Dresden – Further Thoughts

I promised photos… Above is the skyline – the big dome is the Fraunkirche, which is just next to my apartment. Below is a picture of the Weihnachtsmarkt (Christmas market) in my street…

One thing I forgot to mention in my last blog about Dresden (First Impressions) was the quality of the buskers. I might be getting a slightly skewed version since it’s Christmas and every musician in the city seems to be out on the street playing carols with a hat in front of them, but so far I have seen a number of wind quartets, a few brass quartets, a horn quartet (!) and a huge range of solo instruments and duos – often including accordions and violins… The range of groups itself is impressive, but the quality of musicians is remarkable. I’m not talking about the Year 8 Clarinet student out at the local shopping strip playing some carols for money – these are fairly serious musicians (most likely University students or semi-professional players) out there making some outstanding music. Certainly a nice change from Australia, and it really makes me wonder why more excellent musicians aren’t out there busking over the Christmas period at home…