Paul Smit  Mick Palarczyk | Features, Photos and TextTwo faces, one philosophy |
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FEATURE (Category: Europe | Germany | winter | cultural-historical | scenic drives)
Germany, Sachsen (Saxony): Around Dresden
Germany, Sachsen (Saxony): Around Dresden
This feature is an exploration of the area around Saxony's capital, including the Dresden/Elbe Valley UNESCO world heritage site (please read excerpts of the article). That is a stretch of castles and palaces along the river, including the restored heart of Dresden itself. The trip starts in porcelain city Meissen and sheds light on two inventions, both done in the Albrechtsburg castle: porcelain and the ribless cellular vault. The scenic drive ends in Zittau, near the spot where Germany, Poland and Czechia meet, with a touching story about Zittau's famous Lent Cloth. On the way we visit walled Bautzen, meet artist Franz Gruss and his dinosaurs and hike in the Elbsandsteingebirge with its table mountains and national park.
![Smit & Palarczyk > [GERMANY.SACHSEN 7460] 'Portal of Domstift.' In GDR times Bautzen was dark brown. Since 1989 colour has returned, like here at the portal of the Domstift. Thanks to large scale restauration Bautzen is again one of the most beautiful middle-sized historical cities of Germany. Photo Paul Smit.](http://paulsmit.smugmug.com/Features/Europe/Germany-Sachsen-Saxony-Around/7460-Domstift-Bautzen/16115807_cTeJN-Ti.jpg "Smit & Palarczyk > [GERMANY.SACHSEN 7460] 'Portal of Domstift.' In GDR times Bautzen was dark brown. Since 1989 colour has returned, like here at the portal of the Domstift. Thanks to large scale restauration Bautzen is again one of the most beautiful middle-sized historical cities of Germany. Photo Paul Smit.")
![Smit & Palarczyk > [GERMANY.SACHSEN 7467] 'Door in Bautzen.' Detail of a door at the Fleischmarkt in Bautzen. Photo Paul Smit.](http://paulsmit.smugmug.com/Features/Europe/Germany-Sachsen-Saxony-Around/7467-Fleischmarkt-Bautzen/16115836_YEBXu-Ti.jpg "Smit & Palarczyk > [GERMANY.SACHSEN 7467] 'Door in Bautzen.' Detail of a door at the Fleischmarkt in Bautzen. Photo Paul Smit.")
![Smit & Palarczyk > [GERMANY.SACHSEN 7470] 'Door in Bautzen.' Detail of a door at the Fleischmarkt in Bautzen. Photo Paul Smit.](http://paulsmit.smugmug.com/Features/Europe/Germany-Sachsen-Saxony-Around/7470-Fleischmarkt-Bautzen/16115859_LJfWa-Ti.jpg "Smit & Palarczyk > [GERMANY.SACHSEN 7470] 'Door in Bautzen.' Detail of a door at the Fleischmarkt in Bautzen. Photo Paul Smit.")
![Smit & Palarczyk > [GERMANY.SACHSEN 7475] 'Restaurant Alte Gerberei.' Maria Löcken-Hierl is the owner of Hotel-Restaurant Alte Gerberei in Bautzen. She left a stressful corporate life behind to realise a dream in her town of birth, and applied just the right touch in the restoration and decoration of the old tannery on the Spree. Good nutrition is the key word in her French-Italian kitchen. Photo Paul Smit.](http://paulsmit.smugmug.com/Features/Europe/Germany-Sachsen-Saxony-Around/7475-Bautzen-Alte-Gerberei/16115880_TKRmB-Ti.jpg "Smit & Palarczyk > [GERMANY.SACHSEN 7475] 'Restaurant Alte Gerberei.' Maria Löcken-Hierl is the owner of Hotel-Restaurant Alte Gerberei in Bautzen. She left a stressful corporate life behind to realise a dream in her town of birth, and applied just the right touch in the restoration and decoration of the old tannery on the Spree. Good nutrition is the key word in her French-Italian kitchen. Photo Paul Smit.")
![Smit & Palarczyk > [GERMANY.SACHSEN 7477] 'Restaurant Wjelbik.' You are offered salt and bread upon entering, a Slavic welcoming custom. Restaurant Wjelbik in the heart of Bautzen, run by Veronika Mahling in traditional clothing, is an authentic Sorb restaurant. Here you wont have sophisticated western healthy cooking, but sturdy and tasty Slavic dishes. The interior shows what was thought to be the height of good taste during GDR rule, so it rates high on nostalgia by now. Photo Paul Smit.](http://paulsmit.smugmug.com/Features/Europe/Germany-Sachsen-Saxony-Around/7477-Bautzen-Wjelbik/16115876_VbG3w-Ti.jpg "Smit & Palarczyk > [GERMANY.SACHSEN 7477] 'Restaurant Wjelbik.' You are offered salt and bread upon entering, a Slavic welcoming custom. Restaurant Wjelbik in the heart of Bautzen, run by Veronika Mahling in traditional clothing, is an authentic Sorb restaurant. Here you wont have sophisticated western healthy cooking, but sturdy and tasty Slavic dishes. The interior shows what was thought to be the height of good taste during GDR rule, so it rates high on nostalgia by now. Photo Paul Smit.")
![Smit & Palarczyk > [GERMANY.SACHSEN 7472] 'Devil stays outside.' Café called Mönchshof (House of the Monks) in Bautzen, where a little devil is having his beer outside. Photo Paul Smit.](http://paulsmit.smugmug.com/Features/Europe/Germany-Sachsen-Saxony-Around/7472-Monchshof-Bautzen/16115854_92J2j-Ti.jpg "Smit & Palarczyk > [GERMANY.SACHSEN 7472] 'Devil stays outside.' Café called Mönchshof (House of the Monks) in Bautzen, where a little devil is having his beer outside. Photo Paul Smit.")
