So what was meant to be a 'temple trip' for our friend Milena, turned into a 'Happy Birthday Patrick' trip to Dresden (long story short: temple 'closed' let's say and instead of going straight home Patrick demanded that we spend his birthday in Dresden! (If you knew him you'd know that that is a HUGE LIE! :)
This is the Dresdner Frauenkirche ("Church of Our Lady") is a Lutheran church in Dresden, Germany.
The Dresden Frauenkirche survived the firebombing of Dresden during World War II but was totally burned out and collapsed the next day. It has been reconstructed as a landmark symbol of reconciliation between former warring enemies. The reconstruction of its exterior was completed in 2004, its interior in 2005 and after 13 years of rebuilding, the church was reconsecrated on 30 October 2005 with festive services lasting through the Protestant observance of Reformation Day on 31 October.
I remember watching a documentary in the States how they used computers, old photos, etc. to recreate the plans to rebuild it. I just think it's amazing - 'what once was lost now is found'....or something like that....
This is the 'Furstenzug' showing the Saxon kings, princes and people from centuries past....
This is Patrick 'enjoying' his time in Dresden, his American wife, Katie and our friend, Milena - I think we had fun, even though everyone complained how my '1-hour tour of Dresden' (I had been before) turned into 2.5 hours! Wahh!
Dresden was called 'Florence of the Elbe (river)' - doesn't it look more 'Italian' than 'German'?
The 'promenade'...it was nice for us, it would be even more beautiful in summer...
This is the Semper Opera house - named after the architect.
Semperoper view #2 - very, very famous opera...
Zwinger Palace, now treasure trove of art masterpieces....
The exit with the 'bells'...
Goodbye Zwinger Palace, Dresden and Saxony as a whole - you're a whole other world from Berlin and 'old Prussia'!
