Dresden

Well, what a beautiful city. Such wonderful buildings. It is hard to imagine this place was bombed by the Brits and the US in WWII. The Baroque jewels have been restored and are a tourist magnet these days: the Theatreplatz, the Zwinger, the Semper Opera House, and two churches - the Hofkirche and the Frauenkirche.

The Zwinger is one of Dresden’s most famous Baroque buildings. Built as a palace as part of an original fortress in the early 18th Century, it is now a museum complex and exhibition centre. The name ‘Zwinger’ goes back to the common medieval German term for that part of a fortification between the outer and inner defensive walls, or "outer ward".

The Frauenkirche, dating from 1726–1743, is one of the most impressive sights in the city, though its rebuild after the fall of communism was controversial: this building had been left for decades as a ruined reminder of the destructiveness of war.

And bikes! They are everywhere, whizzing along, quite crazy some of the riders. Great infrastructure: dedicated bike paths and bike lanes. The path along the river today presented beautiful views of the city as the sun came out and bits of blue sky appeared. A lovely afternoon.

It all seemed a bit surreal - probably jetlag! We had only one delay today - the train from Leipzig to Dresden, but the guy at the bike shop waited for us. We brought with us our own bike pedals and saddles.  These were quickly put on and our stuff jammed into our paniers.

The Mietstation kindly offered to look after our almost empty suitcases, saving us a taxi to and from our accommodation over the other side of the river to leave them there. Even though we will return to Dresden at the end of our cycle touring and Christian at our B&B has offered to store excess stuff, we needed to get it there from the centre of the city!. Our bike hire place came to the rescue.

Our accommodation is in the Neudstadt area across the river. Very nice area right close to the river so a great spot to start our ride tomorrow. This is our area.

So, after checking in and a shower, we set off to do some sightseeing as the weather cleared. Bike riders zipped along in every direction. Car traffic was very accommodating of cyclists, stopping at intersections to give right-of-way (something almost unheard of at home) and we actually feared some of the bike traffic more!

We ended up back at our B&B with some basic groceries for breakfast and, with the day fast disappearing, we went to a local beer garden on Christian’s recommendation, located by the River Elbe (‘our’ river for the next 4 weeks!) and, bathed in the late afternoon sun, provided a lovely venue for dinner and views back towards the city.

The boys enjoyed a few beers; dinner was immense and it was followed by an early night. The MFs are tucked up and fast asleep.