Dresden Germany

Dresden is the capital city of the Saxony state of Germany. It's known as "Florence on the Elbe" for its beautiful Elbe River that snakes through the city. It's lined with beautiful architecture both baroque and Renaissance and is lined with art and city museums. It's also a very green city known for its plentiful parks scattered through the perimeter of old town.

Dresden celebrated its 800th birthday in 2006 as its quite an old city. Sadly it was bombed heavily during WW2 with only 25% of the buildings surviving. It was first rebuilt immediately following WWII. It lost the remnants of its historic buildings as East Germany tried to turn it into, the "model socialist metropolis." It undertook a second reconstruction in the 90s where creating a new historic Dresden began. It also has the largest paddle steamer fleet in the world that run along the river.

It was a beautiful city with a mix of architectures, old world charm, colorful buildings and modern cafes. The tourism although busy was not overwhelming which made this a very pleasant summer stay.Read more