Bavaria has become a home from home in the last 5-6 years, from spending 1 week in 4 here. My knowledge of other parts of the country haven’t kept pace, sadly.
In that time I’ve had two trips to Trier – way up in the northwest where France, Germany and Luxembourg meet – but that’s it for the rest of the country.
So, when I was offered an overnight trip to Meißen and Dresden (both in neighbouring Sachsen/Saxony) I jumped at the chance.
Meißen is famous for the porcelain which has been made there since 1710. It’s worth a visit for that alone, to take in the demonstrations in the factory, the museum and the shop. Maybe even to put your credit card to a stress test…
Factory Museum
Having a coffee and cake off Meißen china in the factory coffee shop certainly was a highlight.
Classy Coffee
We found the whole town to be delightful, as was our hotel and the restaurant where we had dinner. I also learned that the area is a wine growing one – good wine at that.
As an illustration of the town being more than just a porcelain factory (OK, one of the most famous in the world) take the Rathaus. It was built between 1472-78. It hardly rates a mention on the town’s website! That’s it in the photo.
Rathaus
We had dinner there – in the Ratskeller – bottom right in the photo.
The town straddles the Elbe – one of the great rivers of Europe.
Elbe at Dusk
We stopped in a delightful little cafe for a glass of local wine before dinner, and saw the marks on the wall (inside) showing the levels where the 2013 and 2002 floods reached.
Remembering how far from the river we were in that cafe made it pretty scary. 2002 was the worse by about 35cm.
ⓒ iain taylor 2016