in Dresden
As soon as we step outside our hotel, we're in the thick of it here. Right out into the old city streets, amongst such a collection of glorious sights, it's hard to take it all in without standing and looking around; up, down, along and across.
That's fine. We have no schedule to follow, no plans beyond spending the day in the city and enjoying the experience of simply being here.
So before we know it, an hour has passed and we've not gone very far at all.
At this time of the day, it's fairly quiet and though we don't have the city quite to ourselves, we don't have to wait for people to move on before we can take our photographs.
Because the buildings are grand, the details are phenomenal and we are careful not to miss a thing.
We've been making our way in a roundabout kind of style, to Der Fürstenzug, the street with a well of Meissen tiles depicting the Procession of Princes.
It's a marvellous sight and well worth spending time noticing all the small details of clothing, of horse regalia and so on. To think that it's all made up of small, square painted tiles is mindblowing, especially in a pre-digital age.
It leads us nicely back to the Frauenkirche, where we step inside and sit a while, taking in the small details of the relatively recently completed interiors. Last time we were here, we felt it was way too colourful inside, but today, it didn't seem too bad. Perhaps it has mellowed a little in the intervening years - or maybe it's us?
Dresden is still very much a work in progress and cranes are all over. There are still grassy-muddy patches of bare earth, ready for development, even now.
Remnants of the old Communist days remain too, in stark contrast to the grand old buildings which surround them.
We are feeling peckish and a small cafe tempts us inside with the promise of coffee and cakes.
How about a piece of Baumkuchen then?
Whilst in the shopping centre, our eyes are drawn to a couple of small delights. Firstly, the dapper gent in the promotional poster above, for a shop (aptly?) named Camp David.
Second, a beautiful pair of boots...sadly no time to try on or consider buying, but just to look and admire.
Because our eyes had been caught by the sight of a small collection of market stalls opposite: the Autumn Fest was in progress.
We bought a few goodies for the journey tomorrow and strolled around the stalls, admiring the seasonal spirit.
We were actually making our way towards the Zwinger right opposite our hotel. A kind of palace/exhibition space, the concierge of our hotel had told us not to miss the exhibition in there right now.
We made our way through the grand Baroque gardens towards the entrance.
Still, we are always open to recommendations!
It was magnificent! Four rooms, with collections of artefacts on a theme of time and space, including celestial and earthly globes, timepieces, telescopes and astronomical instruments, all works of art in addition to their intended function.
One piece stood out for me. It was what the docent referred to as "the original tachograph"
Thirteen and a half metres long, the scroll records a journey made by August the Strong in the 16th Century. It's none other than his Road Trip Journal!
It charts the towns he passed through, the rivers he crossed and the events along the way. An idea for a new format perhaps?
Coming up to three o'clock, we sat outside for a while and waited for the clock to chime.
As it did, the fountains all fired up and the Zwinger put on a show for us.
We each rounded off the afternoon in our separate ways: the Semper Oper, the Green Vault containing the treasures of the Saxon princes and in my case, a rather lovely cool swimming pool across the road in our hotel.
It's a good life!
