Dates: 06-10 December 2019.

With the last few days of annual leave I had left I decided to combine history, football and Christmas markets by heading to Dresden. The city and its football club are steeped in history, and a bit of research suggested its Christmas market was in Europe’s top ten.

The flight from Heathrow to Düsseldorf was delayed so I was left with mere minutes to make the connecting flight to Dresden. I arrived at the gate mere minutes too late.

With all the travelling I’ve done I’ve never before missed a connection, and I wasn’t expecting it to happen with a German airline! Nevertheless, Eurowings put me up in a pretty decent hotel a few train stops away in the centre of Düsseldorf.

A crack-of-dawn flight the next day meant all I’d missed out on was an hour or two of exploring. Welcome to Dresden:

After checking in to the hotel, it was a short tram ride back into the centre. As I headed to the Altmarkt (a pedestrian area set aside for markets) there was a Christmas-themed march going through the streets with sweets being handed out and Christmas songs being played by a marching band.

A view of the Christmas market (set up on the Altmarkt) from atop the Kreuzkirche in the old town:

Over 90% of Dresden was destroyed during WWII but a lot of it was rebuilt in the original baroque style. Unlike cities like Warsaw, it wasn’t obvious that large swathes of it had been rebuilt:

After getting a general feel for the centre I visited the Dresden City Museum which was also hosting some German carol singing. The central police station was opposite the museum, and it’s easily the most beautiful police station I’ve ever seen:

It took a while to walk around the Christmas market in the afternoon and as the light faded and the lights came on, the human traffic was impressive. Some “alleyways” between the stalls and shops occasionally came to a standstill!

However, it was all very atmospheric and smelled great thanks to every type of meat and every type of warm alcohol for sale. After escaping the market I took a stroll along the southern bank of the River Elbe:

The Augustus Bridge:

The pink sky lent itself to some cool lighting on the grand buildings. Katholische Hofkirche up head:

The market, complete with obligatory ferris wheel:

I ended the night with a wander around the Zwinger and Semperoper, but it was too dark to get any decent pictures of the buildings and gardens. Not sure what exhibit this was from though:

Day two was match day, with bottom of the league Dynamo Dresden hosting mid-table Sandhausen. Terracing is permitted in German football so I looked forward to sampling the atmosphere of standing in Dynamo’s K-block. It’s not as big as Dortmund’s famous “Yellow Wall” terraced stand, but still.

Dynamo are a historical club, having been a powerful side in the post-war era. Unfortunately, the Stasi didn’t really like their success so just ordered their best players to move to Berlin to play for the Stasi-sponsored and Stasi-created Dynamo Berlin.

I made my way around the Rudolf-Harbig-Stadion to K-block and queued to buy a ticket. However, a German guy approached me and after a bit of broken English and broken German, I realised he was offering me a spare ticket. It was his friend’s season ticket and he didn’t want any money for it. Result.

My new German friend went off to sit in J-block but he indicated I could go in K. I bought a beer and a scarf, and only realised later that I could have taken the beer into the stand!

The view from K-block in the Rudolf-Harbig-Stadion:

The home side’s “Dynamo! Dynamo!” anthem rang out just before kick-off and fair play to them, they started well and opened the scoring within ten minutes. They then seemed to panic and Sandhausen began to dominate and eventually equalised from the penalty spot thanks to a VAR-assisted decision.

The second half passed without too much in the way of quality and on that showing I can see Dynamo starting next season in tier three, sadly. Still, the K-block fans cheered the players enthusiastically when they came over after the final whistle. There’s an obvious connection between the two which appears to be a feature of German football.

After walking back to the town centre I grabbed a hot rum near Dresden Castle and took a look at the Fürstenzug, a mural of Saxon leaders throughout the ages:

The imposing Frauenkirche just of the Neumarkt:

More Christmas stuff on Neumarkt:

I headed over the Augustus Bridge to take a look at the new town which also had its own Christmas market. I got stopped more than once by curious locals who pointed at my Dynamo scarf and wanted to know the score!

The Golden Rider:

It took a good while to stroll through the seemingly endless market:

I think I may have done two or three laps by the time I opted for raclette with bacon, and I was ridiculously pleased with myself for doing the whole transaction in “flawless” German:

The final full day was clear and sunny as I headed back over the Elbe to take in a long walk along the river which winds through the picturesque Elbe Valley.

A view east from the Waldschlösschen Bridge:

The aforementioned Waldschlösschen Bridge:

The walk along the river was so peaceful with only a few other souls around, and it was nice to be able to walk so close to the slow moving River Elbe. The “Blue Wonder” (Loschwitz Bridge) and TV tower are in the background:

The Albrechtsberg Palace:

It was a bit of a climb to the top but the view was worth it:

A view to the rear:

Fading light due to ominous-looking clouds allowed for this cool picture as I approached the area of Loschwitz and the bridge of the same name that survived the bombings of WWII:

Loschwitz is a nice area of the city with charming little alleys and buildings:

It is also the home to the Dresden Suspension Railway, also known as a funicular, which offers great 360 degree views from the top:

Next, I headed back to the city centre on a tram and took a quick look at the DDR Museum which is actually based on the first floor of a small shopping mall. It was worth a look just to see the collection of Trabants:

After a bite to eat in a traditional restaurant in the new town (where again I demonstrated my flawless German), I took one last look around the Zwinger area:

And the Altmarkt Christmas market:

I really enjoyed milling around Dresden in the cold and crisp weather and the small section of the Elbe Valley that I saw was gorgeous. The people were friendly and put up with my German skills with a smile, and the Christmas atmosphere was a lovely addition. And despite only drawing 1-1, I thoroughly enjoyed my 90 minutes with the Dynamo faithful!