Dresden
Dresden, like Berlin, almost started with a delay. I had booked our train tickets while still in Canada and had no idea that we were required to also then reserve our seats. You would think that buying your tickets for a specific time on a specific day would suffice, but apparently not. Thankfully, we are in the habit of arriving early when travelling and the people at the information desk took pity on us and helped us out. Originally, they weren’t going to, but in the end, I guess they could see how distraught we were at the idea of missing our train. Also, I explained to them that there was no opportunity to reserve the seats when I booked them in Canada, nor was there a place to book assistance. I'm guessing that for those reasons, and the fact that there were seats available, they let us on.
Now, before I even get to Dresden, I’m going to back up a little and quickly tell you how incredible Berlin Hbf (Berlin Main Station) is. First of all, it is HUGE!!! It has five levels! Three floors of shops, restaurants, and office space, and two floors of trains – both regional and long distance. It is an extremely impressive station! Also, it has 16 tracks! According to Berlin.de (The Official Website of Berlin) “Berlin Central Station is the largest and most modern interchange station in Europe”. It took around 11 years to build and opened in May 2006 in time for the Football World Cup.
I'm happy to say that the nearly three hour train ride to Dresden was uneventful. Yay! The land was flat and there were quite a few wind turbines along the way. Thankfully, when we arrived at our destination, we ended up being super close to our hotel. Unfortunately, the dang map program took us the long way around to get there. We could have saved a good 10 minutes and not had to drag our suitcases over cobblestone had we looked more carefully at the map. Ah well, lesson learned.
When we went exploring in Dresden, it didn’t take long to realize how amazing it was. The old buildings are incredible! There is so much intricate detail on the buildings and there are statues everywhere including on the tops of many of the buildings. I had heard the term “baroque” used repeatedly when describing the buildings of Dresden and I didn’t understand what it meant. Now, after having looked up the definition and seeing the buildings, I can say that I get it. (Baroque as defined by Victoria and Albert Museum is “a highly ornate and elaborate style of architecture, art and design that flourished in Europe in the 17th and first half of the 18th century.” These buildings definitely fit the description!
Oh, and there are cherubs EVERYWHERE!!! Well, I know them as cherubs, however I just finished reading on Wikipedia that they are actually called putto (singular) or putti (plural). Had I been counting, I would have easily lost count, that’s how many of them there are around the city. Below are some examples.
When looking at the buildings, many of them still have black on them from the bombings during WWII. In February 1945, Dresden was the target of several bombing attacks. The first released 880 tonnes of bombs onto Dresden’s city centre followed by a second wave that was more than twice that size. Historian Donald Miller describes this firestorm: “‘People’s shoes melted into the hot asphalt of the streets, and the fire moved so swiftly that many were reduced to atoms before they had time to remove their shoes. The fire melted iron and steel, turned stone into powder, and caused trees to explode from the heat of their own resin. People running from the fire could feel its heat through their backs, burning their lungs.’” It didn’t end here. Two more waves were yet to come. It would be difficult to imagine that prior to the war, Dresden was an incredibly beautiful city known for its stunning architecture, art, music and culture (https://www.nationalww2museum.org/).
Today, Dresden is a city rich in history. It has rebuilt its city centre and reclaimed its beauty. While it was never on my radar, Randy’s mom insisted that we add it to our itinerary. I am so grateful that we took her advice and got to experience this stunning city. I know when looking back, I will always have a fondness for this treasure known as Dresden.
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