Dresden

A 2 hour train from Berlin. Not too difficult, although again its a bit of free-for-all in terms of getting the right seat. We have seat numbers on our tickets, but it seems hit and miss about how religiously people are following that.

Stepping off the train in Dresden and we are in what feels like a very new city. We walk the length of a long shopping mall before coming to the "older" part of town.

The world thought and hoped Dresden would be spared in WW2, but unfortunately it was bombed and razed in 1945. The restorations of the old buildings have been done pretty well, to our eyes, but a true historian might disagree.

This is first city we have come across that has a real medieval feel; I think the large, natural river banks help give that impression, along with the copious amount of cobble-stones.

We drop our bags and head up some nearby steps to Brühl's Terrace, aka "The Balcony of Europe". Some gorgeous views of the river and back into the old square from here. Its beautiful.

We do the mandatory "get to the highest point" by scaling the Cathedral. The 360 views make the climb well worth it.

Next stop is to check out the city's park. Its got a much nicer vibe than those in Berlin. We wander through and end up at a lake with a very nice looking restaurant. We have a light lunch and a very average coffee before moving on.

Our next stop is the Panometer: a former massive gas-tank building, now displaying huge panoramic paintings done by Yadegar Asisi. He has a set of 4 panoramas of Dresden from different periods, which is what we were hoping was being displayed, but instead its a recent one depicting the Amazonian rainforest. At first we are disappointed, until we see the installation.. Its about 4 storeys high and a complete panorama that you are in the middle of. You climb a viewing platform in the middle of the area and take in more and more of his colossal undertaking. Much of it looks and feels like a photograph and its presented on a 15 minute day/night loop with lighting and sound effects. Its hard to convey how cool it is, but lets just say if it shows up in Australia, we will be going again.

We get the tram back to the apartment and get changed before heading out again; this time over the bridge to the other side of town. We stop for a few photos on the bridge where there are some great views back towards where we are staying. We head out to the Baroque Quarter, where there is a bit of nightlife and what-not. But its 630pm on a Monday and you can tell its probably more of a weekend thing.

We find a very nice pub though and park up at the bar because its full. A fantastic final German feed, noting already the menu is starting to look a bit different as we get closer to the Czechia border. A couple of beers and full tummy and we are very happy to get a tram home and call an end to the German adventure.