One evening in Hamburg transcended the merely pleasurable and became something memorable. At the Casino at Stephansplatz, inside the magnificent space that houses the Pelicano Restaurant, I sat down to dinner with my dear German friend Renate, for a reunion that the setting made feel almost preordained. Pelicano is one of those rare restaurants that seems to understand precisely what a restaurant is for, not merely the nourishment of the body, but the celebration of life and connection.
My Hamburg residence was the Side Hotel, and I could not have chosen better. A design-forward five-star property that occupies a beautifully conceived building just steps from the city center, the Side places virtually everything of significance within walking distance, the Binnenalster lake, the shopping streets, the Rathaus.
And then there is Dresden. If Berlin commands and Hamburg impresses, Dresden enchants. Known as the "Florence on the Elbe," this most Baroque of German cities rises from the banks of the river with a golden-spired magnificence that seems, at first encounter, almost too beautiful to be real.
The Zwinger Palace, that exquisite ensemble of Baroque pavilions, galleries, and gardens, is the city's crown jewel, housing important collections including the Old Masters Picture Gallery with its Raphael, Rubens, and Vermeer.