Dresden

FYI: This post is being composed in a cafe on a street corner near my hostel in Brussels, one of the more interesting cities I've visited in Europe. Just sitting here, slowly sipping on my cappuccino (is this considered pretentious?) and listening to the French, Dutch, and English conversations around me while waiting for my friend to arrive. More on that to come!

The only thing I knew about Dresden before visiting was that it had been heavily damaged during World War II per Slaughterhouse-Five. It's fairly close to Berlin, about 2.5 hours with bus, and two friends in January actually trekked out there for a day trip. Fortunately for me, I had the chance to stay there for a weekend - and what a weekend it was :)

Dresden is quite different from Berlin. It's a lot like Prague if my memory serves me, namely it is an incredibly cute city.

What distinguished it particularly from Berlin was the people. Berlin, aside from the neighborhood where I live, is full of young adults eager to go out and have a great time. I was slightly surprised when I hit the streets of Dresden to find that the average age of the surrounding people in touristy areas was 40+. Fortunately, that was not the case in Neustadt, which is where the bars and our hostel were located.

Something Dresden has in common with Berlin, on the other hand, was this lovely little Hinterhof. Tucked behind the facade were cute stationary, dress, and jewelry shops in addition to quite the dandy installation on an inside wall.

The city is quite small and walkable - but take that with a grain of salt, as we almost missed our bus home when walking from Neustadt to the Hauptbahnhof and actually had to take a cab to make it on time. If the weather had been nicer when we were there, it would've been even better to stroll around and hang out in parks with a beer or two.

The Dresden skyline is quite renowned, and I remember the first time I caught a glimpse of it on the train home from Prague. I was able to see it during a beautiful sunset when my bus first arrived in town, one that unfortunately no camera in the world could accurately capture. Take my word for it... it was glorious.

Much of the Altstadt that comprises the skyline and tourist zone was actually destroyed during WWII, so there are parts of the Neustadt that are older than those buildings. They sure look the part though!

One of the highlights of my weekend was reuniting with a travel companion I had met in London in February who also happens to be one of the nicest people I think I've ever met. I danced the night away in someone's apartment to the early hits of Britney, Destiny's Child, and everyone's two favorite 90s boy bands while sipping on peppermint schnapps that looked and tasted like Listerine from a bottle that was nearly as big as me.

It was a wonderful weekend that brought me a bit closer to my friends here and provided me with a nice little break away from Berlin. I thoroughly enjoyed my weekend in Dresden, and I look forward to going back one day!