Masterpieces in Dresden

Procession of princes mural

Dazed and happy

Wind farms everywhere

Its Sunday in Berlin, a day of rest for most Berliners and the city shuts down. We are off to Dresden for a day trip. Dresden is well known from being bombed in World War II but we don’t know much more than that. We are on the bus and away. We are quickly brought up to speed on ‘Augustus the Strong’ who ruled in the 16^th century. He sounds like a bit of an over achiever, big army, liked musicians, painters, mistresses and making money. With his state Saxony at the crossroads of Europe he made the best of life.

Time on the 3 lane autobahn is flying by, Alex our tour guide entertains us with so many interesting stories.  We even learn that 1 in every 4 people in Berlin is an artist, that explains a lot.

We are passing stacks and stacks of wind farms, Germany takes renewable energy much more seriously that we do. The bus driver changes back a few gears, we blink and now we have arrived in Dresden. Off the bus we go and we start to follow Alex around. Its all old and a bit yucky to our eyes, ugly black sandstone and patches here and there. As we go on the tour we now start to understand a lot more about how and why the town has been rebuilt and that saxon sandstone is naturally black. Augustus and his descendants like to build on a grand scale and Augustus’s face or initials are everywhere. The mural of the Procession of Princes made from porcelain tiles is most impressive.

We decide its time to bail on the tour as so much more awaits. We need food, we need it now and we need it quick. The first café we pile into only has cakes so we quickly throw down some euros and escape to a nearby bench. It takes us about 30 seconds to inhale the cakes and then we are on our way to the art gallery. No time for audio guides today. We walk straight in and before our eyes she is there, the Sistine Madonna. She is large, radiant and a thing of beauty. Well done, Raphael. Now onwards to the top floor, more stairs, not a good thing after yesterday but we power on to visit the Girl reading a letter. Along the way we meet Chocolate Girl and a lot more.

Moving on, no time to waste. Jan has raved about the green room, can we get in? The courtyard is empty there is no line. What’s going on, I thought this place was suppose to be packed out. So we waltz into the Historic Green Vault and are truly amazed by the treasures. The rooms are mostly empty and its like walking through a private castle. On we go to the New Green Vault and this is even better, gems, clocks, porcelin, tea services, objects d’art every single one of them a unique treasure. Its Jane’s turn to hyperventilate today, get the puffer. These masterpieces are displayed so well and you can see every detail. Alas no photos to share today from these exhibitions as the sign says, ‘kien fotografieren’.

Its 4:19pm, we are due back to the bus at 4:20pm. We made it.