Dresden; Monday, 22 July, 2013

A surprisingly busy late breakfast which ended up taking longer than expected as I had to queue for everything. I’d kind of expected that on the Monday morning most people would have already left, but clearly not. By the time I finally got out of the hotel it was almost half ten, so I caught a tram down to Theatreplatz and then walked the short distance down to the ticket office for the Saxony Steamship company.

I caught their 11am round trip tour that sailed up the Elbe to the Blue Wonder bridge and then turned round and came back.

By the time I got back it was oppressively hot, so I decided, despite only having finished breakfast about two hours earlier, to have a leisurely light lunch in the beer garden on Theatreplatz and while away some time in the shade.

By about 2pm it had started to cool down a little, so I ventured out from the beer garden and headed over the road to the Zwinger to have a look around. Because it was Monday all of the museums were closed but the site is worth a wander around just for its architecture and the views from its roof top terrace. From the Zwinger I walked over Theatreplatz to the Catholic Cathedral and had a look around there, before heading across town to the slightly more famous, but theologically speaking less important, Frauenkirche, the symbol of a rebuild Dresden.

In the mid-afternoon sun not many people had bothered trying to climb up to the dome, which given it’s a lift most of the way, and all the passageways had air conditioners blasting out cooling breezes it was probably one of the more pleasant places to be. The views, with the sun shimmering on the Elbe were spectacular.

From the Frauenkirche I walked back to the Residenzschloß and was surprised to find out that all of their museums are open on a Monday (but closed on a Tuesday) so I spent much of the rest of the afternoon having a look around the various exhibitions, finishing off with a final climb of the afternoon to the viewing platform on the palace clock tower.

The views from here are some of the most stunning as you get good views over Theatreplatz and the Zwinger, as well as excellent views of the dome of the Frauenkirche (neither of which are possible from the Frauenkirche, the latter due to Physics, the former due to the tower of the castle getting in the way)

Feeling knackered, and with a serious case of museum feet I decided to rest my feet for a little while by making use of the second day of my hop-on-hop-off bus ticket and taking the evening tour around the city centre in the evening light.

After a quick bite to eat in the centre of town I headed back to my hotel room to take advantage of the stunning floor to ceiling windows, and it’s 14th floor position to watch the light fade over the city.