Germany: Day Trip to Dresden
Friday, January 24, 2025
Once again we had a 05:00 wake up so we could head over to the train station. Thinh and I were struggling with these early mornings, but we also knew that it was worth it since it allowed us to make the most of our time traveling. We bought some snacks at the station to eat during the train journey. Our train left at 06:30 for the two-and-a-half-hour trip to Dresden. Our seats were in a compartment with six seats, but luckily we were the only ones seated in our compartment for the duration of the ride. When we crossed into Germany, a border guard came aboard and checked our passports. He gave mine a very quick glance but examined Thinh’s more closely. He eventually asked if we were traveling together and, after confirming that, he quickly gave Thinh his passport.
We arrived in Dresden at 09:30, giving us the entire day to spend in the city. Germany was yet another new country for Thinh – his 14th country overall! Adding Dresden had been more of an afterthought during our trip planning, and I was glad that Thinh would have the opportunity to visit my favorite country.
Just outside the train station is a large tram station, which captivated Thinh. We spent some time there so he could take several pictures of the trams. He was adorable while he ran around the station to take photos – it was fun to watch him getting so excited. I have to admit that the photos of the trams did turn out well.
Once Thinh’s fascination with the trams had been satiated, we set off for the historic city center of Dresden. I had last been to Dresden only a few months ago, when I had visited with my mom during our hiatus from attending the Paris Summer Olympics, so I still remembered all of the major places to take Thinh.
While we were walking up the main pedestrian street towards old town, Thinh noticed a mural on the side of a building that was made during the Cold War when Dresden was part of East Germany. He recognized the style as being ‘communist’ instantly. The street was quiet and nearly deserted this early in the morning. We walked up past Dresden Castle, which is one of the oldest buildings in the city. The electors and kings of Saxony had resided in the castle for nearly 400 years. The castle is now a museum that contains many priceless treasures, including the famed Green Vault. The main entryway to the castle was closed as we approached.
Thinh and I walked beneath the massive Georgentor gate and entered the main part of the old town, Schloßplatz. Thinh let out an audible gasp of awe as he beheld all of the amazing buildings that surrounded us. To the left was the Kathedrale St. Trinitatis (Dresden Cathedral), an 18th-century church that was connected to Dresden Castle. The church, as with much of the city, was badly damaged during the bombing of Dresden in February 1945, during the closing months of the Second World War.
To the right of the Georgentor stood the impressive courthouse, beside which ran the Fürstenzug mural. This artwork spans the length of 102m (or 335ft), displaying the rules of Saxony. The original painting was replaced with porcelain to protect it from the elements and is the largest porcelain art installation in the world! This street is usually crowded with tourists, but this morning it was empty and allowed for some great photographs.
Our next stop was at the famed Frauenkirche Dresden, a huge Baroque church that was destroyed during the bombing. The church was rebuilt after German reunification, finally being reconsecrated 20 years ago. I explained to Thinh about how the builders incorporated many of the original bricks back into the building when it was being rebuilt. We also walked around the large plaza outside of the church, stopping in at some souvenir shops to have a look around. It was another bitterly cold day, and Thinh eagerly sought out a place in the sun for warmth – I managed to snap a sneaky photo of him standing idly in the sun!
Our walk now headed in the direction of the riverfront. We walked by the old town hall, with its rounded corner tower prominently overlooking the area (it now houses the police history museum). Running along the banks of the river is Brühl's Terrace, a lovely park with sweeping views of the Elbe River as well as the city. Despite the trees not having leaves due it being winter, the park was still nice to stroll through with Thinh. One of the bridges crossing the Elbe, the Carola Bridge, had collapsed into the river little more than a month earlier and workers were busy clearing the area. We could still see two spans of the bridge going down into the water from the central pillar.
Each of the buildings along the terrace had thankfully been rebuilt after the bombing, restoring the beauty not only of the city but of the terrace as well. Many of them were topped with various statues and gold decorations. Thinh was enjoying this part of the walk quite a bit, stopping to take photos all along the terrace. The terrace route headed back towards Schloßplatz and we could see the spire of Dresden Cathedral in the distance.
Brühl's Terrace terminates at Schloßplatz with a large stone staircase leading down to the square. From atop the stairs, we could get some great views of the cathedral and the surrounding buildings. After spending a few minutes there taking some more pictures, we decided that it was time to get some lunch. I knew of several bierhalls in the city and suggested that we eat at one of them to get a true German meal. We ended up backtracking a bit to the Frauenkirche, where several restaurants are located.
