On Saturday 30 July I left beliebte Weimar and came by train to Dresden. I believe this is the 5th or 6th time that I am here. I do know that I was here last summer. So there is not much new for me to do here. A city this size can only offer so much. I went to the Alte Meister Gemakde Gallerie yesterday. Like the collections in Munich, Vienna and Berlin, always worth a visit. They have rearranged somewhat. You still enter at the same entrance as always, don't let the signs fool you, and you still go down to buy your ticket like always. But the entrance to the galleries has been rearranged and the lay out is now different. I saw everything and even found a Vermeer I did not know they had! Also saw the Giorgione they have, that was completed by Titian, that I did not remember. I was there almost 2 hours. Today I will go through the Residenz collections.
It was raining yesterday a lot of the time so it was a good day to be indoors. I had a coffee and cake in the museum cafe after - disappointing as museum cafes go. After I went across the street to the biergarten attached to the Italianisches Dorfchen building. It has become more and more touristy over the years. If it is not too crowded it is fine. But none of the tourists seem to be able to get a handle on how it works. You order and pay at the window and then you collect your order around the corner in front. If you order something cooked you have to wait and carry it yourself.
I then walked over the Augustusbrucke to the real Biergarten. Over the bridge and on the right side. The food here is better and you can see them cooking it right there. The dark beer is called "Dresdenr" and is DELICIOUS. It is much bigger and less crowded and you get a nice view over the river of the city. After my beer there I walked back and went to the Madrid tapas place in the Frauenkirche square and it began to pour. So after my beer there I went back to the hotel.
This is what is new about my trip this year! I have abandoned the Hilton, nice as it was, to stay in the Taschenbergpalais Hotel. This is a Kempinski hotel and the nicest 5 star in this city.
I got a great deal on the room here. I choose to upgrade to a superior room with breakfast included and it cost me 140 euro a night.
You could not get a park bench in New Jersey, much less Manhattan for that price. The building is huge and I had to have an escort to my room in order to find it. That evening I did spend some time wandering lost, but it has worked out. The service is impeccable. The room was not ready when I arrived but they took my number and called me when it was. When I was escorted to my room my bags were already there and the room was ready to go. It is very comfortable but of course the air conditioning leaves something to be desired. But then again, I have always said that Europeans do not understand the meaning of the term "air conditioning". The ONLY way you can have air conditioning the way Americans understand it is to stay in an American chain hotel such as a Hilton or Ramada. Otherwise when they claim to be "ganz klimatizert" they don't mean what you think they mean.
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