Chapter 2
Dresden was a very beautiful city! It’s known as “Florence on the Elbe”. I explored the city by bike - you can borrow it for free from the hostel I stayed in. The main problem that I had with the old bike was that, it wasn’t designed for a small Asian like me, it was slightly taller for my size! Though it was old, I had a great time riding it, going everywhere I wanted - I sort of felt like I was a whirlwind :)
90% of Dresden was destroyed back in the World War II, the restoration started in 1950s by the communist regime. It was a bit disappointing to see the Frauenkirche (picture on the right) looking as good as new, other than that, everything was quite to my taste - serene, beautiful and old. Picture on the left is the Hofkirche, one of the landmarks in Dresden (I didn’t get in when I was there though, it’s a pity!).
There was too much to see and feel in Dresen. The weather was wonderfully sunny, I went up to one of the museums in Zwinger overlooking the city.
Inside the Zwinger - you should note that the Galerie is closed on Mondays - it was not as huge as I imagined it to be, it didn’t even look very much like a castle, but well, I learned to enjoy myself. Besides, Jonas (the friend whom I bumped into in the tram when I first arrived) and I spent a good afternoon lost ourselves in all those great paintings. I felt very artistic :)
Here is a pictures of myself lost in the city… and was writing my friend an email (you can even see my old bike there!).
There was so much going on in Dresden, with all the construction work and those muscular young construction workers! Wah! It was all so lively! (Actually, there were so many galleries and exhibitions too)
I rode and rode and rode on. There I was, sitting by the River Elbe, enjoying the beautiful view, listening to the singing of birds, staring at the amazingly blue skies, looking at the casual passers-by and writing postcards to my friends. Everything was just perfect.
Watched the World Cup (Spain vs Holland) with a Spanish guy and his mother sitting in a beautiful restaurant (you can even see it in the picture below) , had a lot of good food (not so expensive!) and a beer. It was a bit weird because all the time I supported Holland but I couldn’t cheer for them with the Spanish sitting next to me, haha, I dozed off in the end because of jetlag.
At the beginning I thought Dresden was a bit boring, and couldn’t enjoy it much. Everything was old, the styles were more or less the same and I was feeling very lonely. Even my butt was hurting from riding the bike. However, after staying there for 3 days and saw more of the city, I fell in love with it. I think it is a very nice city to settle in if you love art and enjoy the quietness. (It wasn’t quiet where I stayed, there were so many pubs and bars!) Dresden has everything. It is one of the German cities which you just have to see and spend a good afternoon strolling the beautiful Elbe river bank.
