Dresden

We woke up this morning after a long day yesterday and enjoyed breakfast at the hotel restaurant. I still haven't quite gotten use to the "continental breakfast" - as I really do enjoy a full English breakfast - complete with bacon, eggs and the "works" - and I don't imagine myself changing any time soon. But it is important to have experiences that at least ask you to think about changing your perceptions to life the way that you are used to living it - and I can at least say now that I've tried a continental breakfast.

But I digress. Today we visited Meissen - the home of the famous Meissen Porcelain - the first people in Europe who were able to perfect porcelain the way that the Chinese had made it. According to Mum, German porcelain has a slight bluish tinge to it, and lacks the translucent factor that bone china has.

I still think that the German china is amazing, and Meissen have a fabulous factory tour that anyone who is in the region should definitely go to.

The primary reason that Meissen is so much more expensive than anything other German china is because they are all individually hand made by the workers in Meissen. Their skill is amazing, and it is a real testament to them that they have been able to stay in business for over 300 years. Mum and Annabelle each bought a little something-something, to remember our time in Meissen. 

When we got back to Dresden - HOORAY - it was snowing!!!! Annabelle was like an 8 year old at Christmas - attempting to play in what small amount of snow there was, and swinging off lightbulbs around the street. 

From our part of Dresden, we walked over to the Altstadt, the part of the town most damaged by the bombing in 1945. The whole town centre is a reconstruction of what it would have looked like before the war, and it's hard for non-experts to tell the difference. We went on a tour of the Semper Opera House, Dresden's famous Opera House, after the 2nd one on the site was destroyed in the war. It's an imposing building, and certainly deserves the accolades and premiers that it holds often. 

Also in Dresden are a number of reconstructed churches, including the Hofkirche and the Frauenkirche, both of which are complete reconstructions of their originals. 

In that last photo - Annabelle is attempting a sneaky photo-bomb - and not quite perhaps succeeding as much as she would like. Also in Dresden are world-renowned Art Collections, but since we were in Dresden on a Monday, they were all closed. Sad Face. But we were able to see the Building in which they were housed, specially designed for the museums to display the paintings. 

We then walked over to the market square, and enjoyed a terrific hot chocolate in a tiny little chocolaterie, as well as being able to see through the windows of some collections of Dresden China - you can research that yourself if you feel so inclined. 

We walked back to the hotel for a bit of downtime, and then across the road to a wonderful tapas bar for dinner, and had the first paella that I've had in months. I've really missed Spanish food. Hope you're all well in Brisbane - and I've at last caught up with the blog!