Dresden

One reason I stayed a week in Prague was to allow for a couple of day trips. My first of two day trips was to Dresden, Germany. Dresden is only two hours by bus from Prague and is a very beautiful city. I had never been to Germany and was excited to visit. The taxi dropped me off in the main square and everything I wanted to see was within easy walking distance. Dresden was less crowded than Prague, which was nice, and is also much smaller than Prague making it easier to see the sights. The primary things I wanted to see were all in a small section of the city along the river Elbe and were on my list because of the architecture. The buildings in this part of the city are amazing.

I also visited the Zwinger Wallpavillion which is a beautiful garden beside the Dresden Palace. This is a great quiet space in the center of the city. 

I could hear music as I was leaving the garden so I followed the tunes and found a white grand piano set up in the Theaterplaz. Listening to musicians on the street was one of my favorite things to do in Barcelona and I haven't seen as much of it in other cities. I sat in the sun for at least 30 minutes listening to the pianist and left with one of her CDs (which may be great to play during yoga).

I also did some research on wine bars in Dresden and found one I wanted to visit for dinner. It was not within walking distance so I needed to take a taxi, but I couldn't find one.  I searched for over an hour for a taxi and got a bit tired and grumpy, but finally found a taxi stand (with the help of locals) and made the 15 minute ride to Wein Kultur Bar which is a tiny place well off the beaten path in a neighborhood full of families on bicycles. Some reviews consider this to be the best wine bar in Germany and when they put the wine book on my table I understood why. They have thousands of wines. Because I had spent so much time looking for a taxi I didn't have as much time here as I wanted, but I did have enough for three less-than-half glass pours (these three may have equaled one glass, or a bit more because he poured a little extra of one that I really liked). Since I was in the Saxony region of Germany I wanted to try Saxon wines and they were great! I love when they just decided what you'll have next and bring it out when your glass gets empty. They also brought fresh bread with two types of olive oil, olives, nuts, dried fruit, and a chickpea mixture and just put it all on the table. We've learned from previous trips that eating these types of things (that you didn't order) can be very expensive but if you don't eat them you won't get charged for them. But I was hungry and had a two hour bus ride back to Prague so I indulged. When they brought the check I was amazed - it was only about $15, there was no charge for the food, perhaps another reason they're the best? And I loved the wine glasses though I was afraid I'd snap that super thin stem!

They called me a taxi to take me back to the station so I didn't need to hunt for one, but of course my bus was almost an hour late to arrive. I was so tired when I got back I took a quick shower and went to bed. I had an early morning the next day for day trip number 2 to the Bohemian/Saxon Switzerland National Park :-)