On our way from Berlin down to Prague we decided to check out the Saxony region of Germany for a few days and stayed in Dresden. We weren’t at all sure what to expect from this area but couldn’t have been happier with our visit.

Our first stop was to Saxon Switzerland National Park, which oddly enough is on the border with the Czech Republic and no where near Switzerland. Turns out two Swiss artists found the Elbe Sandstone Mountains to be reminiscent of their homeland and viola, Saxon Switzerland was born! Anyway, this place was incredible. The park is enormous with a ton of hiking and climbing routes that we would have loved to have more time to explore.

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Back in Dresden we stayed right in the heart of Old Town and couldn’t get over how beautiful it was. Between the parks and the plazas there were so many open spaces to just sit and appreciate the incredible atmosphere. If you’re wondering about what appear to be black stains on many of the buildings (we did), it turns out that sandstone turns naturally dark as it ages.

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After hiking in the national park on day 1 followed by a long day of exploring Dresden by foot on day 2 (including 2 lost teeth for Keira in under 1 hour) we decided to take to the streets and rest bikes for our 3rd day…which we all loved. Dresden was an incredibly bike friendly city with miles and miles (ok, kilometers and kilometers) of trails and bike paths.

The picture below is one of the many castles that we passed on our bike journey alongside the Elbe River, complete with panoramic biergarten!

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For firsts, we encountered the first thunderstorm of our journey while in Dresden…and also got caught in our first downpour! And with a little extra rain in the forecast (which never happened), we also took in our first movie, Spider-Man: Far From Home (not bad).

With just over 3 weeks in the books, we’re on to our next stop. Uvidime se v Prague!