of East Germany and there was little money for restoration, so the city center remained in piles of rubble … or worse, much of the city was bulldozed and rebuilt with cheap, ugly cinderblock.

But with the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany in 1990, millions of Euros poured into the city and Dresden’s entire center was restored to its old beauty.

The results are simply incredible. Dresden’s city center is once again an Old World marvel of towers and turrets, squares and arches, murals, churches, statues and theaters.

As you sit in a café sipping a beer, surrounded by a beautiful baroque city teeming with young people and tourists, it’s impossible to believe this is the same bombed out ruin pictured in the postcards in everythrough the Zwinger Palace – a Baroque masterpiece with fountains, gardens and some of Germany’s grandest museums. Once part of the fortifications, the palace was built by the city’s hero, Augustus the Strong (1670-1733), the famous king of Saxon who, according to legend, fathered 365 children and could bend a horseshoe by hand. There are three art museums in the palace: the Old Masters Gallery, the Royal Cabinet of Mathematical and Physical Instruments, and the Porcelain Collection).

Walking along the Parade of Nobles, a street-long mural of tiles depicting 700 years of Saxon royalty, uniforms and weapons.

Strolling the Balcony of Europe, the city’s old ramparts looking down on the Elbe River. There are bike and walking paths along both sides of the river with gorgeous city views.

Having another beer