This morning I made Jacob eggs for breakfast. I enjoyed some yogurt and fresh fruit that we had bought the day before. I forgot to mention in yesterday’s post that we stopped in the shopping center by our apartment and picked up a few pairs of shorts. The weather has been so nice, we were unprepared for it. We also stopped and picked up some groceries for meals over the next few days.

Over breakfast we discussed our plans for the next several days. Jacob said he thought it was interesting that we felt like two days was enough for Paris and now we have five days in Dresden and don’t know if we can fit everything in.

Today we learned the tram/streetcar system. We took the tram to the end of the line and got off near the Elbe River in eastern Dresden. We walked a few blocks to a ferry, which we needed to cross the river.

Once across we walked a short distance to the Pillnitz Castle. We walked the perimeter of the castle and then bought two tickets to enter the park. The person selling tickets didn’t speak English and Jacob was waiting outside, so I did my best to ask for two adult tickets for the garden. And I succeeded! I was quite proud of myself.

We entered the gardens and they were beautiful! We had noticed on the tram ride over Jacob and I were the youngest people on the train by at least 30 years. Not too many people our age out in the middle of the day and this trend continued at the park. It wasn’t crowded, but any couple we saw was likely retired and there for a morning stroll.

In addition to feeling like I need to sign up for AARP, I felt like I should have brought a bird guide. There were so many birds chirping and flying around the gardens.

You can tell these gardens are truly incredible when everything is in full bloom and that is probably why the park wasn’t so full today, but we still had a nice time walking around.

After the castle we boarded the ferry once more and made the short trek to the tram station. We had a little trouble finding the return tram stop and arrived just in time to watch it drive away. Luckily, it was only a 10 minute wait for the next one.

Then we were on our way to take a cable railway up a hill to take pictures of the city. We again took a tram and then hopped off and walked over the Elbe River via the Blaues Wunder (Blue Wonder) bridge. We arrived at the cable railway with minutes to spare and the worker there helped us count out 6 euros to cover the cost of the trip up. Jacob had been wanting to take this train and had seen we’d get great views from the top – unfortunately, we hopped on the wrong train and once we got to the top, it wasn’t where he thought we should be. From there we decided to walk over to the correct station, but that meant walking almost all the way back down and then all the way back up.

It was an unexpected hike on a very warm day.

When we arrived to the correct station, we discovered that it was closed until the end of the month, and that it had closed two days ago… Jacob was a bit disappointed but we were still able to find a spot to take some photos of the city.

After that Jacob said he saw a bus stop nearby that we could take down the hill and back to the center of the city. We saw the bus arrive, but wouldn’t get to it in time and said that was ok because we can just wait for the next one to come. When Jacob looked at the sign, he sighed. The next bus wasn’t for an hour.

From there it was hiking down the hill and back across the bridge. Along the way we saw a fluffy cat perched on a post but it hopped down before I could snap a photo.

Once we were back across the bridge, we caught a tram back to our hotel. We have been relaxing for a bit and may head out back on the town soon.

Tomorrow we are off to Prague! We bought two first class train tickets. We decided to splurge for our anniversary. 🙂 We will be there most the day exploring the old town center and the Prague Castle. Until then…