Dresden

Kurt Vonnegut taught me almost everything I knew about Dresden in Slaughterhouse Five. Mostly that the Allies firebombed the city to hell, killing thousands, just a few months before Germany's surrender.  Many historians have argued the carpet bombing was a war crime because it had no strategic value.

Vonnegut witnessed the attack while detained in a prisoner of war camp.  The experience enhanced his credibility among flower children, who embraced the novel as a symbol of war's destruction at a time when America was still mired in Viet Nam. Dresden has been impeccably restored but it remains controversial as the birthplace of Pegida, a right wing political group.  Its members want to rid Germany of Muslims.  So it goes.

We arrived in mid afternoon hoping to see the Grunes Gewolbe, a Baroque treasure chest. The truly awesome collection of gold, carved ivory, amber and jewels seems anachronistic housed in a museum that flies a Trabbi in the lobby.

Too late.  We had to buy a timed admission for the following morning.  Then, as if we hadn't climbed enough for one day at Bastei, we ascended the stairs to the top of the Church of Our Lady. 

 

Costumed bubble makers entertained children on the surrounding plaza.

Interiors pop with color a lot more if they're not centuries old.

You can't beat the views, either.

The late afternoon sun elongated the shadows of the people below.

Florian checked out the only remaining piece of the old church before we wandered through the city's very photographic streets.  Keep in mind that nearly everything is a restoration.

For the best ground-level views of the city, we crossed the Elbe.

 

 

Thanks to Chris, we knew to look for the spot on the river's embankment where Canaletto set up his easel in 1748 and painted the city's historic view.

Photo bombers are unavoidable!

The Elbe looks pretty placid here, but have high waters have flooded the city twice since 2002.

If we'd grabbed a beer and a wurst here, we probably wouldn't have gotten into a terrible fight about where to eat.  We finally settled on a kebab place.  Pegida would not have approved.