Dresden, Germany

We were in Dresden for too few hours, on our way to Poland, but liked it so much that we wanted to recommend it to everyone. It did take us more than 6 hours from Kaiserslautern, but we enjoyed the time we had there, and would go back.

The first market of the season (for us) on Thanksgiving Day was very nice- the “big” Dresden market was already set up with the usual suspects of vendors. The new (to us) stall was a mustard stand with over 100 different varieties. The one we bought was tasty. The Medieval (“Mittelalter”) market was tucked away between nearby buildings and we wouldn’t have found it in the dark if there hadn’t been a brass band blasting away. The musicians from Russia played a wonderful mix of carols, followed by “Copacabana” and “Ipanima”. We would highly recommend this market, complete with unusual vendors and great food such as apple dumplings (like stuffed doughnuts) and veggie soup for Jeff. The first night there was no entry fee, but there were signs at the gates with a modest fee listed.

The market near the rebuilt church was still in the set-up phase, but we admired three live sheep munching on hay in one of them. The sheep appeared happy and their thick wool seemed to keep them warm enough in the cold.

There were several street musicians and plenty of restaurants to choose from. A touching display of photos and artifacts from the WWII bombing is in the basement of the big church, the Frauenkirche. The stairs are inside, to the left when you enter the church. It was amazing to see the rebuilding efforts, and moving to notice some blackened bricks were reused on the exterior of the building. The tourist information center had many flyers about additional activities and museums we didn't have the chance to check out.