Dresden!

After a long break from blogging, i'm back! last weekend i went on a road trip to Dresden with xi zhen, shubei, charmaine and ying tee. Dresden is in east germany and the place is simply beautiful. Things there cost slightly cheaper too =) I would say that dresden is a must-go! 

After 3 hrs of train ride to Würzburg and another 3 hrs of car ride towards Dresden, i felt shacked. Its simply too much time spent inactively sitting down. And i feel fat. cos there's nothing to do except to look at scenery once in a while, eat, then sleep. But oh well, it was also filled with exciting incidents like how we travelled on autobahn without car headlights, which whenever i recall, i felt like we were so lucky to have caused no accident. The autobahn is an expressway where cars travel at their max speed (we were driving at 160km/hr) and there are no street lamps at all. So you could imagine our car is like a time bomb without headlights. The car passed by Chemnitz, oh man im so excited now, the place where michael ballack stays! haha but there just wasn't time nor opportunity to stop by. 

Unlike other big cities, Dresden has peaceful and conducive environment and you feel comfortable to be there. The place is filled with churches, some built in baroque style, opera houses and beautiful architectures. I have nominated Dresden as one of my future retirement spot, Especially after walking down the Hauptstraße. =) 

I just love the houses above the shops =)

Towards the end of Hauptstraße, the Goldener Reiter statue (1736) stands on the northern end of the Augustusbrücke. According to the description, this statue belongs to the king of Poland. Against the sunlight, the statue looks just so majestic.

A group picture we took on Augustusbrücke which bridges the slightly newer town (Neustadt) and old town (Altstadt). Besides the strong winds which constantly messed up our hair, the weather on that day was just right. =)

A few snap shots i took of  the Elbe River when i was crossing the Augustusbrücke. 

Augustusbrücke in a glance.

Not to forget these 2 interesting buildings i passed by. Creative architecture. The building in blue- the pipes are actually made in a special way (see the trumpet). And notice that the rainwater would eventually fall into funnel-shaped stand. Residents there could enjoy free music whenever it rains! 

Within the altstadt is where most attractions can be found. This is a picture of the opera house in Dresden, Semperoper.

Fürstenzug (procession of the dukes). This wall is painted with the history of the procession of the dukes according to timeline =)

 

The Frauenkirche. One of the must-visit place when you're in dresden. It was built in baroque style under the baroque architect George Bähr. During WW2, the building was destroyed. Not until Germany was reunified again were there initiatives to rebuild this church (1992). I even went in on the same day to hear a concert! It was a great concert and you'ld be surprise at the turnout, even though it costs 60 euros for an adult. However, a student always has its privileges. I paid only 8 euros =)

 

Inside the Frauenkirche

The Zwinger(1728). It was badly damaged during the war. The exterior of this building has fine examples of baroque sculptures

Schloss Pillnitz. Over here we see European castles that are built in chinese style. Notice the paintings on the walls. There are pictures of sedans and court officials =)

Me and the duck family =)

A small boy throwing bread with all his might to feed the ducks =)

I happened to look up and capture this Cross track made by the aeroplanes.

Next, we headed towards Bastei, which was about 20 mins drive away. After 45 mins of hike, we finally reached! Over here, we get to see paranomic view of the Elbe river and Elbe Sandstones mountain.

This picture was taken on our walk towards Bastei. As its winter season now, the plantation fields look pretty bare. However, in the background i see rolling mountains! or should i say hills? =)

Inside the footpath track towards Bastei.

We actually drove into Czech Republic! haha but just to top up the car tank. Its cheaper too =)

Our car passed by this Strawberry farm too =)

I really had fun in this road trip. While travelling 6 hrs on transport might not sound exciting, Dresden was worth the travel time afterall! =D

Thoughts

Its been almost 2 weeks since i arrived in my dream country- Germany! There are 3 things i observed about germans. 

1) they are really helpful and friendly people. I say that because so far whenever i hold a map looking lost, there'll be someone who would come to offer their help in directions to the place i'm looking for. In Singapore, probably if i see someone holding a map and looking lost, i would wait for the person to approach me instead of the other way round. 

2) they are not in a hurry to rush for seats in trains or buses. So far from my experiences, they are patient enough to wait for the last person to alight before boarding, saving me the anxiety of trying to squeeze my way out though the crowd =) Well, you may say that i'm generalising Germans and making sweeping statements. Well i don't know better too since its only my 2nd week here. But i definitely like them! 

3) they are very expressive! haha. i went to Deutsche bank to settle my atm card, thinking that they gave me an adult account instead of a student account. Difference being i have to pay a fee to maintain my account if i use the adult account. So upon reaching the counter and explaining to the lady about my worries, she looked at my card and then at me. With the biggest grin she could have, she said "you must be very happy!" becos you card allows you to go to any shop to buy things with a card! "You must be very happy", and so she repeated. And yes i left the counter feeling relief that mine's a student account. On top of that, i really can't help but to laugh when i remember the "you must be happy" expression. =D

Feeling a little tired now. Shall update about my trip to Speyer some other time =)

Weinheim

Weinheim was my next travel destination. I went there on a sunday morning. In Europe, streets on a sunday gets really quiet and peaceful. All shops are closed and taking a walk by the streets makes you feel as tho you own the world. 

Walking based on instinct as my friends and i couldn't get a map of the town, we wandered to our first place of attraction- Peterskirche. It was probably no attraction stated in Weinheim. Initially all churches look beautiful and unique in its architecture to me. However, they're all starting to look the same to me now. oops. =P 

This cute little pizza shop.

The start of our hike. We walked uphill for about 30 mins before reaching the ruins of Windeck castle. Oh well, its been a long time since i exercise so this is definitely a good workout for me! 

Some pictures of the ruins of the schloss. It was first built in 1109 to defend extensive properties of Lorsch Abbey. It was destructed in 1114 and rebuilt in 1125. The keep is 28m high and dates back to 14th C.

Out of goodwill: visitors are suppose to pay before climbing up to the tower. I love my primary and secondary school motto- Pure & honest!

The almost vertical staircase.

Next stop: Wachenburg. After walking up the windy route which took us almost 1 hr plus i suppose, we finally reached! However, it was much to my disappointment. I expected more since the climb up wasn't that relaxing. At this entrance, we approached 3 different locals to help us take a picture and still couldn't capture the whole entrance with the 3 of us. =) 

We wanted the whole entrance like this =)

Beyond the entrance. And this was it.

 The following day after Weinheim trip, my legs were actually aching from the walk. Mein Bein tut so weh!