Dresden Zwinger — Day 16

Dresden is the capital of Saxony. It has a centuries-long history as a capital city. Among its jewels is the baroque palace Zwinger, which opened in 1719. We're staying close by, so we've walked the grounds several times. Today, we focused on visiting the Zwinger more thoroughly, including the Old Masters Picture Gallery and the Mathematisch-Physikalisher Salon. Camera use was not allowed in the picture gallery, so the highlighted art pieces below are from Wikipedia.  In the salon, the devices I photographed were mainly mirrors and lenses that concentrated solar light or lantern light for high temperature heating. 

An immense crown adorns one of the gateways into the Zwinger

Damage from WWII is slowly being erased

One of several gallery buildings in the Zwinger

Rafael's Sistine Madonna (1512)

Vermeer's Girl Reading a Letter (1659)

Liotard's Chocolate Girl (pastel!) (1744)

This mirror could melt metal using the sun's light.

Powerful concentrating lens.

An early vacuum pump.

Array of mirrors for projecting light energy from lantern.

Building in the Zwinger that houses a porcelain collection.

Saxon Switzerland — Day 15

About a half hour train ride from Dresden, also along the Elbe, is the spa/resort village Rathen. This was our entry point into the German national park Sächsische Schweiz (Saxon Switzerland). Rising above the river is an impressive array of upright stone formations. We climbed the well developed trail to the tallest of these, the Bastei, whose top reaches 194 m above the Elbe. We also walked a short loop alongside a slender lake and through a thick forest.

Dresden — Day 14

Dresden skyline from Carolabrücke

View south from Neumarkt

King Johann of Saxony and the Semper Opera House

Gate guard at the Georgenbau

Church of Our Lady (Frauenkirche)

Gilded equestrian statue of Augustus the Strong

Hofkirche

Nine of the 78 statues on Hofkirche

Yenidze, a former tobacco factory

Hofkirche from across the Elbe

Church of Our Lady from the Brühl Terrace

Courtyard of Fantastic Creatures, Art Passage

Courtyard of the Elements, Art Passage

On the Augustus Bridge

Prague — Day 13

On the agenda today, a short train ride to Dresden. This morning, we took a short walk looking for other pieces from the sculptor David Černý. Success x2.

Man hanging out (1996) [Sigmund Freud]

Svaty Vaclav/Saint Wenceslas (1999)

Another David Černý, Tower Babies (Day 12)

Carlo has other priorities

Sleepy time

Prague — Day 12

Another look eastward from the Charles Bridge

Rani, Ingrid, Alexis, Carlo, and Daniela in the Jewish Quarter

Amazing wall ornamentation everywhere one looks.

Franz Kafka was born in Prague (1883)

Area south of the Prague Castle viewed from Vltava River

Ornate decoration atop old fire brigade building

PQ 2015 installation: Create zen art by raking gravel bed!

Church of Our Lady before Tyn from Old Town Square

Metalmorphosis — Sculpture of Kafka by D Černý.

Rani, Dad, Mom, Ingrid and scene N from Most Legií

Knight Bruncvik and the Old Town Water Tower.

Rani, Daniela, and Alexis on one of Černý's Tower Babies

Lennon Wall