Dresden & Bastei

Hello European road trip!

We welcomed Jay to Berlin with a night out on the town, and an authentic sunday flea market experience at Mauerpark. Jay is our first visitor from Calgary, bringing along like always his sarcastic jokes and good humour. After two days in Berlin; going through more than a few bottles of white wine, german beer, and some open air karaoke, we were ready for our road trip. Out on the open road - but this time in a slightly better vehicle than the itty bitty Citroen we took to München -the guys were quite content to find themselves with the keys of a new Mercedes in hand at the car rental office, free to roam the Autobahn as they please. Stop #1 Dresden.

Dresden Frauenkirche

Dresden was known as the Jewel box, due to its rococo and baroque architecture. However, at the end of WWII the centre was completely destroyed during an allied bombing killing over 25,000 civilians. Some restoration work has been done to help reconstruct the historic city centre, and we were definitely impressed with the beauty of Dresden even more so now knowing its history.

Dresden Zwinger

After a stroll around the city, a beer in the main square, and some postcards sent out to family and friends we took off to our next destination. This was thanks to a late night of Lukasz and I on pinterest, daydreaming about all the places in the world we would like to see...and we came upon Bastei.

A winding drive through small towns of Saxen, up and down hill, then finally a passenger ferry across the Elbe river.... now just to hike up. We did feel a little out of place, as everyone else visiting the spa town Rathen on the foot of the hills was geared up for a hike, and in contrast we were dressed for our final destination of that day - Prague (I may or may not have had little booties on). 

Jay & Lu on the ferry

Nevertheless, we made our way up to Bastei Brücke as we knew what was waiting for us at the top, and we were looking forward to it. The Bastei rock formation towers above the Elbe river, and became one of the first tourist attractions in Saxen traced back to 1798 (over 200 years). Interestingly enough, seeing the rocks I swore that I have seen them before...and I was right. The vistas and rock formations inspired numerous well known artists, among them Caspar David Friedrich whose art I studied in Uni extensively (who knew that would happen?!). 

Bastei Bridge

It really is a breathtaking sight. The Bastei rock formation are just a part of an extensive climbing and hiking area that extends into the Czech Republic and Bohemian Switzerland. I must say that I was very happy to come across this place, as nature for me is still the most breathtaking of sights. 

Couples photo

Bastei

After a long first day, we arrived in Prague come nightfall and were ready for a new adventure... more on Prague next post. 

Bis dann!