Dresden, Day One

Dresden made it on our itinerary for its Christmas markets, and we did greatly enjoy those. We also met one of the Dresden Sister City hosts for a visit to a Christmas market and dinner. We felt inspired by the history and current spirit of the Frauenkirche, Dresden’s landmark church.

Entering the Dresden train station immediately put us into the Christmas spirit.

Our AirBnB was on the Neumarkt, home to the advent Christmas market that specializes in local artisans and is home to the Frauenkirche. We stored our luggage in the lobby and toured the market for a few hours before check in. It was a cold, rainy Thursday, so what was the first thing we did? Glühwein and sausage!

Here are some scenes from that first day and first market.

Next to that market was the Munzgasse market. We strolled through there, and used the Photo Booth to send a kiss to Will across the miles. The machine didn’t work, but I took a picture anyway.

At the end of the Munzgasse, was Bruhl’s Terrace and the River Elbe. The terrace was part of the city’s original fortifications from the 1500s. In the 1700s, the whole terrace was given to a guy named Brühl, one of the ministers of the Saxon king, Augustus II. These buildings were completely demolished in WWII by the bombing of Dresden.

After walking along the river, still before checking into our room, we stumbled across this medieval style Christmas market. It was a fun discovery.

Having gotten up at 5:45 that morning to catch an early train, I was pretty wiped out by the time we checked into our room at 3 p.m. So I rested a bit and took a relaxing bath with a bath bomb Nezzie found at the Christmas market near our place. She brought up some food for me from the market. It was a delicious Mediterranean style dinner with cous cous, olives, and other tasty ingredients.

A nice end to the day.