As we leave Berlin, I will note that we have done very well – we have not yet been run over despite continually looking the wrong way every time we cross the road – our friendly Ampelmann have been helpful but they are not always there to assist. And I am really happy with my German! It appears that the locals can understand my feeble attempts at speaking their language but even better I have been able to respond to some of their questions in an intelligible manner. And my favourite German sign that I have come across was a cute looking restaurant called “Die Hahn ist Tot” which translates as “The chicken is dead”. How can you go past that 😊?
We caught the train to Dresden and were amazed – the train was late. Almost unheard of! We arrived mid-afternoon and opted for the Hop on Hop off bus and toured the city. It is not what we expected at all. The outskirts were pretty but the centre of town has in the main has been rebuilt in the style in which it was pre 1945. Most of this rebuilding has occurred post the wall coming down in 1989 as Dresden was East of the wall and lack of money meant the piles of rubble just stayed where they were – enabling the rebuild to happen as very little else had been built on the sites. We found a sweet little restaurant with traditional German fare and a view of the river for dinner to finish a good day.
