July 4, 2023 - Dresden, Germany

 Sooz and I are feeling a little under the weather today, we both caught a cold.  We still went out to explore Dresden but Sooz had the brilliant idea to do it by bus, which we did.  We rode a 2-level tourist bus all around Dresden and were impressed with the variety of architecture and how big the City is.  

Dresden in the 1880s was designing the downtown area and stipulating that the footprint of a house in the wealthy area could not take up more than 50% of the lot width - the beginning of exclusionary zoning.

Today a large music festival is happening in a large town square just a few blocks from our hotel.  There was a fairly good crowd listening to musicians we never heard of couldn't understand, but it was fun to get a feel for it.  There were a lot of police present, including snipers on one of the buildings so the performers must have been well known. Also, the presidents of France and Germany were supposed to show but Macron of France backed out due to the riots in his country and I don't think the President of Germany showed up.

Short concert video HERE

Sooz standing guard over the GS as we get ready to check in to our hotel in Dresden

Our first meal in Dresden

Frauenkirche Dresden - The Protestant Baroque church reconsecrated in 2005 after being destroyed in World War II, with guided tours.  If you zoom in you can see a statue of Martin Luther.  It's also the main stage for the concert.

A blowup of the ML statue

The concert just outside our hotel

Kathedrale Sanctissimae Trinitatis Catholic church

Ferris wheel

Dresdner Zwinger - The Zwinger is a palatial complex with gardens in Dresden, Germany. Designed by architect Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann, it is one of the most important buildings of the Baroque period in Germany. Along with the Frauenkirche, the Zwinger is the most famous architectural monument of Dresden.

Style: Neo-renaissance, Baroque

Location: Dresden, Germany

Construction started: 1710

VW manufacturing plant in Dresden

Fürstenzug Mural - This long, dramatic mural made of porcelain tiles depicts Saxon rulers throughout the ages.  It was originally painted between 1871 and 1876 to celebrate the 800th anniversary of the Wettin Dynasty, Saxony's ruling family. In order to make the work weatherproof, it was replaced with approximately 23,000 Meissen porcelain tiles between 1904 and 1907. With a length of 102 metres (335 ft), it is known as the largest porcelain artwork in the world. The mural displays the ancestral portraits of the 35 margraves, electors, dukes and kings of the House of Wettin between 1127 and 1904.

Very fancy drain covers and emblems

Lots of police for the concert

Another light, German dinner of meatballs, gravy, potatoes and a sprig of salad - see Hausgemachte Klopse (Homemade Klopse)

Good, solid German meals from the menu at the Kunst Café Antik restaurant

Sooz's dinner called Sauerbrauten - it reminded her of what her grandmother used to make

Sunday, June 2, 2023 - Bamberg, Germany

 Today we played tourist, walking through Old Town Bamberg, never getting on the motorcycle.  The weather was beautiful, mostly sunny in the 60s and low 70s.  We decided to not have breakfast at the hotel and instead got going pretty early for breakfast at Simitçi Cafe.  It's a Turkish restaurant and we had a breakfast platter that was delicious.  I'm not sure all of what was offered, but it had a scrambled eggs mix with tomatoes, 2 types of chutney-like mix, cheeses, fruit and vegetables.  Last night we had a great dinner at an Italian restaurant and enjoyed dinner tonight at a Greek restaurant.  Kind of interesting that the 3 best meals we have had in a while have been in Turkish, Italian and Greek restaurants in Germany.

We crossed the Regnitz River and Canal (that eventually feed into the Danube River) and saw some impressive wall art and water management structures, thank you. 

Check out the picture below.

The "before" picture of our breakfast platter today at the Turkish restaurant - it was delicious and unlike any breakfast we have had. The "after" picture looked much different.

A very long barge running down the  Rhine-Main-Danube Canal just outside our hotel

Beautiful mural on the side of a building in Old Town

Blow up of a tiny statue from the picture above showing a devil holding a baby - I think

A blow up of a statue on the bottom of the wall painting

Me pointing out a UFO to Sooz - by the time she looked, it was gone

Liegende Frau mit Frucht von Fernando Botero - Reclining Woman with Fruit by Fernando Botero - Fernando Botero Angulo (born 19 April 1932) is a Colombian figurative artist and sculptor, born in Medellín. 

