It's been a while...

Well, it's been a while since I have talked about what we have been doing so here's a quick update:

Last Thursday was a public holiday. Because we are going away soon, Marty and I decided that we should work for the day. However, Sabine and Robert did lure us away in the late afternoon in order to visit Radebeul- a vineyard area nearby. Like all good vineyards, there were lovely grounds and a beautiful restaurant (looked, didn't eat- E20 mains!).

This Saturday, the Dresden fire service celebrated 140 years and marked the occasion with a display of firetrucks through the years. It made Marty very happy.

The week before last I had a bad week. When we visited Tirschenreuth, I bought a gorgeous Rosenthal Dresden mug. Two days later I dropped it on the floor and smashed it. I also managed to wash (and almost totally destroy) my year card to the Dresden museum :( This weekend we wanted to go to some more museums, so I mustered my courage and took the remnants of my card to the museum. The woman didn't speak English so I had to cobble together some sentences to try and explain what had happened. I felt VERY pleased with myself when I actually managed to communicate my problem and although she couldn't give me a new card, she did give me a free day pass!

So we spent the rest of Saturday in a couple more of the galleries. A real highlight for us was the Old Masters gallery. It is the most amazing collection of art from about the 1500-1800. The painting they are most proud of this one- you might recognise the bottom of it.

Sunday was a beautiful day here- possibly the nicest we have had to-date- so we decided it was a good day for a bike ride. The Elbe River, which runs through the middle of Dresden, has purpose-built bike paths on both sides and you can bike from Prague right the way to the coast following this path. And on a sunny Sunday afternoon, it felt like most of Dresden was out on the path! Conveniently, there are beer gardens every 5km or so you if you need a wee break... However, you can lose your driver's license if you're caught riding under the influence... so beware!

This photo does not do any justice to the number of people on the track- most of the day, we saw a continual stream of people in both directions.