This morning at breakfast we were greeted by our long-time Prague guide, Kamila, who came to Berlin to accompany us to Prague, and who will stay with us through our Poland part of the trip. We are so delighted to see Kamila this morning and look forward to her time with us.

Our first stop would be Dresden in southwest Germany 2016 was the first year we had stopped in Dresden, as in prior years we had traveled by train from Berlin to Prague, and we loved the city and decided to make this an annual visit.

On a beautiful sunny day we were met by a local guide in Dresden, Asitrid, who took us on a city tour by bus where we got to see several residential neighborhoods and to understand how this city was reconstructed after the bombing in 1945. Asitrid meticulously described the reconstruction of the palace and explained the ongoing construction to preserve the historic city to its original form. In particular, we learned about the preservation of statues and stone that have been impacted by the acid rain. She showed us what was original and what was reinforced which explained the varying nature of color in these massive structures.

We took a walking tour and learned the history of this region. Dresden was a traditional medieval city, first mentioned in 1206, and was the capital of the principality of Saxonia, now the state of Saxony. Dresden has a population of about 500,000 and is famous for its Christmas market, the historic young men’s choir, Cross Choir, dating back to 1300, and is the city where the first European porcelain, Meissen, was manufactured and is still considered among the best in the world. One hundred fifty years ago before the unification of Germany, Dresden was the capital of another kingdom or principality, Saxonia, [now Saxony] which was one of 30 units or principalities that Germany would have to unite. They were never very powerful but the Saxon kings had a taste of culture and therefore Dresden became one of the most beautiful baroque towns in the world.

We learned that in February 13-15,1945, shortly before the end of the war, the Allies (Britain and the United States) bombed Dresden, reducing almost everything in the city to rubble. Why did the Allies decide to do this so late in the war when it was already apparent that Germany was eventually going to lose the war? These were the questions that lingered throughout the day.

We had lunch at a beautiful Dresden restaurant, the Sophienskeller, a favorite of this trip. We all enjoyed many Saxony delights!