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Published: September 7th 2022
Monday
Breakfast was your typical continental spread in large modern chain hotels. We sat on bar stools at the window as this was the quietest spot. It was quite entertaining watching the cars, trains and trams go by. There were hundreds of cyclists on their way to work and school, some people on electric scooters and the occasional walker. I wondered do they dress more casually for work, as in they wear the clothes they cycle in, or do they change at work?
A lazy morning catching up with washing, reading doing puzzles and just relaxing. Early afternoon we wondered into Dresden to see the sights and have a sandwich for lunch. We walked to the train station to work out where we need to be on Thursday morning for our train to Cologne. It looked straight forward enough. For some reason there were ten police officers escorting two teenage boys through the station, one of whom was limping badly. No idea what that was about.
On our way back to the old centre of Dresden we were contemplating having a coffee when there was a huge clap of thunder and the first drops of rain. We grabbed a table under some arches and had a coffee while the storm rumbled overhead and it poured down. We managed to make the coffee last long enough for the storm to subside and the rain to lessen. It was then straight back to the hotel. It wasn't really raining but it wasn't totally dry either.
Later in the evening we ventured out again and it was dry by now but definitely cooler. We stayed this side of the river tonight and dined in an Italian. (Now there's a surprise!). The service and food was very good and much better than last night's meal.
Dresden has a long history as the capital and royal residence for the Electors and Kings of Saxony, who for centuries furnished the city with cultural and artistic splendor, and was once by personal union the family seat of Polish monarchs. The city was known as the Jewel Box, because of its baroque and rococo city centre. The controversial American and British bombing of Dresden in World War II towards the end of the war killed approximately 25,000 people, many of whom were civilians, and destroyed the entire city centre. After the war, restoration work has helped to reconstruct parts of the historic inner city.
Tuesday
Breakfast was sat in the same spot as yesterday and besides all the other action we watched the train, that we will be on tomorrow, go past. It was easily recognisable as it is from the Czech Republic. It looked quite basic compared to some of the German trains but as long as it gets us to Cologne we can cope with that.
We walked back into Dresden mid morning in brilliant sunshine and wandered for hours taking millions of photos. Reconstruction work, of buildings damaged in the war, is still going on today. There are so many wonderful buildings. You really wouldn't know they had been demolished and rebuilt. We had a sandwich lunch in a small cafe. Whilst we were eating the man behind the counter ran off chasing some one and shouting. We couldn't work out why as you had to pay before you got food so it wasn't that they hadn't paid. About ten minutes later a man came in asking if he had left his phone in the cafe. So that's what it was all about.
By three o'clock the sky had turned grey again and there were a few drops of rain so we walked back across the river and sat outside an Eiscafe under a parasol and ordered ice cream and then a coffee. We sat and watched the rain and people. There was a man stood out in the middle of the wide open space twirling round and round and doing little dance steps, both in the rain and the sunshine which followed it. Poor guy must have had some issues but he seemed happy enough in his own little world.
Back at the hotel we rechecked routes for the last four days and the route to Dresden train station. Later we had a meal out and made preparations for tomorrow's trip.
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David Bleazard
non-member comment
Koln
Enjoy Koln Bernand Oaul, a city I know well, having spent many weeks over 26 years working at the Messe. The Koln Houtbanhof, sorry about the spelling, is massive. It's a nice walk over the famous railway bridge to the Messe side, where you can find the Rhine Park, Koln Deutz Banhoff and the cable car to cross the Rhine. Try a Kolsch beer in the Alt Stat by the river. The chocolate museum is interesting if you like chocolate, near the Rathouse. Enjoy and sorry about the spellings!