After missing a group trip to a nearby city, 2 other peers and I organized a trip to Dresden. Though it is not as populous as Berlin, it presented a new scenery that was useful when envisioning what Germany looks like as a whole, beyond just Berlin. For example, not only was Dresden less populous, but it seemed as though there were less swaths of tourists roaming the city. Though this could have presented this as strictly a positive, it also meant that our German skills were challenged as the people we met were less likely to be able to or want to speak English. Thus, this trip was linguistically challenging, but nothing that our German courses hadn’t prepared us for. While in Dresden, we visited the Dresden Royal Palace which had gorgeously adorned jewelry, artwork, and clothing kept inside. We also spotted the Dresden Green Diamond – the piece of diamond that sparkled fantastically against the lights that shone against it. During the nighttime, we were able to go to a free outdoor concert along a river for a band we’d previously never heard of (but we are now huge fans of). After leaving this concert still thrilled by our impromptu performance appearance, we encountered into a huge crowd of people alongside food and drink stands, and a lit up stage further down along the path. Without knowing, we had stumbled into Kaisermania 2022, which hosts famous singer Roland Kaiser in Dresden for one night where typically older Germans celebrate one of their favorite artists while reminiscing on the nostalgic feelings he inspired. Folks were dancing and singing to his music while the castles and palaces around us were lit up magnificently. People were lined up across the bridge adjacent to the stage, the terrace behind the performance, and in the field next to Kaisers glowing stage. Though we hadn’t planned to accompany older Germans in their stroll down memory lane with their families and Kaiser next to them, I can assuredly say that Dresden seems to have some of the best kept secrets that we were lucky enough to uncover.IMG_3399 
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