gotta be transparent. I wasn’t too excited about visiting Dresden, but when we got there in the mid-afternoon, we walked around the Grand Garden of Dresden, I immediately became excited. add to that, we would be enjoying our first Christmas Market of this trip, which turned out to be more fun than I expected.

we were excited to set off for the Market after checking in to our hotel and relaxing for a bit. the Striezelmarkt is the oldest Christmas Market in Germany, harkening back to 1434. a lot of people mistake Nuremberg’s as the oldest, which harkens back to the 1600’s, but I think they get confused about its age vs. its size/popularity. we visited Nuremberg, too, and it is in fact really big, populated, and not as enjoyable, personally.

Dresden was so much fun! when you visit a Christmas Market, there are usually a few within walking distance from each other. our favorite was the Medieval Style market in the Stallhof. they do a really good job at barely using electric lights and using only wooden utensils. the vendors also do a good job at getting into character.

my favorite food was the wurst mit kase (sausage with cheese in the middle) and of course, the gluhwein. I wanted to eat like 10 of those sausages and I can’t remember how much wine Gordon and I imbibed. we also took home a few souvenir cups for gluhwein, which has become a tradition to consume in our homes during the holidays.

I’d also like to say that aside from the gluhwein, I really loved the Radler. it is called a Shandy elsewhere, but it’s basically beer and some lemonade or lemon flavored soda. I think this makes for a great summer drink even though I consumed it in the gloomy winter nights.

Featured here is the Frauenkirche, destroyed during WWII and reconstructed completely. you can see some of the original stone on the north side.

our second and last day was very rainy and cold, like blow away your umbrella and brace yourself kind of cold. we explored and even did a bit of hunting for the best Stollen in Dresden, which can apparently be found at the Hilton, as recommended by a cafe owner that we chatted with on our stop in Munich. she owns a cafe near the train station called California Bean. how apropos, what with two Californians visiting the Deutschland. we didn’t seek it, but it sought us. lol. we ended up there per chance and turns out, all of her dishes are inspired by her trips to California. one thing she did real well, was match the size of the meals, because the contents of her plates are HUGE and plenty, as are they in the U.S.

back to Dresden… we didn’t find the Stollen, but we really weren’t in the mood for fruitcake either, so we commenced our explorations. one thing I know I want to do when visiting cities, is to do a walking tour. I said I would do that this time around, but I got lazy and didn’t book any. how dumb. as fun as Dresden was, I think this is where we also started to feel tired, and with the cold war on our epidermis, I started to feel my immune system struggle.