Prepare to have your socks knocked off: we have a timed entry into the Royal Palace complex, where our hotelier August the Strong built a staggering Treasury, known as the Old Green Vault, in the early 18th century, stuffed with objects both quirky and valuable. The Green Vault made world headlines back in November 2019 when thieves made off with an estimated 1 Billion Dollars in jewels!  Led by our guide, learn about this audacious heist, and tour of the New Green Vault, which focuses on 1,000 selected objects from the grand collection. 

We will end our tour with coffee break, then it is choose your own adventure time.  You have so many options to consider.  We suggest you finish the morning by exploring the Old Green Vault at your own pace.  A masterpiece of the Baroque, this collection begins with a dazzling emerald room (hence the name) and leads into seven more rooms, each with a signature color and lined with more mirrors than the last. To make the experience authentic, there are no cabinets and no labels on its 3,000 treasures, so make sure and take an audio guide with you.

This afternoon, if porcelain is your passion, meet up with our local guide at the Zwinger Museum, set in handsome gardens with a canal-style lake and has a number of nationally significant collections. Study the Porcelain Galleries, which have objects from China, Japan and contemporary ceramicists such as Edmund de Waal. It’s a great way to set Meissen porcelain into context – this was the first factory in Europe to crack (literally) the secret of hard paste porcelain, hitherto a secret kept by the Chinese. The factory was originally founded in Dresden before moving to nearby Meissen in around 1710.

Music lovers may wish to join Craig while he concert-hops around the city during the Dresden Music Festival!  We will let you know the program in advance to help you make the most of your time.

HOTEL TASCHENBER PALAIS KEMPINSKI 

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