On Wednesday morning I leave for Frankfurt. The weather is warm and sunny and the traffic on the Autobahn terrible. I drop off the car at the airport, take a train to the Hauptbahnhoff and catch a tram to old town for a ham and egg crêpe and cafe au lait at an outdoor café and watch the people go by. Later I walk into the central shopping district and look for a haircut. My only option is on the top floor of the Gallerie department store. I get my hair washed, cut and beard trimmed by a lovely youngish Turkish woman who does an excellent job and takes all of 15 minutes for the entire operation; total cost €34 plus a €3 tip or about $60. Some things here are not cheap! Eliane arrives in the evening and so starts the next part of the adventure.
Next morning we take the shuttle to the airport and walk across to the train station. The train ride to Dresden is very relaxing and passes through Fulda, a place that my Mother used to talk about; Bad Hersfeld, where my Great-grandfather was a kosher butcher; Erfurt - birth place of Johan Sebastian Bach and Leipzig. I start a conversation with the German couple sitting next to us and they give us some interesting insights into growing up in East Germany. They speak very little English because when they were in school they learnt Russian! In about 5 hours we reach Dresden main station and take a taxi to Steigenberger Hotel de Saxe, a lovely brand-new hotel on the Neumarkt (New Market Square) and right across from the Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady) A fabulous location that we really appreciate in the following days because everything is within walking distance. We look at the schedule of events and ask the Concierge to get us tickets for two concerts. The weather is lovely and we spend the rest of the day walking around getting our bearings. Later we walk along the terrace facing the river and enjoy a very German dinner at an outdoor café on the block-long restaurant row leading from the Frauenkirche to the river.
In the morning the hotel’s breakfast buffet is a delight; even more extensive than at the airport hotel. We want to see Die Grunes Gewolbe (Green Vault) one of the main tourist attractions. However this becomes very confusing; first there are two of them, the Neues (New) and the Historisches (Old) and separate tickets with a specific time are required. I pick the Historisches, because we can go right in! It’s fascinating; six or eight rooms filled with jewelry, jewel encrusted swords, paintings and many other treasures. There is an entire room crammed with objects made of amber including an entire desk! Needless to say we were so satiated that we never make it to the Neues. Nor to the Gemaldegalerie Alte Meister (Gallery of Old Masters) which contains one of the most famous of all paintings – the Sixtine Madonna by Raphael, which has the two cherubs at the bottom. The security at the Grunes Gewolbe is amazing, at the entrance and exit there are double doors and the first has to be closed before the other opens!
At noon we meet Lilli in the lobby and walk to Cosel Palais, a lovely and very elegant café for Kaffe und Kuchen. I order one slice of chocolate truffle cake with three forks and the three of us can hardly finish it. It’s lovely seeing Lilli again and we talk about bringing her “Book of Memory” - Dresden and the Holocaust exhibition to San Francisco. Afterwards, Lilli gets her bike and walks us to the start of the City Bus Tour. The weather is still sunny and warm. The city tour on a London-type double-deck bus is great and gives us a good feel for the city. By the way, there are also tours by an antique horse drawn double-deck bus, as well as horse drawn carriages. Dresden is very much a tourist town with many visitors from all across Germany, and I’m told, quite a few Brits and Americans, although we meet very few.
Later we go to a concert by the Dresden Philharmonic in their new concert hall located across the square from the hotel. The orchestra plays the Beethoven First and Fifth piano concertos with Rudolf Buchbinder as soloist and conductor. The very modern hall is huge and almost completely full. We have very good seats and think the concert marvelous.
Saturday morning we go to the Stadtmuseum Dresden (the City museum) and are the only visitors. We only look at two floors of the recent history of the city, which includes very extensive coverage of Jewish life before the Nazis, a 12-minute film about Hellerberg, the Nazi work camp where my Father was held before being transported to Auschwitz. There is also extensive coverage of the Allied bombing of February 1945. Although painful to look at, I feel that the museum covers these subjects in excellent detail; however on the evidence of us being the only visitors on a Saturday morning, who is listening? I will certainly consider leaving my few pieces of memorabilia to this museum. We then walk over to the shopping area on Pragerstrasse and I buy a beautiful blue striped long-sleeved dress shirt. In the evening we have dinner in a Tapas restaurant near the Frauenkirche and attend a concert by the Dresdener Staatscapelle (State Orchestra) in the Frauenkirche. A fabulous concert of the Mozart Vesperae solemnes and the Schubert Mass No. 6 with soloists and full choir lead by Sir Charles Mackerras.
