Sächsische Schweiz

On Saturday we woke up early, packed some granola bars, filled our camel backs and got out our bikes for a day-long bike trip to the Sächsiche Schweiz, or the "Switzerland of Saxony" (which is the region of Germany we live in).  

After a short delay due to un-inflated bike tires, we were off!  All along the Elbe River, which runs through Dresden all the way into the Czech Republic, there is a bike path called the Elberadweg.  We rode past the Blaues Wunder (the Blue Bridge), through the town of Pirna, and stopped for a break at a small town that was having a festival (imagine that!).  We had a snack and listened to the jazz band for a while.

Along the way we found this awesome church- the Church of the Bike Riders.

After three hours of biking, we arrived at our destination- the Bastai!  I was glad we were there, mostly because my butt really hurt from riding my bike so long, but also because we were really excited to see the awesome bridge built between the sandstone mountains along the Elbe River.

Of course, we thought we'd gotten our exercise for the day, but we were very wrong.  We climbed up a bazillion stairs before reaching the awesome bridge, but it was definitely worth it.  There were magnificent views from that high, and even castle ruins to walk through!  Here is a photo of the Elbe in the direction we came from:

I thought we had a tiring day, but as we looked across a valley from the highest point and saw the beautiful sandstone mountains, we realized that there were people climbing up the almost vertical sides!! I guess we'll save that for another day.

After climbing back down to the river, we took our bikes across on the ferry.  We found the train station and rode home.  It was a great Saturday!  Sunday we were so tired that we just hung around Dresden.

This week my mom comes to visit.  We're spending a few days in Copenhagen- so next post: Denmark!