after 5pm, which lasted well into the night.
