It's already a month away before we travel again, so for the next few weeks we'll retrospectively share some of our travel stories , why not, right? :)
Last September, Mr. Travels got the opportunity to work in Dresden, Germany for a straight four weeks, and of course, Mrs. Travels had to tag along, not because I didn't have better things to do, but how could someone say no to live in a foreign city across the globe for a month, and within that month there were so many other awesome places nearby that were worth exploring. It's just limitless!
Food
For those of you who are from Europe or have been there, you know public squares are very common. They are the places you'll find Christmas market, cute coffee shops and outdoor restaurants, and where you hit up with you friends and hang out.
The hotel where we stayed was right by the local square, and there was a market set up there almost the entire time during our stay - lucky us! It meant unique local shops, endless gourmet German food and beer just an elevator away!
This was when we got properly introduced to CurryWurst, and after we were back from Germany, we tried to make dozens of times in our own kitchen. Well, not quite as authentic as what we had from those wooden shacks on the market.
For dessert lovers like me, I was in heaven in Germany, seriously. I thought American has the biggest variety of dessert... nope. There are more out there in Europe. Almost every the other day, we went to check out a bakery/dessert place where I got blown away.
My favorite gotta be the cheesecake there. Yes, it sounds cheesy, but cheesecake from Germany is not overly sweet and thick, but rather on the light side.
I also loved, loved their streusel. It's a traditional German pastry with crumble toppings. Isn't that enough?? They alway come with a bottom layer that reminds me of thick buttery tart crust, then either berry or any fruit layer, or sesame paste layer, or cheese cake layer, then on top you have the buttery and sweet crumbles. It's just so fun to eat, because you'll have so much unique of texture combination in one bite! Give me two please.
Sightseeing
Dresden, to me, is more like a residence town where you can't see floods of tourists. I guess it is nice for tourists like us. :) We lived just 5 minutes away from Zwinger, and I had one of the most lovely afternoons in my life strolling around it. The magnificent Baroque architecture overlooks a huge courtyard with fountains and gardens.
1945 Feb, Bombing of Dresden happend during WWII, when 1,600 acres of city center was destroyed. Dresden Frauenkirche, a Baroque church, is one of them. The city rebuilt it in 2005, and they have guided tour to show you around inside. We didn't go for the tour, and just walked around and admired how well it was being restored. I'd recommend anyone who is interested in history, and architecture definitely plan ahead and book the tour for the church!
One day, we decided to take a day-trip to towns nearby, and we picked Moritzburg. Yes, this is what the castle looks like. If you search online, there are some breathtaking pictures, because the castle is on a piece of land that looks like it goes into the water. Yeah it's that fairy-tale feel. And to be honest, those online pictures set us up to be disappointed, because we are on our foot and what we saw was just a castle surrounded by a lake. Don't get me wrong, it is still unbelievably beautiful; but if we could ride a helicopter and get a bird's-eye view of the area, that would be magical.
We walked around the area and did got a good angle to snip a photo that looked like a fairy tale though. :)
Here comes one of my favorite food in Germany - Kartoffel Kloesse (Potato Dumplings) - in a cute restaurant in Moritzburg. It reminded me of gnocchi, but more chewy, tender, and buttery. Hmmm, writing it now just makes me want to have another bite of it.
Transit
We only took the trams around town, and the day we went to Moritzburg, we did catch a couple of buses.
The train station has frequent trains to European cities, and that was how we got to Berlin for a weekend (which will be up on Steemit soon!).
There are also a few good tour/car services to transport you to another European city. The one we used is Daytrip - the driver picks you up in your Dresden hotel, and then drop you off at your Prague hotel, and you have the option to squeeze in one or two sightseeing spots along the way. (Prague trip will be online soon too!!)