Pillnitz by steamboat and Kunsthofpassage
I’m now on the Easyjet flight home, the attendants are selling perfumes and other crap.
Steamboat trip to Pillnitz
Dresden day two was overcast, and the sun didn’t return for the rest of the holiday. Early in the morning we checked out of the Ibis, grabbed some croissant and raspberry savouries and headed to the river to catch a steam boat. For 30 Euros we travelled upstream to Pillnitz, 90 minutes each way, on a fully functional 100 year old steam boat, complete with cafe. The wind billowed whilst Sam roughly translated the German commentary, passing old castles and stately homes.
At Pillnitz we ate large pretzels and more tasty tasty patisserie desserts before exploring the mountain palace, its gardens and orangery. After a brief chat with a lovely German lady, pleased to see foreign tourists in the gardens, we trotted back to the boat, with quiche and ham roll in hand.
Kunsthofpassage
Back on land in Dresden, after sleeping the trip back, we crossed the river to explore the new town. The graffiti here, unlike Prague, was smart and interesting, the shops original and the area swimming in student culture and modern art. Our best find was the kunsthofpassage, a small alley of shops selling hand made goods and many weird but cool items. The walls of the buildings were decorated with wondrous designs of drain pipes and wildlife - an amazing commercial community of artists.
We ate at Kurfurstenshanke, next to the Coselpalais, in the old town. A place that, in every respect, wanted to be the Coselpalais. I had the flame grilled lamb skewer with zucchini and pepper, whilst Sam had the Ostrich medallions and veg, with not enough sauce. It also came with something delightfully described as “potato squidge”. The Krusovice dark beer was good, Sam’s melon lemonade not so (as I’m typing this, my exotic juice and Sprite concoction was very tasty).
Back to Prague
With a few Euros left to spend, we kept the Krusovice glass with its outline of Prague castle, bought Sam a new bag and grabbed some more tasty treats (doughnuts!) for the journey home. Back on the train we cut through the beautiful Konigstein valley and Bad Schandau, then later, under a coal power station rollercoaster. The difference between Germany and the Czech republic was immediately apparent. Far from home, we still had to endure the less than joyful trend of people blasting hip hop music loud and clear for everyone to hear out of their phone or laptop speakers; in this case from the seats behind ours. The Ballack lookalike did not look impressed.