No so dreary Dresden

None of us quite knew what to expect of Dresden before our arrival. The only concrete fact we knew was that the city was practically wiped off the map during World War II by Allied bombing. However its location and relatively small size made it an ideal, one-night stop off point between the two big cities of Prague and Berlin. Our hostel was located in the northern, party district of town. On the tram ride from the railway station we were surprised to see lots of refurbished Baroque architecture plus active streets and markets (considering it was Good Friday and German unemployment is at a dizzy 20%).

A view of one of Dresden's many historically significant buildings

Our hostel was quite amazing and had the feeling of a small, niche hotel. It was located in a courtyard off Louise Street, the main bar/cafe street of Dresden. Despite its raucous surroundings the hostel was peaceful with large rooms and very comfortable beds. After admiring the hostel for a while we headed into town. As it was Good Friday just about everything was closed apart from cafes and restaurants. Fortunately the weather was excellent so we were able to stroll down the main streets into the central, old part of town where the majority of historical/tourist sites are located. There was a number of Easter fairs taking place around the city so the streets were full of people and psychopathic cyclists who enjoyed brushing past pedestrians at high speed whilst ringing their very girly sounding bells. Our walking was relatively aimless but we still enjoyed ourselves. The relatively clean environment made a nice change from the grimy and confusing streets of Vienna and Prague.

The partially refurbished civic square

After coffee at a fancy lakeside cafe we headed back to the hostel via tram for dinner in the downstairs restaurant. That night we had the most tranquil sleep of the journey thanks to the solid walls and comfortable beds. In the morning the hostel put on a very homely breakfast complete with small chocolate Easter bunnies for everyone which was a nice touch. Although we were not in Dresden long we still really enjoyed the city and the hostels tranquility. It was exactly what we needed before boarding yet another train to Berlin, the last city on our travels.

The golden horseman statue on the north side of the river

More photographs from Dresden...