Our lunch today was at an Augustiner bier hall. It was busy for lunch, but we were still able to get a table upstairs right away. I ordered a liter of beer, which surprised Thinh when it was brought out – he had never seen such a huge beer! For food, we ordered some sausages to share along with a pretzel as an appetizer. My main was the schnitzel and Thinh had wurst with mashed potatoes. The food was hearty and delicious – the perfect German meal!
After we finished eating, we went out to finish sightseeing around Dresden. Returning to Schloßplatz, we walked around the large square towards the majestic opera house. Facing the opera house was part of the castle, allowing us to better see more of the palace. More trams were running along the road in between the castle and opera house, which captured Thinh’s interest. I snapped some photos for him, while he took videos of the trams.
Our final stop in the city was at the Zwinger, a Baroque-style palatial building. The word ‘zwinger’ dates back to the Middle Ages and originally meant a fortress between the inner and outer walls of a fortress, but this was never the intended use for this structure. Built in the early 1700s, it was originally an orangery and the building was intended to be the forecourt of a new castle which was never built. Nowadays the Zwinger contains several museums, including a grand porcelain collection.
The pavilions and galleries of the Zwinger are stunning to behold. Thinh and I did not go inside any of the museums, but we spent quite a bit of time walking around the pavilions. We walked up one flight of stairs, but discovered that it was a dead-end. Nevertheless, we had a great view of the castle and cathedral from the stairs, so it wasn’t entirely a waste.
Walking around to the other side of the building and climbed up to the main pavilion that stretches across the rooftops. From there we could look down into the central courtyard of the Zwinger, which was undergoing extensive renovation work. The work was going on when my mom and I had visited Dresden in August, but I could now see the progress that had been made in the intervening months. Unfortunately the area was still closed to visitors, so we were restricted to the rooftop pavilion. We walked down to the small grotto, which was devoid of water due to the fountains being winterized.
At one end of the courtyard was the extraordinary Glockenspielpavilion – a clock with a collection of bells made by Meissen. We headed in that direction, leisurely walking along the stone pathway. In the middle of the main entrance to the Zwinger is the Kronentor, which is a large gate with an elaborate, ornate crown at the top. The pathway took us above the main gate and through the smaller gateway under the crown. It’s one of the most beautiful parts of the Zwinger. The pathway eventually reached a dead-end, so Thinh and I turned around to retrace our steps.
When I had been in Dresden with my mom six months ago we visited the Zwinger. I took a great photo of her from the pavilion and I had the great idea of recreating the picture with Thinh to send to mom. Luckily I still had the picture of mom on my phone and I was able to find the exact same spot where I had taken it so I could pose Thinh. I sent both the picture of mom and the one of Thinh to mom, who found it amusing.
Thinh and I tried to exit the Zwinger through the Kronentor gate, but all pathways to it were close due to the renovations. We had to walk all the way around the complex to reach the street level again. It was getting late in the afternoon and we needed to head back to the train station. Once we got there, we bought some snacks in a small convenience store for the train journey back to Prague.
Just as we finished paying the fire alarm began sounding in the station and everyone had to evacuate the building! The crowd outside was quite large and we all stood around waiting until the fire trucks arrived. The trains were apparently still running during this time because we could still see them arriving and departing, which made me a bit worried about our train. We had about 15 minutes until ours was due to depart and I hoped that the station would be open again in time for us to reach the train. As the minutes ticked by, I grew more anxious about the situation and began looking up later trains to Prague. With one a few minutes to spare, the station was opened back up again! Thinh and I ran to our platform and made it just in time to board the train.
As with this morning’s train, we were sat in a six-seater compartment. This time there were two other guys in the compartment with us, one of whom was sitting in Thinh’s assigned seat. I pointed this out to the guy, who shrugged it off and said we can just adjust ourselves – meaning he wasn’t going to move. Thinh took a different seat, but we were both a bit annoyed with the rude guy. Throughout the journey, the two guys kept stretching out their legs underneath my seat, invading our personal space. It was rather presumptuous of them and I purposely bumped into their legs several times to get them to move. Thinh managed to get some sleep during the journey and I watched NetFlix on my phone.
We reached Prague at 19:30 and decided to skip dinner this evening as the snacks we’d bought earlier had filled us up enough. We took the metro back to the hotel and hung out there for the remainder of the evening.
This featured blog entry was written by Glichez from the blog World Tour: 2024/2025.
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