Blogs from Germany, Europe - page 829

I headed back to the Residence Palace to begin my walk around the city to see the more historical sites. From there, I proceeded to Brühl Terrace, which lies between several fantastic architectural photo-ops and the Elbe River. Bruhl Terrace was the main promenade of those who had the desire to be seen during the 1800's. It was also the location of another one of the King's mistress' palace. One of the most interesting buildings is the Hochschule für Bildende Künste Dresden, referred to those of us not German as the Art Academy. What captured my attention was the inscription over the windows of the names of the great Masters - in gold leaf. A short stroll from there is a little park, where I saw a group of school children evidently on a field trip. ... read more

Days in Nurnberg Monday: A Day of Rest and the Toy Museum Yesterday we didn’t really do all that much so we didn’t dedicate a blog entry for the day. After we woke up we went in search of breakfast. Kel wasn’t feeling very good because of a headache so we needed to get food right away in hopes of making her feel better. While we were searching for place to eat, we stopped and got pretzels. Very cheap, but very good and fulfilling; the pretzels carried us until we found an acceptable place to eat. Once we found an acceptable place we each did breakfast in our own way. Kel had broccoli and cheddar soup while I had toast with honey, butter and jam. Yummy! From there we headed to the Spielzeugmuseum (Toy Museum). ... read more

I am up at 5:30, shower and pack, and am downstairs at 6:15 to await my taxi. The owner was in the breakfast room, and while she didn't quite have everything ready, insisted that I at least have some coffee and a pastry while I wait on the taxi. I sat next to the window as I ate, so that I could see my taxi when it arrived. The frau kept telling me to relax, the driver would ring. Sure enough, he did - no idling the car out front and blowing the horn here. I arrive at the bahnhof, pay the driver and dash into the news stand. In all of my walking the day before, I didn't buy a magnet or any small souveniers. So, I made a few quick purchases in the news ... read more

The striking thing about the exterior of the Palace - and typical of most of the restored buildings I see - is that in restoring, they left the soot on the stones from the massive fires after the firebombing of Dresden 60 years ago. Dresden was pretty much wiped out - the temperatures were so hot, that many of the huge sandstones that were used in construction, such as in the Frauenkirche, collapsed due to all moisture evaporating and reducing the stone to sand. The Royal Palace, the Zwinger Museum and the Semper Opera House, all located across from each other and across the street from my hotel, bear this mark of their tormented past. My research provided that this was intentional -scars as a reminder of this town's history to those who may one day ... read more

After my visit to the Max Platz market, I set out in search of a couple of other sites in Bamberg that I had recently read about in a book by Steve Berry entitled "The Third Secret". While the book only had a short piece in it about Bamberg, there was enough detail about the city that I was interested in seeing after reading Mr. Berry's descriptions. One was an area along the river called "Little Venice", named because the river abuts the buildings and people board flat river boats for rides there. Also, because even though the city did experience bombing during WWII, it had been restored beautifully to preserve the old Germany that is so charming. And another reason - The Cathedral of St. Peter and St. George, where Pope Clement II is entombed ... read more