Little Venice - The former fishing settlement in the island city of Bamberg is affectionately known as "Little Venice". Densely packed half-timbered buildings and tiny gardens characterize the image of this district.  The half-timbered houses mostly date from the Middle Ages. Along the Regnitz they are lined up in a nicely decorated row, barges bobbing at the landing stages in the front gardens. Today, the excursion boat takes you right past this unique row of houses.

Inside the Bamberg Cathedral (German: Bamberger Dom, official name Bamberger Dom St. Peter und St. Georg) is a church in Bamberg, Germany, completed in the 13th century.  Remains of the smoky incense was still in the air from the morning mass.

Sooz checking for any breathing from inside this tomb but didn't realize she was listening at the wrong end

Impressive shafts of light coming in the nave

The western crypt was filled in with rubble but reopened in 1987–95. It was discovered that it still contained features of Heinrich's original cathedral.

The eastern crypt was created alongside the current cathedral, c. 1200. The tombs now here were only relocated from the nave in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Sooz captured this action photo of me staring mindlessly at a blank wall in Old Town

That is a real human being (not a mannequin) inside a "Lotus" but I'm not so sure - it looks like a kit car to me

Sooz wondering why there are so many roses in the rose garden. Framed by clipped linden trees and the delicate garden pavilion (completed in 1757), around 4,500 roses spread their scent and blooms in more than 70 beds during the summer months.

View of a typical street inside the Old Town

The Old Town Hall now a museum

A nice, operating water control structure in Old Town

July 1, 2023 - Bamberg, Germany - Dachau Concentration Camp

 Yesterday we left Andermatt and rode to Dachau, Germany.  This morning we visited the Dachau Concentration Camp.  Dachau was one of the first concentration camps built by Nazi Germany and the longest running one, opening on 22 March 1933.  The main camp was liberated by U.S. forces on April 29, 1945.  There were 32,000 documented deaths at the camp, and thousands that are undocumented.

When Sooz and I pulled up to the parking lot the attendant walked around the bike and saw our Florida tag. He perked up asking us if we were from Florida.  We said yes and he kept saying, "I can't believe you are from Florida!"  It felt kind of weird to be laughing and smiling as we entered the concentration camp parking lot.  Our mood quickly changed as we entered the actual camp.

I felt a real sense of evil and darkness as we walked through the holding cells, the "showers" and the ovens where bodies were burned one-at-a-time.  A couple of times, I had to walk outside the building to breath fresh air and see the sky to lessen the claustrophobia and dread I felt in the buildings.

The size and scale of the camp surprised Sooz and me.  It's much larger and complex than either of us originally thought.  When active, there were row after row of barracks where the prisoners were held and individual cells where some were tortured and kept for weeks and months in darkness and cold.

Entrance

The word over the door says "showers" in German

This is the room where prisoners thought they were going to have showers, when in reality, they were gassed to death

"Crematorium - Remember How We Died Here"

The crematorium building

Individual ovens where the dead prisoners were burned to ashes

This large, open area contains the outlines of the many prisoner barracks that were once here

Today's site has several places of worship that still hold services.  Of course, these were not present when the camp was active.

Site of former barracks with the guardhouse still standing

A haunting statute in front of what had been the administration building

A map of all of the former German concentration camps

Looking out from one of the individual cells

This plaque was in an exhibition area and can still seem relevant

Another guard house

One-half of the long hallway leading to individual prisoner holding cells

The original entrance to the camp

A plaque honoring the US Army liberators

A change of scenery, leaving Andermatt on June 30 Sooz was able to capture this image of an ox drawn cart.  The woman covered her face, I guess not wanting her picture taken.  It caught us off guard and Sooz automatically took the shot before she realized what the woman was doing.

This is a blow up of the same shot, you can see a pup peeking out from a dry spot in the cart.

For all you smokers out there, this is a cigarette vending machine in Bamberg selling a wide variety of brands at discount prices.

Sooz took this picture of a cute dentist's sign in Bamberg - she especially liked the crown on the tooth