Dresden and the Elbe Valley

We had an all day tour today. We started with a walking tour in the center of Dresden. Dresden has a population of just over 1/2 million people. It was bombed very badly during the 2nd World War. Today they have rebuilt the center of town to look like the historic buildings looked. Fortunately there was an artist who painted Dresden in the height of its grandeur and they were able to recreate the buildings. It has taken many decades. The central square where we started has the Opera House, many of the buildings called Zwinger and beautiful squares. In 1956 Dresden celebrated its 750th anniversary. We saw the outside of the big church, being too early in the morning to go inside but learned about how it was destroyed during the war.

We then walked by a mosaic from 1876 depicting all the Saxon kings from the beginning of the reign through the date the mosaic was made. It is porcelain and probably 100 or more feet long.

We then left the city and went out to a hunting lodge of August the Strong in Moritzberg. The entry rooms were filled with the antlers of the stags that had been hunted. The antlers were on wooden heads of the animals, not real heads preserved by taxidermy. When we got into the living quarters we found out that all the walls were covered in leather. Some were like tapestry wall hangings, but other areas it was like wallpaper. We also saw an explanation of how these leather pieces were made and now preserved. The castle has 220 rooms and has 2 manmade lakes on either side made 600 years ago.

We then went by small gauge steam train to the next town for lunch at a winery.

After lunch we returned to Dresden for the highlight of the day, the Green Vault in the Zwinger Palace. This area had the beautiful treasures collected by August the Strong, we saw the gold, silver, gemstone and ivory collection. The items were exquisite. We were told that all of these treasures had been taken to the Soviet Union during the war, but had been returned after the war ended and Dresden had been rebuilt.

Before returning to our boat we were able to go into the church we only saw the outside of in the morning.

As if this was not enough of a day, Jennifer had arranged for a cake at dinner to celebrate my 80th birthday. Our waiter Edward made me a rose from a paper napkin. It was truly a lovely day.