Finally, after many years of never getting my act together, I returned to the wonderful city of Dresden, Germany – also called Florence on Elbe for very obvious reasons:
- Florence on Elbe – View along Dresden’s river terrasse „Brühlsche Terrassen“
Zwinger
It is really a city full of flair, taste, culture – and history of many different flavors. Grande…
… and not so grande:
Although neither "culture" nor "palace" seem to be too befitting, the so-called "Kulturpalast" is an important reminder, pointing back to less glorious times of Dresden in GDR times
But it is the very special mix that blends in the centuries that have gone by and left a little something or other behind for the impressed visitor to see and admire.
However, the main reason (or rather: pretext) for returning to Dresden was, admittedly not the culture surrounding the tourist at his or her every step. But the premiere of the bike race „Skoda VeloRace Dresden“ today.
However, bikes and culture – that is an ongoing theme in Dresden, not only during racing times:
- Radkultur – The city’s rental bike system and cultural highlights of tourism (here: the entrance to the Semper opera) go well together
... and "Radkultur" actually seems to go with the old Kulturpalast as backdrop as well
No wonder that when it comes to racing, the small ones are as eager and committed as the grown-ups:
Last Man Riding - Florian-Alexander, the 5-year-old youngster of the kids' race, gathers all the cheers for himself as he pedals eagerly over the finish line all alone, but in good mood
Although the temperatures of about 36°C were not necessarily in favor of speed records. But sufficient ways and opportunities for cooling down are spread all over the city:
A bit of a cooler place: Nymphenbrunnen at Zwinger
Kids however are apparently more on the pragmatic than the aesthetic and cultural side of things: No better day than today to get allowance from Mom and Dad for cooling down from within:
Eating some ice-cream prior to racing your bike does not necessarily make you a winner (even when you are wearing a miniature time trial suit)
I was glad, though, that art’otel, which housed us for the weekend, was only 5min walking distance of the finish line. 
This allowed for taking a shower in between the end of the race and the award ceremony. And what a pleasure it was to take a shower in such a luxurious surrounding – just the illusion of having four wash basins lowered my body temperature some 5°C, I think:
Luxury bathroom in art'otel Dresden: A lot of fancy stuff for little money
All in all, a hot summer’s weekend with a lot of cool sights and the very nice take-away of having raced fastest of all the women in my age group.
Adding a bit of decoration to the a.r.penck theme of art'otel Dresden
art'otel Dresden features lots of a.r.penck art work, even on the facade
Trackbacks/Pingbacks