From time to time, we love to do city sightseeing.Living here in Germany for almost more than 8 fruitfull years now–I have seen quite a lot. I think that´s what one reason why Germany is famous for it´s lovely charming little old towns, especially Bavarian towns.Our recent city trip to Dresden in Sachsen is quite special.We have finally explored the famous Grand Canyon of Germany which the locals called “Sachsiche Schweiz” or Saxony-Switzerland.To get to the Bastei, we decided to stay in Dresden for a few days to see what does this city has to offer.

This city is so beautiful. It kind of reminded me of Vienna.Wherever you look in the inner city, the Baroque architecture stands out. Looking around,I am in amazed that it is so rich in architecture, and cultural history as well .Thinking that it was heavily bombed during the WWII, but then the city had managed to rebuilt and restore its glorious landmarks.It´s like the Phoenix city of Germany. Dresden is one of the worst case of Allied bombings which resulted the city to be in complete rubble.But looking at it now, the city is standing tall, proud with all of these grand opera houses, theaters, museums, churches, and palaces.You can´t help but to stand in awe, looked up and just admire it.Every step we made on the cobbled pavements made me think how grateful I am to be able to see this place.

The city is so easy to navigate. Our hotel is just 400 meters away from the Zwinger Palace and Semper opera building, one of the world´s famous opera building, which is also very close to the Dresden castle, Bruhl´s Terrace and of course, the Frauenkirche.If you manage to see all these landmarks in a day then I am sure you would be feeling stuffed with grand architecture and cultural history already.

We decided to take it slow and just slowly walk around the city without a haste.I love to get into tiny nooks and small streets and find something unique.

Walking along the streets while eating ice cream, we were transported to this modern day frescoes and intricate exterior facades where history is rebuilt.Although the Dresden Castle skyline is striking, the inner courtyard has a special appeal to me. It was really a surprise that once you get into the inside , the magic begins. Contrasting against the dark exterior walls of most of the castle, the large interior courtyard is light, white and bright.It looks so unreal.The paintings, engravings and details are all so magnanimous!

Now i am not religious but here in Germany, you´ve got to go inside the famous churches because they are really worth to see. Like the Frauenkirche in Dresden.It was really beautiful inside and out but then it did not really gave me the wow-effect that I was anticipating.I have seen quite more glorious intricate interiors but to think that this church was completely destroyed during the war–and now standing in front of me and grandiously rebuilt, then it´s a respect!

I was so intrigues by its exterior detail that I dig into its architecture.At one look, it looked so Renaissance with its Italian details and now I know why.Sgraffito is a technique of wall decor that is created by applying layers of plaster tinted in contrasting colours onto a moistened surface, then ‘scratching’ so as to reveal parts of the underlying layer. Sgraffito was generously used during the Italian Renaissance.

 On the left of the palace’s main gate is a large courtyard called the Stallhof (Stall Courtyard) where knightly games and tournaments once took place in the Middle Ages. Of course we did not miss to the this long wall of Graffitti, but then it´s not your normal Graffitti. It´s called the Wettin Procession of Princes. This wall is made up of more than 24,000 pieces of Meissen porcelain which shows the dynamic faces of 35 princes,kings and aristocrats, along with scientists, artists and well known artisans and farmers. It´s like a royal hall of fame. This reminds me of the Busts hall in Kellheim .

In between snacks and lunch, we managed to navigate the old town and its highlights. We took a break and just enjoyed people watching in the square. There´s always much going on on the square–of course lots of tourists but what I noticed in Dresden, the commercial area is really separated and located on the other side of the city.

We took another walk into the Elbe promenade. It was such a beautiful day and looking at the river with the background of the Brühl´s Terrace and gardens, Dresden school of Arts and endless cafe´s by the riverside, i thought that this city really knows how to have a leisure time.When you take a lazy stroll along the Elbe river, you would definitely make a stop and just admire the view.

As I walked through Brühl´s Terrace, I had the feeling that this promenade is endless. It´s so long that made me wanna run through it. It would be nice if I had my running shoes and had a run in this beautiful promenade. Even the Police station nearby is just as pretty as the Museum! There´s a cafe that looks so pretty but I forgot its name and when I looked inside, it looked like a museum or an art gallery.The interior decor looked much more of of a high end English Tea room with fine dining.

Going on further, I am an art lover so another highlight of our trip is to see another art masterpiece. This time we found it in the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, or the Art Gallery of Old Masters. This Museum is near Zwinger has the various art collections of masters like Vermeer,Girl reading a letter in an open window and Raphael´s Sistine Madonna, which has the two Angels at the bottom to name a few. I ´ve always wanted to see it. The two angels is so famous and has been used for so many motifs up to this time. Before when I didn´t know that it´s done by Raphael, i thought these angels were a separate painting! Even though its more than 500 years old, it´s still awesome to be able to see it in real.Standing in front of a masterpiece always gave me goosebumps.

I also liked the on going exhibition in this Gallery , its named- Timeless Beauty, a history of Still Life.Quite enjoyed some of the displays but spending more than hour in an art gallery always drain me. There´s too much beauty, depth and history that can be digested in a short span of time.But in the end, it´s always great to learn and see something new and great piece of art.

I have seen and had a taste of what Dresden has to offer and I must say that it´s a city that I can recommend for anyone to visit within 2-3 days. It has lots of things more to offer depending on anyone´s taste but certainly, it has something for everyone.It has great public parking areas, a very huge and modern malls which we don´t have here in Ingolstadt so that´s already a plus, and the food is also not bad.

So at the end of the day, i can say that “Dresden, du bist schön!” and that I am glad I came to see it.

What was the last city that you´ve visited?

Thank you for reading, here in Bavaria , we´re still on summer break, school is out and warm days are ahead of us.

Until then, Tschüß!