Dresden

Since Sofia had the day off of school b/c it is a Czech holiday the girls and I decided to make use of the car and we headed off to Dresden this morning. Why not drive to Germany? It is only a two hour drive. It is like driving from RI to NH...easy! I printed off a few things that I thought would be of interested, set up the TOMTOM and off we went. It was a beautiful ride through the mountains to get to Dresden which was nice. There was NO traffic which was really nice. I think the TOMTOM might need to be updated since I kept seeing signs for highway driving to get to Dresden but I'm glad we went the way we did. It was very relaxing and peaceful. Going across the border was a little strange since the passport control buildings are all still there but there was noone to be seen anywhere near the border. It made me think of a ghost town. Anyway, we got to Dresden and found a place to park and headed off to find the tourist information office. Apparently it was a holiday in Germany too though b/c all the stores, including the tourist information, were closed. This turned out to be fine since there were all different markets going on so the girls and I enjoyed walking around the markets. We had sausage/hotdog things for lunch and then random snacks along the way...chocolate covered banana, little donut hole type things, gummy worms etc. The kids got to ride on a couple of small kiddie rides as well which they loved. After spending some time at the markets we headed off to the Deutsches Hygiene-Museum . By the name itself it does not sound interesting (at least, not to me) but it is actually a great place for kids. It is a children's musueum that is designed around the five senses. The kids had a blast checking out everything there and since Sofia s currently learning about the five senses in school it fell into a school related activity. There was a huge floor piano that the kids could walk on and make music. There was a mirror maze that the kids and I loved. I have never been in a mirror maze that was done so well. I actually had to walk with my hands out to make sure I didn't run into a wall. Ali had to learn that lesson the hard way. She saw me in a reflection and came running fall steam and before I could say stop she slammed into the wall. She was fine, although a little startled. It was hard not to laugh since it was like a scene in some cartoon. After playing in the children's museum it was time to leave Dresden. We didn't get to see any of the old town or any historical building but that is fine. Next time we go we can venture into that part of the city. Today was a day for leisure, snacking and playing. It was great fun for all of us. I will post some pictures soon.