A great side trip to Gorlitz.

Leaving Dresden, we had the choice: either straight through to Berlin, arriving late morning, or doing a side trip to Gorlitz, a town right on the border with Poland, and recommended in Rick Steves Germany. We opted for the side trip, even though it meant extra train time.

And we were very glad we did. Gorlitz is a lovely town, with all you'd expect: old churches, towers, old city walls, and quaint cafes and bars. We did the walking tour from the guide book (yes, this is becoming something of a habit, but they are just such good value!) and ended up at a huge church by the river. The photo here is of the beautiful baptismal font...

Now Gorlitz lost its eastern suburbs to Poland following the realignment of borders after WW2 - the new border being the river, which bisects the town. It's only fairly recently that free travel between the two parts has been reestablished, so we just hopped across the foot bridge into Poland for lunch (as you do!). Being Sunday, the town was very peaceful, and we thoroughly enjoyed the tourist-free atmosphere.

After racing back to the station to catch our train, we dozed our way to Berlin, found our hotel (situated in a prime location for sight-seeing), and had a late dinner on eastern Berlin's main drag. At the end of the meal, an organ-grinder took up position along side - delightful for the first 10 minutes or so, but enough to make us flee after coffee!!