MEISSEN AND DRESDEN

Sailed overnight and arrived in Meissen  in the morning.  Meissen is known for its beautiful porcelain since the early 1700’s.  We had a tour of the factory, the museum and the outlet store.  The tour was very interesting because we saw different stages in the production of the art work by different artisans doing their specialty.  It is very precise work, hence the expensive price.  As beautiful as it was I didn’t buy any because for me it would just be another knickknack gathering dust on my shelf.

After touring the factory we walked around the town square.  I bought a light weight scarf in a men’s store.  I’ll get more use out of that than I will a porcelain figurine.  We returned to the boat and sailed to Dresden.

We arrived in Dresden after lunch and had a fantastic tour of the city.  Dresden is a place that is definitely worth a return visit.  Dresden was 90% destroyed in the bombing raids of Feb. 1945.  The rebuilding effort is phenomenal.  We saw the cathedral, the museum, the opera house, the town square etc.  We met the mother of a friend of Ladee’s at a café in the town square across from the cathedral.  I had white asparagus with hollandaise sauce.  This area of Germany is famous for white asparagus and they are only in season for a very short time.  They were delicious.  Of course I also had liquid bread (local beer).  We then walked back to the ship and again had a wonderful dinner.     

 All the symbols over the years for Meissen Porcelain.

 A winery tucked away in a corner of the town square.

A colorful bush in the town square.

 Interesting buildings.

 Castle on the river.  Taken from the boat.

 The cathedral in Dresden.  To read and see pictures of it before the reconstruction click here  Note that in the picture of the destroyed cathedral, the statue of Martin Luther appears to be untouched.

 The main altar of the cathedral.

The Opera house

 Zwinger Palace.  These pictures are of the palace.  A beautiful place to sit and relax.

 A section of the palace not yet completely restored.

 To the right of the above picture.  Fully restored.

A communist mural on the Palace of Culture building in Dresden.  This was built by the GDR in 1969 and is used as a concert hall.

AN AFTERNOON IN TORGAU

After Wittenberg we went on to Torgau.  We walked around the city, saw the church where Martin Luther's wife Katharina von Bora is buried, walked through the castle-Schloss Hartenfels  and on to the memorial of where the American and Russian troops met at the end of World War ll.  Walked back to the boat for dinner.   

 Street scenes of Torgau.

                                       
This building still has the look it had during the East German era.

 I think this is Russian.  I don't know if it is a sign or graffiti.

 Street scene

 Luther's wife's grave.

 Photo op

 Entrance to the Castle.

 Coat of arms of the original owner of the castle click here to read more about Torgau and the castle

 Monument to the meeting of U.S. and Russian troops.