Bryan is exhausted by trying to find a title for this post

The weekend weather looked dreary and terrible once we got outside, but we decided to go on an adventure anyway. We had consulted the weather report on Friday, which promised a partly cloudy day, but we didn't have that kind of luck. We walked to the train station, grabbed the biggest cups of coffee available, and hopped on a train to Dresden. Coming out of the train station is a mall area surrounded by blocks of apartment buildings that looks, well, straight out of the DDR (terrible depressing times). Then, you walk past this:

Then, you reach this:

Dresden is monumental. Especially impressive is that a large portion of the city, which was historically known as a showcase of the wealth in Saxony, was destroyed in WWII. The city has been beautifully restored and is, quite frankly, enough to make Leipzig develop some sort of inferiority complex.

The Church of Our Lady, which was finally restored in 2004, is especially impressive. The DDR left the ruins as a reminder of the hazards of warfare. We were unable to tour the inside of the church because of a wedding and because of incredibly long lines later in the afternoon.

We stopped for a quick pasta lunch and then were back on our way. Walking across the bridge of the Elbe was very picturesque. There are many tour boats on the river that cater to tourists. Tourism is a big business here, especially tourists from Russia. A lot of restaurants had menus in Russian, English, and Japanese (tour buses of Japanese tourists are not an uncommon sight in some areas).

Across the Elbe, the crowds were fewer and the vibe was definitely more artistic. There were stone maps of city:

And, a tree-lined parkway:

Many shops lined the parkway. We stopped to buy some postcards and browse a bit. Except for a few postcards, we haven't bought any souvenirs thus far, so we decided to make a conscious effort to do so in the next few weeks. Bryan bought a drawing of Dresden in the main part of town and is hoping to find another drawing in Paris or Prague (or both).

Also on the must see sights list of Dresden is the Zwinger, which is a museum campus (but a lot cooler than Chicago's!). It is gigantic and contains many exhibits. The size is not done justice by the following photo:

Also, in true Germany fashion, there were two parades happening while we were in Dresden (for those of you counting, we have seen a parade every weekend since we have been here). One was a truck (think dirt covered demolition derby trucks) parade and the other was a gay/lesbian pride parade. Germany is a nation obsessed with parades and festivals!

Bryan and I are a fan of the festivals:

Also on the docket for Saturday was a trip to Meissen, a medieval town known for its porcelain production and hosting Germany's smallest cathedral. Coming from the train station, you cross the Elbe again and see the cathedral and the palace/castle/confusing building and area that has multiple meanings and purposes:

Note: it was raining when this picture was taken. Basically it rains every 7 minutes here.

Before you can reach the area where the cathedral and such are, you have to get to the top of the gigantic hill. It kind of stinks to do this climb in the rain, but there are some pretty views.

When we reached the castle grounds, we discovered that there was a special event taking place that evening. If we waited for about an hour, we could get into the castle museum, the cathedral, and several other places around town for a reduced price because of the Meissen at night event. So, we were off to find dinner while we waited. The restaurant on the castle grounds was far too formal for our attire or budget, so we walked back down the hill to the Ratskeller. I realize that might not sound very appetizing to you, but really it just means the restaurant and bar connected to city hall. The reputation of the Ratskellers in Germany is very high, so we ventured in. The beer and wine were delicious and the food was great as well. After we ate, we climbed the hill again to tour the castle and the cathedral.

The castle is called Albrechtsburg and was built to house royalty, but then became a production site for porcelain (which was a very, very big deal for Europeans). This was one impressive castle, even by Bryan's standards for castles.

The floors were so awesome that we had to wear these adorable shoes on our feet:

All joking aside, this was a pretty impressive castle. I thought it was interesting that it was both a residence built to demonstrate wealth and the opulence in medieval Saxony and a manufacturing center for porcelain. The castle has been a museum since the 19th century porcelain production has since moved to another facility. We did not buy any porcelain pieces because they are crazy expensive, but they are very beautiful!

We also visited the smallest cathedral in Germany:

After all of the climbing that took place, we discovered this little hillside device:

It was pretty awesome! It usually costs a Euro, but it was free for the evening because of the special event. We were also able to go to the city museum, which is home to a dress made out of wine leaves! This is major wine country, so wine making definitely has definitely impacted local history for the past 850 years. I was pretty close to trying to purchase this dress for my wedding dress, but it just didn't work out! :)

Touring Dresden and Meissen made for a long day, but the train ride home made it even longer! We were on a train that made about 60 stops, and it took entirely too long to get back to Leipzig, where we were greeted by more rain!

Sunday was spent at a going away party for one of the American friends of our roommate. She has introduced us to her friends here and they are almost our friends now too. We even ran into some people we knew on the street here on Sunday; we almost have friends! :)

Happy 4th of July! Check back to see a new series of posts that Bryan and I are pretty excited about!