Easter

 We were back from our trip to Saxony in time for a Easter egg hunt at home

Mia tried to thorough the eggs she found  into a bowl - this was not so easy

But eventually it worked

Halle (Saale)

After visiting a museum on German history in Leipzig - which was one of the centers of the peaceful revolution in East Germany - we went to the nearby city of Halle.The city is the birthplace of Georg Friedrich Händel - another famous composer fromthe baroque.

We walked a bit in the old town and discovered an Easter market in an former monastery

Next stop an old castle- the Morizburg

Exploring Leipzig

 In the morning we spend some time to check out the train station in Leipzig - one of the largest in Europe

Then we stopped at a museum for German history. It is in Leipzig because it was one of the centers of the peaceful revolution in East Germany in the late 80'ies.

In the evening when it was raining a bit we also went to see the monument for the Battle of the Nations that was build to commemorate a giant battle where Napoleon was defeated at the outskirts of Leipzig

Leipzig

After one and a half days in Dresden we too a train to Leipzig the biggest city in Saxony

A fancy car in front of a fancy hotel right in the center by the town hall

St.Thomas church where Johann Sebastian Bach was a cantor

South of the center some hip neighborhoods

Walking back to our hotel by the train station

in the hotel elevator

A tour of Dresden with Uwe

After our trip to the countryside we met and old friend to give as a short tour of the historic center of Dresden and then later have dinner with his family.
A street behind the castle show a famous mural with all the Saxon kings which miraculously  survived the almost total destruction of the city center by arial bombing in February of 1945

The Frauenkriche was just a pile of ruble and only rebuild after the year 2000

 Uwe showed us a hidden entry to the inner courtyard of the castler

Dinner in a hip neighborhood in Dresden Neustadt

Saxon Switzerland

From the city into the nature: A thirty minute train ride along the river Elbe took us to the scenic Bastei bridge in the mountains facing the river.

But first we started the day with  a breakfast in the bakery across the  street from the hotel

To get to the bridge we had to do some climbing but the view was really nice

Some pople did serious rock climbing at the rocks in the distamce

We could use a bridge that was build more  than hundred years ago

Trip to Dresden

For the Easter break we decided on short notice to take the inexpensive Flix train from here to Saxony and visit the Dresden and Leipzig. Our first stop was  Dresden the so called Florence on the river Elbe because of the many beautiful building in the capitol of Saxony.

We could walk from our hotel to the palace the so called Zwinger where the inner court yard was under renovation

The next stop was the square in front of the opera with the fromer parliamnt and the castle church

Then it was time for an early dinner

Back to the river to enjoy the view of the city at sunset