Dresden is a city that we have talked about visiting for many years. We first rode passed in 2007 - our first European motorcycle trip (sorry no blog for this one). We said then that we would come back one day. Well, this is the day!

We arrived at our hotel early in the afternoon to discover that we were only about 500m from the Elbe River that flows through the city. We also discovered, much to our delight, that this was the weekend that the city held its festival - Dresdner Stadtfest. We asked what the celebrations were about and were told that it was "just the city party". How lucky were we!

As it was Saturday night, and the Stadfest was on, the city was buzzing. Every open space was a mass of people - families, couples, tourists and even the elderly - NO NOT US! There were stalls set up selling all types of German food. Children were catered for with areas set aside for them to play with Lego, jumping castles and face painting. Beer stalls as well as stalls selling cocktails of all descriptions were spread among the food stalls. Stages were spread throughout the old city just far enough away from each other so that no matter where you walked you were serenaded by a different kind of music. We enjoyed dinner from the street stalls, tasting herrings and prawns in a baguette, curry-wurst in a bowl, spicy meat skewers followed by crepes with cherries and chocolate and ice cream. Of course, we sampled a couple of local beers as well! All this was enjoyed while watching the world go by in a beautiful city.

In the morning we set off to explore the city sights in more detail. Greg knew the history of the city and informed Kerrie of the military significance of Dresden as we walked. This city was fire-bombed by the RAF in February 1945. They tried to justify it as a military target but the city was populated by many civilians who were refugees from Russia. The city was devastated by the bombing and has since been rebuilt to reflect its former glory. As part of the original East Germany it was not until 1991 that the city really started to flourish. There is little evidence today that it was ever part of East Germany as there are huge shopping centres offering everything that a consumer would ever need. One clue however to the city's past is the "ample man" images on the pedestrian crossing signals that were used in East Germany before the wall came down. We wandered down the cobbled streets and admired the Zwinger - the former Royal Palace of August the Strong - now an art museum. The architecture of this magnificent building is a mixture of Baroque and Rococo with beautifully designed gardens and fountains.

While wandering towards the river we discovered the Wall of Princes. This 100m long mural painted on Meissen tiles depict the members of the Wettin noble family including a Duke from 1127 and a King from 1904. The mural tells the history of the residential city in vivid detail. One of Kerrie's favourite buildings was the Semper Opera. This curved theatre is beautiful by day but even more spectacular by night when lights are switched on to highlight the magnificent architecture.

We had planned to take a river cruise but when we went to purchase tickets for the next morning we were informed that it was likely that the boats would not be operating. The river levels are too low, after an extended period of very hot weather, so the boats simply can't navigate the shallow water. We had to settle for a walk along the riverside instead.

One of the major tourist attractions in the city is the Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady). A chapel was first built on this site in the 11th century. The foundation stone of the church was laid in 1726 and the construction was completed in 1743. The fame of this church however is linked with 1945. The gutted ruins of the church collapsed two days after the devastating bomb attack on Dresden on 13 February 1945. The church remained a pile of rubble until 1993 when clearing of the rubble commenced (well after the reunification of Germany). Reconstruction of the church, using as much of the rubble as possible, was commenced in 1994. The new cross for the tower was presented by the Duke of Kent in 2000 as a gift from the people of Great Britain. The new church was consecrated in October 2005. It is easy to spot the original stones in the construction as they are fire-blackened. When visiting the interior of the Frauenkirche you can imagine what other ancient churches of Europe must have looked like when they were first built. As this church is really only 20 years old, the interior is fresh and detailed - copied from photos and plans of the original structure. It is a shame that it had to be bombed and rebuilt to achieve such a magnificent building.

Our visit to Dresden coincided with rain, so it was nice not to be on the bike for a few days. We had decided to stay in Dresden for 3 nights. Firstly because we wanted to see the city, secondly we lucked out with the Stadtfest and finally because we could catch up with our friend Chris Pearson who was travelling back to the UK after attending the MotoGP at Bruno in the Czech Republic. Chris arrived on Monday night so missed the Stadtfest but still enjoyed a walk around the city (in the rain - a nice change from the heat he had experienced for the last few weeks). We had a delicious dinner together, shared our travel stories and polished off a few drinks. We also made plans to meet up again back in the UK on September 5th to attend a round of the British Superbikes at Oulton Park.

After 3 days in Dresden it was time to farewell Chris and head our separate ways once again. Chris, heading west through Germany and the Netherlands back to the UK, us, heading north-east to another destination in Poland that has been on Greg's bucket list for quite a while.