A month into 2025, I had to put my beloved cat to sleep only a week after her cancer diagnosis. Freed from pet-caring responsibilities at the cost of grief, I embarked on trips I wouldn't previously have allowed myself. You'll see a few more galleries landing on the website in the next few weeks, this trip being the first one in 2025.
Dresden, Germany
18 April 2025 to 22 April 2025
On my birthday, I took the train from Vienna to Dresden taking the almost 8-hour journey to work on my laptop. Unbeknownst to me, the last (6h) leg of the trip was on a Hungarian train in a 6-people cabin whose comfort left much to be desired (me and my long legs and back). I arrived a few hours later in Dresden, all but rested although happy to meet my German colleague I usually only see at conferences, once a year.
Day 1
19 April 2025
My first steps in Dresden were next to the Zwinger gardens, Kronentor and Wallpavillon. Unfortunately, the gardens were still in repair and the weather wasn't really what we could call sunny.
We then moved on to the Dresden Castle and the Castle square where the Dresden Cathedral and Georgentor can be seen as seen on the first picture. I couldn't find a picture I took of the Cathedral so it'll have to wait for my next visit :)
The gray weather was still allowing us the outside so we strolled around the city center, mostly next to the Elbe river. We had a look at the Frauenkirche church both from outside and inside though we were there during mass and I only brought a 50mm lens with me so there's only one picture of the indoor balconies. Its interior design is something I haven't seen before in churches so it was quite the sight. Almost a year before, a section of the Carola bridge collapsed, fortunately without casualties. You can see the remains in a caret-shape form below.
To finish the day, the Glatthaferwiese am Elbufer Johannstadt protected meadows as well as the other riverbank of the Elbe known as Körnerweg welcomed us for a walk. We started at the foot of the Waldschlößchen bridge, crossed the Blaues Wunder bridge and finished where we started after stepping on the former. On the riverbanks, we saw the former Saloppe water treatment plant converted into a luxurious residential building.
For my second day in the Dresden area, the weather was much nicer and we thus decided to go visit the Pillnitz castle, its gardens and royal kitchen. We then took cover from the harsh sun under the tree shades of the English and Chinese gardens. We finished the day by having a look at the Lingner parc and Albrechtsberg Palace.
It seems like wearing a mask on the train going to Dresden wasn't enough to shield myself from the sick child sharing my cabin, my throat starting to itch at the end of the previous day and now being proper sick. I'll only start to get better once back in Vienna about a week after. It's my last day in Dresden though, so armed with some tissue and the tiniest amount of motivation, we headed to the Great Garden of Dresden with its castle and gardens and slowly finished in the inner new city on the North side of the Elbe river. We then watched the gorgeous sunset from the Proschübel hill. This concluded my short trip to Dresden and the next day I would take a train to Hanover seeing friends who moved there a few months ago.
Being sick and working remotely wasn't the best combo to spend time to discover the city of Hanover, so I only got a handful of pictures. We had a few walks in the city center and went inside the pretty New Town Hall. One can reach the top of the New Town Hall via an elevator and apparently have a nice view over the city but when we were there the waiting time was too long to my taste so we didn't do it this time. On my last day, we also went to the Herrenhausen Gardens.
I eventually boarded the new night train to Vienna in Hanover and installed myself in the narrow mini-cabin for what would be my next 11 hours. As a tall (~2m) side-sleeper with light sleep, the mini-cabin wasn't the best. While they are individually lockable with their own separate (cabin luggage and shoes) lockers, the sliding door is made out of metal and is loud at night. By not much I couldn't fit in the cabin and sleeping on the side (thus being shorter in length due to bent knees) was not an option because the bed is too narrow. Before taking this night train home, I already had purchased another mini-cabin ticket for a next adventure end of August, so I definitely was not looking forward to doing that again. Despite being sick most of my time abroad, it was a nice change of scenery from my now-quiet place so here's me thanking my hosts for inviting me over when times were difficult. This is only the beginning of my trips in 2025 though, more galleries to follow soon!
