Dresden, Germany

Daniel and I decided to stop through Dresden because we know someone who lives there and could show us around a little bit. One of my best friends, Brittany, lived in Dresden for two years and met Nettie through cheerleading. She's kept in touch with her and mentioned that we try to get together with her while we are here. Even though we didn't have very much time, I'm so glad she took time out of her day to show us around Dresden. The city was beautiful, she was very knowledgeable, and her kids were really cute.

Dresden is between Prague and Celle so we figured it would work out to stop there on the way back to Celle. We left Celle at about 11 and reached Dresden at 1. We knew where we were meeting Nettie so we found a parking place and called her. She said she was coming in by tram and from where we were, we could see a tram stop. We figured we could sit in the warm car and see them when they arrived. Plus, she was going to call as soon as she got in. Awhile went by and we didn't see her or hear from her. Turns out there was another tram stop just around the corner that we couldn't see and her phone wouldn't work to call me, lol. After we finally found each other we were able to start walking around.

I really wish we could have had more time in Dresden. In order to see more of the city we didn't go inside any of the buildings. I tend to go pretty slowly through museums and historical buildings because I love to read everything (when they have English captions) and see every part the public is allowed to enter. Here are the pictures of everything. Since it was such a quick trip, I didn't remember the names of all the buildings and had to look them up. Hopefully Nettie, Brittany, and Leslie (Brittany's Mom) will read this and let me know if I made any mistakes :)

We passed this on the way in. I didn't get the greatest picture but it was pretty. I imagine it was a church or something.
*Update* This is the Russian Orthodox Church of Saint Simeon of the Wonderful Mountain. That's a mouthful!

A memorial to those who died of Cholera.

This building is called the Zwinger. It used to be part of the city's fortifications and then became a place royals could use.

There's a large courtyard in the center. The grass was green even though it was so cold. I bet it's much prettier during summer.

Today the Zwinger is a museum complex. It houses the Gemaldegalerie Alte Meister (Old Masters Picture Gallery), the Porzellansammlung (Dresden Porcelain Collection), the Rustkammer (Armory), and the Mathematisch-Physikalischer Salon (Royal Cabinet of Mathematical and Physical Instruments). These are bells made completely out of porcelain.
*Update* The porcelain used to make these bells was invented in Dresden.

One of the towers is made in the shape of a crown. I think it's a replica of the Polish Crown.
*Update* It is called Crown Gate. August the Strong ruled Saxony and he became King of Poland. He also collected a lot of the artwork in the Old Masters Picture Gallery.

The architecture is in the Baroque Style. This pavilion had a little fountain inside. You can go up some stairs to look out into a garden but it was closed.

There are statues surrounding most of the buildings. I'm sure each one has a certain significance.

The Semperoper or Opera House.

The Semperoper was built in 1841 by Gottfried Semper. It was destroyed by a fire in 1869 and rebuilt by 1878. It was destroyed again in WWII but rebuilt to look exactly like it did before the war in 1985.

A statue of King Johann in front of the Opera House.

The Church of the Royal Court of Saxony or Katholische Hofkirche. It was controversial when it was built because it is a Catholic church and the majority of the population was not Catholic. It's right next to the Palace and there is even a wooden bridge that connects the two.
*Update* August the Strong had to convert to Catholicism to become King of Poland, that is why the church was built.

A clock tower of the Royal Palace.

The front of the Royal Palace. It was the residence of Saxony's rulers until 1918. It's now a museum.

A porcelain mosaic on the Palace wall. It's called the Procession of Princes or Furstenzug. It was originally painted directly on the wall to better preserve it, it was made using over 23,000 porcelain tiles between 1904 and 1907.
*Update* These tiles were made of the same porcelain as the bells mentioned earlier. It is called Meissen Porcelain. It was invented in Dresden by Johann Friedrich Bottger, an alchemist who wanted to recreate gold. He eventually came up with the formula for "white gold." Each of these tiles was made completely by hand, from start to finish!

I can't remember what this building is, but it was right next to the Palace.

The Neumarkt. It's a large square with shops and restaurants on the ground floors. I'm not sure what's on the upper floors but maybe businesses and apartments. It was destroyed in WWII and just recently was rebuilt to look like it did before the war. I thought it was a really cute area because all the buildings were different colors.

A church called Frauenkirche or Church of Our Lady. It was started in 1726 and finally finished in 1743. It was mostly destroyed in WWII and rebuilding didn't start until 1990 and finished in 2005. You can see the darker stones are part of the original church. On the left you can see a lot of the darker stones where a larger section of the church survived.
*Update* The church actually survived the bombings of WWII but was badly damaged by the fires. It was rebuilt completely from donations.

A statue of Martin Luther.

The Elbe River flows through Dresden.

I think those are government buildings on the other side. The sky looks pretty in this picture.

Another pretty old building. This one was either an Art Museum or a Univeristy/School for Art.

Pretty views of more of the city on the other side of the river.

A close up of one of the government buildings on the other side of the river. I would love going to work in a building like this every day.
*Update* This is the Finance building. I'm a math teacher, with a few extra classes maybe I could get a job here, hehe.

Nettie and I. Thank you so much for showing us around!

I've decided that I'm definitely going to have to go back to Dresden to see everything better. We really only scratched the surface of everything they have to offer. Hopefully Brittany, Allyson, and I can take a girls trip in a few years!

Only 2 more days until we get to go home and see our family!!!

*Updates courtesy of Leslie Smathers! :)