![Smit & Palarczyk > [GERMANY.SACHSEN 7484] 'Obercunnersdorf.' The Oberlausitz between Bautzen and Zittau has many half-timbered villages, but none of them compares to Obercunnersdorf. This village has a specific type of half-timbered architecture, the Umgebindehäuser. The supporting, wooden framework is not within the walls but around them. The house is actually supported by columns and between the columns a log cabin has been built. In the Oberlausitz, where German and Slavic culture meet, the Slavic log cabin and German half-timbered house combine without melting into one. Photo Paul Smit.](http://paulsmit.smugmug.com/Features/Europe/Germany-Sachsen-Saxony-Around/7484-Obercunnersdorf/16118095_MpWa8-Ti.jpg "Smit & Palarczyk > [GERMANY.SACHSEN 7484] 'Obercunnersdorf.' The Oberlausitz between Bautzen and Zittau has many half-timbered villages, but none of them compares to Obercunnersdorf. This village has a specific type of half-timbered architecture, the Umgebindehäuser. The supporting, wooden framework is not within the walls but around them. The house is actually supported by columns and between the columns a log cabin has been built. In the Oberlausitz, where German and Slavic culture meet, the Slavic log cabin and German half-timbered house combine without melting into one. Photo Paul Smit.")
![Smit & Palarczyk > [GERMANY.SACHSEN 7489] 'Obercunnersdorf.' The Oberlausitz between Bautzen and Zittau has many half-timbered villages, but none of them compares to Obercunnersdorf. This village has a specific type of half-timbered architecture, the Umgebindehäuser. The supporting, wooden framework is not within the walls but around them. The house is actually supported by columns and between the columns a log cabin has been built. In the Oberlausitz, where German and Slavic culture meet, the Slavic log cabin and German half-timbered house combine without melting into one. Photo Paul Smit.](http://paulsmit.smugmug.com/Features/Europe/Germany-Sachsen-Saxony-Around/7489-Obercunnersdorf/16115782_f3bJ8-Ti.jpg "Smit & Palarczyk > [GERMANY.SACHSEN 7489] 'Obercunnersdorf.' The Oberlausitz between Bautzen and Zittau has many half-timbered villages, but none of them compares to Obercunnersdorf. This village has a specific type of half-timbered architecture, the Umgebindehäuser. The supporting, wooden framework is not within the walls but around them. The house is actually supported by columns and between the columns a log cabin has been built. In the Oberlausitz, where German and Slavic culture meet, the Slavic log cabin and German half-timbered house combine without melting into one. Photo Paul Smit.")
![Smit & Palarczyk > [GERMANY.SACHSEN 7496] 'Oybin.' Church in front of misty Berg Oybin (Oybin Hill) in the Zittauer Gebirge (Hills of Zittau). Photo Paul Smit.](http://paulsmit.smugmug.com/Features/Europe/Germany-Sachsen-Saxony-Around/7496-Oybin/16115798_Ahidc-Ti.jpg "Smit & Palarczyk > [GERMANY.SACHSEN 7496] 'Oybin.' Church in front of misty Berg Oybin (Oybin Hill) in the Zittauer Gebirge (Hills of Zittau). Photo Paul Smit.")
[GERMANY.SACHSEN 7477]
'Restaurant Wjelbik.'
You are offered salt and bread upon entering, a Slavic welcoming custom. Restaurant Wjelbik in the heart of Bautzen, run by Veronika Mahling in traditional clothing, is an authentic Sorb restaurant. Here you wont have sophisticated western healthy cooking, but sturdy and tasty Slavic dishes. The interior shows what was thought to be the height of good taste during GDR rule, so it rates high on nostalgia by now. Photo Paul Smit. ![> [GERMANY.SACHSEN 7477] 'Restaurant Wjelbik.' You are offered salt and bread upon entering, a Slavic welcoming custom. Restaurant Wjelbik in the heart of Bautzen, run by Veronika Mahling in traditional clothing, is an authentic Sorb restaurant. Here you wont have sophisticated western healthy cooking, but sturdy and tasty Slavic dishes. The interior shows what was thought to be the height of good taste during GDR rule, so it rates high on nostalgia by now. Photo Paul Smit.](http://paulsmit.smugmug.com/Features/Europe/Germany-Sachsen-Saxony-Around/7477-Bautzen-Wjelbik/16115876_VbG3w-S.jpg "> [GERMANY.SACHSEN 7477] 'Restaurant Wjelbik.' You are offered salt and bread upon entering, a Slavic welcoming custom. Restaurant Wjelbik in the heart of Bautzen, run by Veronika Mahling in traditional clothing, is an authentic Sorb restaurant. Here you wont have sophisticated western healthy cooking, but sturdy and tasty Slavic dishes. The interior shows what was thought to be the height of good taste during GDR rule, so it rates high on nostalgia by now. Photo Paul Smit.")
[GERMANY.SACHSEN 7477]
'Restaurant Wjelbik.'
You are offered salt and bread upon entering, a Slavic welcoming custom. Restaurant Wjelbik in the heart of Bautzen, run by Veronika Mahling in traditional clothing, is an authentic Sorb restaurant. Here you wont have sophisticated western healthy cooking, but sturdy and tasty Slavic dishes. The interior shows what was thought to be the height of good taste during GDR rule, so it rates high on nostalgia by now. Photo Paul Smit. All rights reserved. No permission for reproduction, including copying or saving of digital image files or text, is granted without prior written authorisation from the author.
