Dresden

We had a lazy start this morning. Cornie is still struggling with a chest cold and since we had bought groceries, we slept in and then made toast and coffee. After breakfast we could faintly hear the sound of musicians playing hymns through the open window of our fifth floor suite. Curiosity got the better of me so I walked down to the square to find three men busking- two trumpets and a trombone. After watching them for a while, I wandered through the streets and up through the promenade by the river.  The old town was already bustling with activity.

Then I went back to our suite to get Cornie and we walked around a little before purchasing a bratwurst and gluehwein (warm wine and orange juice with spices). As we sat by the river eating our lunch, I realized why I like The Forks so much. It's the closest thing to the pedestrian zones of Germany. But it's just not the same, so I am trying to soak up every minute. For dessert, we went to a cafe we had seen yesterday that had specialty ice cream. We each had a kind of spagetti ice cream, my memory of when I was in Germany 15 years ago!

In the late afternoon we took a hop on hop off bus tour of the city.  Dresden was badly bombed just at the end of WWII, so the many magnificent buildings had to be rebuilt. The Frauenkirche (lutheran church of our lady), rebuilt in 2005 is stunning. There are a lot of memorials and monuments for people who helped rebuild the city. The castles on the hillside along the river, surrounded by fall colors, were a beautiful sight!