Day 25

Thursday, the class divided up with the history students staying in Berlin and the architecture students travelling to Dresden.  I decided to travel with the architecture students to Dresden for a day full of beautiful buildings, churches, and the German Military Museum.  The day started off by catching an early train out of Berlin.  Upon first arriving the first building we saw was the UFA Cinema Center, which was done by Coop Himmelbau.  This theater had such an interesting appearance, definitely unlike any theater I’ve ever been to.

Next, we headed to the German Military Museum.  This Museum had some very interesting exhibits and a unique outer appearance.  It was done by Libeskind, which I could very well distinguish from having seen the Jewish Museum in Berlin.  I was disappointed though when we discovered that the catwalk to see the city of Dresden from the museum was closed for no apparent reason.

Later, after a train complication and lots of walking we viewed the New Synagogue.  Unfortunately we were too early to go in so we were only able to see the exterior of the building.

Then, we saw the Frauenkirche Dresden.  I found this church absolutely gorgeous, and hard to believe that it was only recently remolded (having been bombed during the war).  I found the architecture to be very fitting to redo the church as to what it would have looked like if Dresden had not been bombed.

Next we saw the exterior of the Opera House, which was completed by G. Semper.  This building was huge from the outside and beautifully done in my opinion. 

Later, we viewed several other buildings along the Elbe River.  

Afterwards, the class decided to enjoy a long and leisurely dinner, which was nowhere near the train station.  Then, with around 15 minutes left to catch our train we left to find the station.  However, we did not make it in time for our train to Berlin; instead, we had to wait for over an hour at the Dresden Station.  Eventually we made it back to Berlin late in the evening.  Upon getting back I still had to pack for my weekend trip to Salzburg, so I ended up only getting less than 2 hours of sleep for the night.  Overall, I am very glad that I went to Dresden, it was a great day- just a rough ending that could have been avoided.