Whatever you can do or dream you can do, start, there is genius, power and magic in courage. (GOETHE) It is nice to dream at any age. As long as a person hopes, he is included in life. I continue to share my observations of the Central European holiday in August 2013. As I mentioned in my previous article, I would like to talk about a city that I recommend to see after you visit Prague. Dresden, located 3 hours away from Prague, is one of the most historical cities in Germany after Berlin. Dresden remained under the rule of the East German Democratic Republic before the unification of Germany, so it felt the Soviet influence; It is a historical city on the banks of the Elbe River with its historical buildings, churches, palaces, large squares, and shopping malls. Although the city was declared an open city in World War II, it was bombed and destroyed by the British, but was later rebuilt in accordance with its original form. In this sense, we need to appreciate the Germans. Although the city was destroyed in the war, it regained its essence by paying attention to the smallest details in its reconstruction. In fact, some buildings are still being renovated today. We did not have the opportunity to spend much time in Dresden with my friends. We could only stay for 5 hours. I don’t think 5 hours is enough time for Dresden, but if time is limited there isn’t much to do. Dresden; It is a historical city built on the banks of the Elbe River and is easy to visit on foot. You can start your tour from the large cathedral located in the center of the city. If you have time, you can even go up to the top of the cathedral and enjoy the view of Dresden. You can spontaneously wander the streets of the city following the cathedral and the wide square. I especially recommend you to see the porcelain wall that runs along the entire side street and depicts history. You can see people in different clothes standing like statues along the street all day long. Since Dresden is a flat city with a river running through the middle, getting around is very easy and enjoyable. Historical buildings are close to each other. I recommend you to see the opera house in the city center, it is a visually impressive building. To express Dresden as a whole, rather than dividing it into this building or that church one by one; The square and its surroundings are a city surrounded by churches, palaces and historical, magnificent and well-restored colorful buildings. Continuing the city’s square and historical texture, there are many shopping malls side by side within walking distance of the center. Shopping in Europe was actually done in Germany. There are many stores in Dresden for chocolate, perfume, drinks, clothes, electronic goods, bags and shoes. Since my friends and I were interested in the visuality of the city, we did not spend much time in the shopping malls, but we spent 1 hour shopping in the mall after our lunch. In a city with such a variety of stores, 1 hour of shopping is considered ridiculous. In terms of food, we encountered many different fish alternatives, which may be due to the variety of fish in the Elbe River, and we chose fish. Dresden is a rich city in terms of food diversity, there are many alternatives, especially fish, and the succession of pastry shops and restaurants can make it difficult to decide on food. We did not have the opportunity to spend much time in electronics stores, but according to our observations, there are all kinds of products in the stores and at more affordable prices than in Turkey. If you are a drink and chocolate enthusiast, Dresden is a real mine in this sense, you may have difficulty deciding what to buy, but in terms of prices, it appeals to every budget. Like all riverside cities, life in Dresden flows along the Elbe River. I recommend you to spend time and sip your coffee in the cafes on the banks of the Elbe, accompanied by the city’s historical buildings, colorful houses, churches and green views. This joy and peace takes away all your tiredness in the August heat. Another detail that caught my attention in Dresden was the large natural gas pipes that started right at the entrance of the city and continued for about 100 meters. Natural gas pipes from the East German period, which have a symbolic visual value today, used to cover the entire city. These pipes, which extend above the ground rather than underground, are an expression of the lack of aesthetic sense during the Eastern Bloc period, and the Germans kept some of their pipes intact to show this situation. They left. There is the TEREZIN NAZI CAMP on the Prague-Dresden road, very close to the German border. While we were here, we visited the camp as we never knew if we would pass by again. We devoted 1 hour to this camp. Terezin Camp, which is not as familiar as the Auschwitz Nazi Camp, is a different place that will make your blood run cold when you think about the cruelty, even if there were no famous gas chambers, where mostly high-ranking soldiers and prisoners of war were brought at the time. When you talk about the 500-meter tunnel, the places where people were shot and hanged, and the wards, you question whether people would do these things to people. I recommend you to see this camp, which is a shame against humanity in history. 500 METER TUNNEL We left Dresden with our 5-hour visit, with the knowledge that Germany is very industrialized and structured, and that compared to other cities, Dresden and Berlin are the two most important cities worth seeing in Germany, historically and visually. What can we say, we saw at least one of them, let’s call it luck in Berlin. Mavimore Turizm is a travel agency registered with TÜRSAB. Document number: A-8307