An Exploration of Saxony Watch  Making – Day 4:  Site Seeing in Dresden and a Mini Get Together

March 15, 2008

Saturday morning came and I was very well rested – I slept in a bit, had a nice breakfast, and then started out on my site seeing adventure.  My plan was to hit the major points of interest in the morning, then be back in the QF Hotel’s lobby by 1pm to Meet “NicoH” from R-L-X.de which is the German Rolex Forum, where I am the moderator of their English speaking forum.  Friday was a bit rainy and chilly but Saturday was quite pleasant – not too hot and not too cold.  Perfect for walking around Dresden and taking photos!

I’m long overdue for the obligatory wrist shot don’t you think? 😉

I had a really nice time exploring the city and taking photos of the marvelous Baroque architecture:

Across the street is the portion of the “Zwinger” palace where the Old Masters paintings are on display:

Of course, now and again you run across buildings which are clearly from the DDR period:

 I decided to climb the stairs on the exterior of the Zwinger and get some photos from the walkway which goes around the entire palace wall:

Here’s the part of the Zwinger which houses the ” Mathematisch-Physikalischer ” Salon where the Lange dinner party was held:

Soon it was time to meet up with NicoH, who drove from Berlin to Dresden to meet me. We wanted to get started right touring Dresden right way so we could see as much as we could while there was daylight. Our first stop was “Frauenkirche” or “Church of Our Lady.”  The only keep it open to view the interior for a short time on various days throughout the week.  Here’s a shot of the interior of the most beautiful house of the Lord:

The beautifully painted ceiling:

The ascent to the top was not an easy journey, but the view was worth it:

Here’s a shot of NicoH “Hugh Grant”

…and a shot of Yours Truly:

We did some more walking, talking, site seeing, and of course watch shopping.  After a couple of hours we took a break and went to a nice cafe to break out the watches we brought with us.  Here’s a shot of NicoH’s four watches, and the two I brought to Germany with me:

I think NicoH enjoyed playing with my vintage Red Sub and my Daytona:

I was surprised at how much I liked the look of his 1406M Submariner on my wrist – I normally don’t care for a watch without a date:

NicoH and I enjoyed some dinner at Piazza Nova,. followed up with some ice cream.  Then it was time for NicoH to head back for Berlin, and me to get to bed as a car would be coming for me at 4:30am for my 6:15 flight to Frankfurt where I would connect to Chicago, then on to an on time arrival back in good old Dayton Ohio.  My four days in Dresden was a really fabulous little vacation – I got to see old friends, and make new ones.  The sights and food were fantastic, and I learned a great deal about Saxony watchmaking.  Many thanks to Lange for the invitation!

 *All text and images contained in this review are the original work of the author, John B. Holbrook, II and are copyright protected. Use of any of the information or images without the permission of the author is prohibited.

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