Happy New Year girls! It’s a new year and a new beginning, and after Christmas and New Year’s vacay, I’m back in business, full of energy and fresh ideas, and ready to share with you guys a few more amazing places from my latest trip.
Our last day in Dresden was very special, because we saved two awesome sights for the end. Our first stop was Kunsthofpassage, one of the most interesting and surprising attractions from this beautiful town. It’s pretty hard to find, but trust me, it’s totally worth the effort.
From the moment I’ve seen the first photos with this place on Instagram, I just knew I had to go there, and even though the weather outside was pretty bad, light rain and very cloudy, this place was specially made to take advantage of rainfall, turning it into an orchestral symphony.
Also called the Courtyard of Elements, Kunsthofpassage is basically a series of charming courtyards, representing an art experiment by the people who lived in those apartment buildings. The most amazing facade was created by sculptor Annette Paul and designers Christoph Rossner and Andre Tempel, who were inspired by a Rube Goldberg Machine.
The other installations in the Kunsthofpassage project include Hof des Lichts, or “Courtyard of Light,” Hof der Tiere, “Courtyard of Animals,” and Hof der Metamorphosen, “Courtyard of the Metamorphoses”. We spent nearly an hour there, and it was freezing, but we totally enjoyed every single corner of this amazing place.
Our next stop was the gorgeous Moritzburg Castle, a charming baroque palace built right in the outskirts of Dresden, in Moritzburg, a small village that was named after the duke Moritz of Saxony. The castle has four amazing round towers and lies on a symmetrical artificial island, which makes it look like it comes straight from a fairy tale.
Unfortunately, we didn’t have too much time to wonder in or around the castle, but since we have many other places to see in Dresden, we made a promise that we’ll come back to this mesmerizing city as soon as possible 🙂
Then we went back to our car and headed to Prague once again, but on our way to the hotel we made a little stop at the Strahov Monastery, a Premonstratensian abbey from the 12th century, that’s very well known for its impressive library.
This breathtaking library had a very important role in Czech history, because it contains about 200,000 old prints, mostly from the 16th and 18th centuries, almost 3,000 manuscripts and 1,500 first prints and many other rare books. But the most precious item is the Strahov Evangeliary from the 9th century, with Romanesque and Gothic decoration.
The Library is split in two splendidly decorated halls : the Theological Hall and the Philosophical Hall, which will blow your mind away from the moment you’ll see them, but unfortunately you can’t get a closer look. You’re not allowed to go into the halls, because it was discovered that fluctuations in humidity caused by visitors’ breath was endangering the frescoes.
So, we spent around an hour there, just staring at these two halls from the door, and we were feeling hypnotized by their beauty. I really didn’t want leave this place, but we still had many other things to do. This day was very full for us, a day we got in touch with history, art and knowledge, that ends with a promise that we’ll come back here one day to find out more 🙂
Hope you like my little history lesson and also my casual, but cool look for this day 🙂
G.
My outfit :
Clothes : H&M
Shoes : Zara
Bag : Giuka
