Last year I saw a NYE fireworks display on TV and the city looked so pretty, I said "I want to go there!". I found out the city was Dresden, which boasts Germany's oldest Christmas Market, so the timing to visit in winter was perfect. I think each Christmas Market we visit is more crowded than the last but this one takes the cake - it gets approximately 2.5 million visitors this time of year!
We found a great deal on a hotel, which included a 2-course dinner and a welcome glass of glühwein. Nice! Saturday we were eager to get out and see the city and it's 12 (yes 12!) Christmas Markets. The city is dazzling, with a striking old town full of palaces, churches, an opera house, and other stately buildings. During WWII most of the city was decimated, but the brick by brick restoration is impeccable (most of which happened after the German reunification).
The Semperoper is the most famous opera house in Germany. Unfortunately, we were a bit late to the game and our attempt to see the Nutcracker was sold out, bummer! I would've loved to see the interior, which is supposed to be pretty amazing.
The description of the Grünes Gewölbe (Green Vault) intrigued us so we made the [required] reservations to see it. It's quite a sight and one of the prettiest exhibits we've seen. Several opulent rooms display over 3,000 pieces made of amber, gold, ivory, bronze, silver, gemstones, diamonds or ostrich eggs. The pieces are showcased in mirrored displayed walls and it just takes your breath away. So sparkly! To enter, you wait for automatic doors to let you in a small security check area where the doors close behind you, you wait a few seconds and then the doors open in front of you (same for the exit). For obvious reasons, there are no photos allowed, but we did get a nice audio guide. It was really fabulous!
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| Lobby of the Palace |
We also popped into the amazing Frauenkirche. You'd never know it (save for a few blackened stones on the church's exterior) but it was flattened to rubble during the war. Thankfully the appeals for reconstruction prevailed as the Communists wanted to leave the rubble as a war memorial.
Ok, now it was time to hit the Striezelmarkt and begin our hunt for Nutrackers! This is supposed to be THE place to buy these and and other traditional wooden figures/toys. We made out like bandits and scooped up a bunch! There were a ton of other Saxon handicrafts on offer, from Christmas pyramids and incense burning figurines ("smoking man") to candleholders from the Erzgebirge Mountains to tasty delicacies like stollen and quarkbällchen (akin to sugared donut holes!) We even found some big ones shaped like stars, which were dense and delicious.
After we dropped off our goodies, we headed across the Elbe River to the Neustadt (new town) and made our way down the Christmas market from Albertplatz Square to the Golden Horseman, and then we crossed the river back to the old town. The view of the warmly lit buildings of the old town from the bridge is magical!
We continued through the Food Market, Medieval Market where we caught a few songs from a band dressed up in period costume playing all sorts of funky instruments (we thought the main guy looked a bit like Genghis Khan), Romantic Market around the Frauenkirche, and back to the big Striezelmarkt.
The Striezelmarkt has a huge Christmas pyramid that's roughly 45 feet high with life-size angels and nativity-scene figures. The market was a sea of people, we had to wait forever in line to to get glühwein! It's absolutely gorgeous at night though, it was such a treat to be able to visit.
Sunday we took the train to Leipzig and it was a bit rainy, unfortunately. The rain didn't seem to deter the crowd at all though. We didn't see much of the city other than the huge train station and main streets set up with the Christmas Market stalls, but we had a fun time. We found a new donut treat here, which they douse in powder sugar - we got a fresh batch so it was still warm (with more glühwein). So good! Our eating habits at these Christmas Markets leaves something to be desired, we know. Nutritionists would not be happy with us, that's for sure!
On the way back to Dresden we had a quick stopover in Meissen, a town famous for its porcelain. We literally did a partial jog to the Market near the Cathedral. It's much smaller but the town is really charming. The town hall turns into a giant Advent Calendar, with its windows hiding 24 surprises behind its large shutters.
On the river here you can also find the 15th century Albrechtsburg Castle, which would've been great to visit if we had arrived earlier and had more time. Quite pretty!
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