Dresden

Best remembered by the book Slaughter House-Five, the fact remains that Dresden was decimated for reasons still debated today. Whatever the reason one thing is for certain, that Dresden went from charming German city to a hole in the ground in the hands of allied bombers and over 40 years of occupation by the Soviet Union.

Today the city has been rebuilt much the way decimated Warsaw was. Colorful buildings, new in age but old in style, now line the cobblestone streets where ruins once lay. The river Elbe winds through this now bustling city packed full of modern shopping centers. Dresden is a city where palaces have been rebuilt, populations have increased and the economy seems to have taken off, although it still remains one of Germany's cheapest cities to visit.