From Dresden, we headed southeast, along the Elbe River, to what is known as die saechsische Schweiz (Saxon Switzerland). Two years ago, driving through Normandy, we came close to la Suisse normande (Norman Switzerland). There are, of course, no Saxon or Norman Alps. These appellations are a result of 19th-century pride in some spectacular and wild local scenery. If they were to be named today, maybe we would have a “Saxon Grand Canyon” or “Norman Grand Canyon.” Saxon Switzerland (which the Michelin Green Guide, perhaps as a matter of French pride, mistranslates into English as “Swiss Saxony”) is a part of the Elbe valley filled with towering, eroded rocks and deep, dark forests.
Our specific destination was the Bastei, or Bastion, a high point overlooking the Elbe where it bends at the town of Rathen. After driving along the autobahn to the town of Pirna, we took back roads north of the river, got onto a side road that was being repaired, with traffic lights switching single lanes of traffic. We parked in a lot surrounded by woods and walked for about fifteen minutes, past the hotel and Panorama Restaurant, then up some steps cut into the stone, to the Bastei. It is a sort of small mesa of rock, capable of holding maybe forty people, if they were crammed tightly together. When we were there, there were no more than eight or ten, in total.
In order to walk down to Rathen, if one is so inclined, one must take the path down a little way from the Bastei and across the Bastei Bridge, a stone footbridge, finished in 1851, crossing a deep gap between monoliths.
We finished our visit to Saxon Switzerland with coffee and pastries at the Panorama Restaurant. The waiter was a little snooty, but the views southeast and southwest along the river as sunset approached were spectacular, and the goodies were delicious.. The three-hour-or-so drive back to Berlin was uneventful, except for some rain.
A remark on the weather: generally cool and damp, unusually so for this time of year, though the rain never lasted long enough to cause us serious problems, and when we needed perfect weather, such as the very next day after our return to Berlin, we got it.
Our specific destination was the Bastei, or Bastion, a high point overlooking the Elbe where it bends at the town of Rathen. After driving along the autobahn to the town of Pirna, we took back roads north of the river, got onto a side road that was being repaired, with traffic lights switching single lanes of traffic. We parked in a lot surrounded by woods and walked for about fifteen minutes, past the hotel and Panorama Restaurant, then up some steps cut into the stone, to the Bastei. It is a sort of small mesa of rock, capable of holding maybe forty people, if they were crammed tightly together. When we were there, there were no more than eight or ten, in total.
In order to walk down to Rathen, if one is so inclined, one must take the path down a little way from the Bastei and across the Bastei Bridge, a stone footbridge, finished in 1851, crossing a deep gap between monoliths.
We finished our visit to Saxon Switzerland with coffee and pastries at the Panorama Restaurant. The waiter was a little snooty, but the views southeast and southwest along the river as sunset approached were spectacular, and the goodies were delicious.. The three-hour-or-so drive back to Berlin was uneventful, except for some rain.
A remark on the weather: generally cool and damp, unusually so for this time of year, though the rain never lasted long enough to cause us serious problems, and when we needed perfect weather, such as the very next day after our return to Berlin, we got it.
No comments:
Post a Comment