After the exciting IAESTE meeting in Prague I couldn’t say no to the next IAESTE meeting, this time in Dresden, city of kings and capital of the old kingdom of Saxony. I didn’t expect Dresden to be such a great city, in fact right now it has become my favorite city in Germany, it´s even more impressive and beautiful than Berlin.
On Saturday we had an interesting guided tour through the city, here are some of the best pictures:

IAESTE students in Dresden
The IAESTE Zwickau team

Dresden downtown and the river Elbe
In the background the river Elbe and the impressive historical center of Dresden

Hofkirche. Dresden cathedral
The Katholische Hofkirche

Unfortunately the city was totally destroyed after suffering one of the worst war massacres in history, the bombing of Dresden, where the casualties suffered were similar to those in the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. A lot of historical building were rebuilt after the war but a lot of them were demolished by the DDR so that new concrete buildings “for the people” could be built.

Frauenkirche in Dresden
The Frauenkirche was totally destroyed during World War II. The DDR kept the ruins as a war monument but in 1994 the new government decided to rebuild it; in 2005 the reconstruction was finished. In the picture you can see how the old stones are almost black and the restored ones are lighter (almost all of them)

IAESTE people from all over the world in Dresden
IAESTE friends from all over Germany

The Fürstenzug, with all the Saxon kings
The Fürstenzug, a big porcelain wall featuring all the Saxon kings in history

The Dresden Opera and the equestrian statue of John of Saxony
The Semperoper, one of the most famous opera houses in the world, and the equestrian statue of John of Saxony

Inside the opera of Dresden
We also entered the opera house. Amazing

In the Zwinger in Dresden
The Zwinger Palace, a baroque palace downtown

Center of Dresden
The views from the other side of the river are exceptional

Aitor and the cathedral
Me and the cathedral