Dresden

I suck.  I know.  Its been over a month since we've gone on this vacation/extended weekend.   So here's to the short and sweet version .....

Here's a little background about Dresden (per Wikipedia) ....

Dresden has a long history as the capital and royal residence fot the Electors and Kings of Saxony, who for centures furnished the city with cultural and artistic splendor.  The main reason why people (in my opinion) have heard of Dresden is because of WWII.  On the night of 13/14 February 1945, Allied troops mounted a vast carpet-bombing raid on the city.  (Per wiki ...) In four raids, altogether 3,600 planes (which 1,300 were heavy bombers), dropped as many as 650,000 incendriaries, together with 8,000 lb. high explosive bombs and hundreds of 4,000-pounders.   After a pounding like that its needless to say that the city was pretty much destroyed.

Outside of the Neues Rathaus (city hall)

Frauenkirche - the Lutheran church that was so magnificent on the inside.    Unfortunately for y'all we weren't allowed to take pictures.

I honestly have no idea what this church is ...

We heard the best views of the city were from across the river so, that's where we went

That's Todd

That's Todd too

One of my faves.

The buildings were eclipsed - yes, we are dorks. 

One of the places that we had to visit while we were there is the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden (translation Dresden State Art Collections).  Within this, there were 2 different museums we went to - the Gemaldegalerie Alte Meister and the Neues Grunes Gewolbe (New Green Vault).   We went to the Neues Grunes Gewolbe first.   It has a lot of different things that have come from all over Europe, but the thing that I was most impressed by was the Dresden Green Diamond.  I believe its the world's largest naturally green diamond at a whopping 41 CARATS!!!!   Unfortunately for us (and y'all) they wouldn't allow any pictures inside the museum (either museum for that matter).   It housed more than 4,000 precious objects.   Another impressive piece was the a piece done by master goldsmith Johann Melchior - it is a miniature recreation of the court of an Indian mogul ruler consisiting of more than 130 golden figures with nearly 5,000 diamond.

The Gemaldegalerie Alte Meister contains what is considered to be one of Europe's best art collections.  The piece that I was the most familiar with was the Sistine Madonna.

To prove that we were there

Sachsische Staatsoper with the statue of the Saxon King Johann in front of it

Our last stop was The Zwinger Palace.   It was constructed to connect all the buildings that were already present.  Inside is a huge courtyard.  The Zwinger is home to many different museums (including the Gemaldegalerie Alte Meister).

Nymphenbad - a fountain located within the Zwinger

Rhubarb Strawberry Crunch

It wasn't until after I met Todd that I ever remember hearing anything about rhubarb.   Todd's mom used to make rhubarb pies and jams all the time because she grew it in her garden.   The other day Todd and I were in the commissary and they were selling rhubarb for super cheat, so we bought some.   Today I came across a recipe I thought Todd might like, so today marked my first experience with cooking with rhubarb.

Rhubarb Strawberry Crunch (per allrecipes.com)

1 c. white sugar

3 tbsp. flour

3 c. sliced fresh strawberries  (we got our's from our very own Molschbach Farmer's Market)

3 c. diced rhubarb

1 1/2 c. flour

1 c. packed brown sugar

1 c. butter

1 c. oats

Preheat the oven to 375 (or for those of you in Germany that use Celsius, 190).   Cut and dice your strawberries and rhubarb, respectively, and put them in a 9x13 pan.  Mix in the white sugar and 3 tbsp. of flour.   Next, mix the 1 1/2 c. flour, brown sugar, butter, and oats in a bowl until crumbly.  Once crumbly, add the mixture on top of the strawberry/rhubarb mix.   Bake for 45 minutes or until crisp and light brown.  

I'm still alittle confused by the German appliances - I accidently had it on broil ... 

The strawberry sweetness is balanced out by the rhubarb tart.  Delicious if I do say so myself.  Add a little vanilla ice cream and makes it even more yummy!

Lastly, an interesting fact I learned today ... According to wikipedia, Rhubarb is usually considered to be a veggie, however, in the USA, a New York court decided in 1947 that since it was used as a fruit in the United States it would be counted as a fruit for the purposes of regulations and duties.   Weird.

P.S.   I promise I will eventually get the rest of our trip to Dresden and Berlin up on here.  With the move, work, and everything else I'm becoming even slower.