Photos:
Train to Dresden 2#011
Lunch on the train 2#010
Hotel de Saxe 2#018
Eliane, Lilli and pastries 2#021
Next morning we take the shuttle to the airport and walk across to the train station. The train ride to Dresden is very relaxing and passes through Fulda, a place that my Mother used to talk about; Bad Hersfeld, where my Great-grandfather was a kosher butcher; Erfurt - birth place of Johan Sebastian Bach and Leipzig. I start a conversation with the German couple sitting next to us and they give us some interesting insights into growing up in East Germany. They speak very little English because when they were in school they learnt Russian! In about 5 hours we reach Dresden main station and take a taxi to Steigenberger Hotel de Saxe, a lovely brand-new hotel on the Neumarkt (New Market Square) and right across from the Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady) A fabulous location that we really appreciate in the following days because everything is within walking distance. We look at the schedule of events and ask the Concierge to get us tickets for two concerts. The weather is lovely and we spend the rest of the day walking around getting our bearings. Later we walk along the terrace facing the river and enjoy a very German dinner at an outdoor café on the block-long restaurant row leading from the Frauenkirche to the river.
In the morning the hotel’s breakfast buffet is a delight; even more extensive than at the airport hotel. We want to see Die Grunes Gewolbe (Green Vault) one of the main tourist attractions. However this becomes very confusing; first there are two of them, the Neues (New) and the Historisches (Old) and separate tickets with a specific time are required. I pick the Historisches, because we can go right in! It’s fascinating; six or eight rooms filled with jewelry, jewel encrusted swords, paintings and many other treasures. There is an entire room crammed with objects made of amber including an entire desk! Needless to say we were so satiated that we never make it to the Neues. Nor to the Gemaldegalerie Alte Meister (Gallery of Old Masters) which contains one of the most famous of all paintings – the Sixtine Madonna by Raphael, which has the two cherubs at the bottom. The security at the Grunes Gewolbe is amazing, at the entrance and exit there are double doors and the first has to be closed before the other opens!
At noon we meet Lilli in the lobby and walk to Cosel Palais, a lovely and very elegant café for Kaffe und Kuchen. I order one slice of chocolate truffle cake with three forks and the three of us can hardly finish it. It’s lovely seeing Lilli again and we talk about bringing her “Book of Memory” - Dresden and the Holocaust exhibition to San Francisco. Afterwards, Lilli gets her bike and walks us to the start of the City Bus Tour. The weather is still sunny and warm. The city tour on a London-type double-deck bus is great and gives us a good feel for the city. By the way, there are also tours by an antique horse drawn double-deck bus, as well as horse drawn carriages. Dresden is very much a tourist town with many visitors from all across Germany, and I’m told, quite a few Brits and Americans, although we meet very few.
Later we go to a concert by the Dresden Philharmonic in their new concert hall located across the square from the hotel. The orchestra plays the Beethoven First and Fifth piano concertos with Rudolf Buchbinder as soloist and conductor. The very modern hall is huge and almost completely full. We have very good seats and think the concert marvelous.
Saturday morning we go to the Stadtmuseum Dresden (the City museum) and are the only visitors. We only look at two floors of the recent history of the city, which includes very extensive coverage of Jewish life before the Nazis, a 12-minute film about Hellerberg, the Nazi work camp where my Father was held before being transported to Auschwitz. There is also extensive coverage of the Allied bombing of February 1945. Although painful to look at, I feel that the museum covers these subjects in excellent detail; however on the evidence of us being the only visitors on a Saturday morning, who is listening? I will certainly consider leaving my few pieces of memorabilia to this museum. We then walk over to the shopping area on Pragerstrasse and I buy a beautiful blue striped long-sleeved dress shirt. In the evening we have dinner in a Tapas restaurant near the Frauenkirche and attend a concert by the Dresdener Staatscapelle (State Orchestra) in the Frauenkirche. A fabulous concert of the Mozart Vesperae solemnes and the Schubert Mass No. 6 with soloists and full choir lead by Sir Charles Mackerras.
Photos:
Train to Dresden 2#011
Lunch on the train 2#010
Hotel de Saxe 2#018
Eliane, Lilli and pastries 2#021
No comments:
Post a Comment