Norbert and I have been meaning to go to Dresden for many years but first of all we didn't have any spare holiday days, then they stopped doing direct flights, then Norbert went off to Japan for a couple of years ... finally, this year it seemed that all was well and we booked our flights, hotel etc ready for the four of us to go. Alas, it wasn't to be for Norbert and Stephen so Jonathon and I ventured forth without our tour guide (Dresden is Norbert's home city). Norbert provided plenty of tips before we went and we tried to make the most of what he'd told us.

We were really lucky with the weather. The only time it rained much was at the airport when we were waiting to fly home. As a result, we spent a lot of time outside enjoying the beautiful architecture.

One of the many reasons we went to Dresden was to see the rebuilt Frauenkirche. The blitz in WW2 just about destroyed this building but it has been rebuit in the old style. The darker stones you can see are from the original building.

The church was immediately next door to our hotel so it didn't take any finding. We also enjoyed a concert (Christmas Oratorio by JS Bach) there on the Friday night. No photos are allowed inside so I took a photo of a postcard we bought of the dome instead. The inside was beautiful but seemed a lot smaller than I'd imagined from the outside.

There are loads of pretty buildings around the square where the church is. There was a Christmas market there when we were there (another reason for going when we did) so we hope to go back at a different time of year sometime to see the whole square "empty".

There's a statue of Martin Luther in front of the church. The Reformation started in this area and it is strongly protestant.

That's not to say, solely protestant because the Catholic church is also pretty huge!

The Catholic Church of the Royal Court of Saxony and was built between 1738 and 1751. Again, it was badly damaged in WW2 but was restored in the 1980s. We didn't get to go inside (not enough time) so we'll have to visit next time.

The square where the Catholic church is (Schlossplatz) is also home to the Castle. This is a very impressive building. It's also called the Dresdner Residenzschloss and is one of the oldest buildings in Dresden. It was the home of the electors of Saxony (1547 - 1806) and then the kings (1806 - 1918). Not time to go in here either so it's on the list for a future visit.

The Schlossplatz was also the starting point for the Stollenfest on the Saturday we were there.

There were a lot of floats - chimney sweeps, flour mills and all sorts of other groups represented.

The mayor made the usual speeches and the Stollen Madchen cut the cake and ate it prettily.

The procession ended in the Altmarkt (where the Striezelmarkt - main Christmas market - was). Once there, the massive stollen was cut into pieces and sold off. What a scrum! It was easy enough to buy the token we needed to get a piece of the cake but not so easy to get to the stall where it was being sold. It was every man for himself with loads of pushing and shoving - not an experience I'd want to repeat in a hurry.

Jonathon says the stollen is very tasty though.

Back to our walk around the Old Town and there were various academy buildings to photograph and admire. The first is the Academy of Art, which faces onto the Bruhl Terrace and was completed at the end of the 19th century.

The Bruhl Terrace, nicknamed "The Balcony of Europe" runs along the river Elbe (although higher up) like a posh promenade and leads to the Schlossplatz (see above).

The building below is the Albertinum. This building was built in 1884-87 to replace the former armoury. Its name came from King Albert who reigned at that time. It was extensively damaged in 1945 but has been restored and now has a number of museums in it.

Lunch was here!

There were plenty of nice buildings to admire in the New Town but what we liked best on this side of the river were the excellent craft shops. The detail of the items they made was exquisite, especially the wooden Christmas ornaments. We thought it would be a bit cheeky to photograph things we weren't going to buy so you'll have to take my word for it!

There were also quite a few statues, some "sensible" ones like this one of Schiller .....

... straight line of trees ...

.... and the Ministry of Finance and Culture.

Canaletto lived for some time in Dresden and painted a few cityscapes whilst he was there. The spots are marked nice and clearly so we could take a photo (my art work isn't up to painting a picture!)

There were a lot of lovely views across the river.

The building far left is part of the new synagogue and the statue on the right a Jewish memorial.

The new synagogue was completed in 2001, built on the same location as the Semper Synagogue that was destroyed in Kristallnacht in 1938. The outer walls are slightly off plumb to reflect that the Jewish community has always been slightly set off from the city.