Steven has been working for the past week and a half and I just joined him on Wednesday. I successfully managed to negotiate the airports and taxis from Seattle to Dresden and along the way found that apparently I look quite German (The stewardess on the flight kept speaking to me in German before realizing her mistake).

John (Steven’s Seattle co-worker), Steven and I took a stroll through Dresden upon my arrival. The city has a tragic history and very different feel from other German cities we had been. The entire city was destroyed by firebombs from the US and England in 1945. What was once the jewel of the Saxon empire had been burnt to the ground. The famous Frauenkirche (our lady church) burned for three days before crumbling. After the war the city became apart of the Soviet occupied East Germany. Many of the buildings have the utilitarian feel of communism. The beautiful Old Town, Altstadt, is still in the process of being rebuilt to its original appearance. The Frauenkirche has been rebuilt and pieces of the original structure have been used in the reconstruction. The cute coffee shops, bakeries, and local shops are not present here but it seems hopeful that in years to come the area will be revitalized.

The city is located right on the banks of the Elbe River. Along the river there are several Biergartens and locals are always hanging out. There is a path that follows the river and John and Steven use it to bike to work. The amount of bikes here is incredible. People are constantly biking from place to place. John and Steven use Nextbike, a bike rental system in which they check in/out bikes on their phones. There are several drop spots they can leave the bikes when they are done.

The food of the area is a mix of Saxon and Czech. Steven and John have been here long enough that they are now craving vegetables.  The traditional food is a lot of pork, potatoes, bread, and beer, which is good in small doses but gets a little tiring after a while. All three of us have experienced major Maalox moments (thank goodness for the Apotheke woman who spoke excellent English).

Steven and John have tried most of the restaurants within walking distance, so we relied on our never-fail Rick Steve’s guidebook for a recommendation. We found a great restaurant off of the main tourist area a little into the New Town (Neustadt). The Brezel (pretzel) was fantastic; a crispy crust, warm middle, and bits of butter mixed in. Steven and I split Spätzel with a spiced sauce and chicken and a Wasser mit Gas. We walked around the city more and of course ended with ice cream.