I came to Prague in a hazy afternoon and found myself in the run-down central railway station. The staff at the enquiry counter was rude and unfriendly and it was like what I saw in those movies on communist-bloc countries. Fortunately the 1st bad impression stopped here. Once I reached the centre of the old town by Metro, an old lady stepped forward to offer me help on the direction to my hostel. In general, people here are warm and the shopping centres look modern and the cost of food and drinks are relatively cheaper than those in Germany.

After 3 frosty and greyish days in Prague, I moved on to Berlin. On the way there, I decided to make a stopover in Dresden for 6 hours to witness this fully restored "Florence of the north", a UNESCO world cultural heritage site since 2006. Dresden was systematically bombed by the British Air Force on 13th Feb, 1945 to create a huge fire storm in the centre of the town. Many innocent victims were virtually sucked into the fire storm and an estimated 25,000 local residents and possibly another 60,000 refugees from other places were incinerated on this tragic day - an incident that many Germans feel angry & unjustifiable to this very day. The faithfully restored buildings incorporate the blacken & charred stone from the remaining pieces as a constant reminder of the ravages of war.