Day 12: End of the Road, but Not the End of the Adventure: A Full Day in Inimitable Prague 

(A Perfect 24 Hours or So to Cap Our Fairy-Tale Journey)

Day 12, A Lovely 1,100-Year-Old City of 1.2 Million People on the Vltava River

If I was going to have some bike problems, doing it on the Prague streets probably was as good a time as any.

   Like bees to honey, pretty much all of us knew where we were eventually headed when we pulled into cosmopolitan Prague: Old Town Square. Yesterday, after settling in at the four-star Hotel Meteor Plaza in the city center, we had a couple hours of free time before dinner, so Kay and I took a left out of our hotel and walked a block to the 11th-century Powder Gate, one of the original 13 entrances into Prague's Old Town. We passed under the Gothic tower onto Celetna Street, a buzz of shops and cafes leading to Old Town Square. Because of time restraints, this was only a teaser and we vowed to return the next day.

   We did exactly that, retracing our steps at noon today after spending the morning

We stand where 250,000 people stood in Wenceslas Square in peaceful protest.

 with a local expert on an exploration of central Prague. Among the historic sites we experienced in the morning was Wenceslas Square, which is actually more a 600-yard-long boulevard than a square. A setting for celebrations and public gatherings, it is most famously the site of the beginning of the "Velvet Revolution," a series of peaceful protests that began in 1989 and helped bring down the Communist regime. As many as 250,000 people gathered there at the biggest demonstrations. Among other morning stops was the Jewish Quarter and the Charles Bridge.

    The Jewish Quarter dates to the 13th century, when Jewish people were ordered to leave their Prague homes and settle in this one area.

Dirk finds us a coffee break.

Over the centuries, as Jews were expelled elsewhere, the area became overcrowded, and structural change to the area from 1893-1913 worsened things. Many of the most significant buildings were saved (including six synagogues) and today they remain a testimony to the history of Jews in Prague.

    Our final stop of the morning was the iconic Charles Bridge. It is 1,700 feet of cobblestone over the Vltava River, with 16 arches and 30 Baroque statues of religious figures. The bridge is best seen in the early morning, before the many vendors set up to woo the tourists, or the evening, when the lights of the city are magical.

    Our group was free to set out on its own for the final afternoon of our adventure, and Kay and I

Once an hour, crowds flock to the Astronomical Clock.

quickly returned to the Old Town Square. She had been eyeing something resembling fried bread, and we quickly found it. No surprise, it was as tasty as it looked. Then we huddled with the masses (this happens at the top of every hour) at the Prague Astronomical Clock and Tower.

Kay looks for the Turk.

 As hundreds of us looked up to the Old Town Hall Tower, a small trap door opened and a figurine of Christ marched out ahead of his disciples while the skeleton of death tolled the bell to a defiant statue of a Turk.

    I wasn't especially keen on climbing to the top of the Old Town Hall Tower, but my arm was twisted and I followed Kay. My heart was racing as we walked out to a terraced overlook, high above the Old Town Plaza. I guess I can say it was worth it, because the views of the city were spectacular, 360 degrees of hundreds of Gothic rooftop spires that give the Prague skyline a fairy-tale character.

    Off to the west, we gazed in awe at spectacular Prague Castle, which is roughly the

Shot from the Charles Bridge on the Vltava, Prague Castle rises in the distance. 

 size of seven football fields and is the largest ancient castle in the world. As soon as we'd climbed down from the tower and were on firm ground again, we headed off to the castle, enjoying a delicious lunch on the way. I had a freshly made grilled sausage that was as mouthwatering as any I've ever eaten. We were short on time, so we only saw the outer part of the castle, but we vowed to explore its churches, gardens, alleyway and royal residences on our next time there. And there will be a next time to see so many sights, including an endless array of activities in Old Town Square, from Hari Krishna dancers to local musicians.

The Old Town Square in the capital of the Czech Republic is a lively magnet for performers of all kinds.

When in the Old Town Square, if you're not merry, a bevy of local musicians will change that very quickly.

It's difficult to look up in Prague and not find intricately crafted statues, all with a fascinating story.

We sighted this happy couple at the Old Town Hall, where weddings have been held since 1871.

Standing on the Charles Bridge, Kay Lazar keeps a sunny disposition despite the late-afternoon drizzle.

    That final evening, we all gathered at a restaurant just off the Old Town Square for a Farewell Dinner of Peking Duck. The mood of the group was both jubilant and reflective.

Our Road Scholar adventure was capped with a Peking Duck dinner!

 I attributed that to knowing that our adventure was about to come to an end, as well as each individual mapping out details of the return home the next day or, in some cases, the continuation of the adventure on their own. Kate and Elliot were heading on to Vienna, Jay was returning to a night in Berlin, and others had similar plans. At some point, Dirk Broeren, our Group Leader extraordinaire,

Dirk (center) bids Kay and I goodbye.

 stood to raise a toast and bid us farewell. I was tired but happy; happy because I was certain that "farewell" was only a word in an age when any one of our new friends was just an email away.

    Thank you all for the adventure of a lifetime.

Day 11: Riding at a Snail's Pace ... on Purpose ... Because it's Our Last Day on the Bikes? 

(Or will our saddle-weary tushes welcome a well-deserved rest!)

Day 11, An Easy Ride to Melnik, Then a Bus Ride to Magical Prague

As Sylvia Mabe (rear) looks on, Elliot Kaufman can't believe his luck! He's been hungering for escargot ever since he left Chicago. And now, it's within his grasp, right there on the Elbe River bike path ...

   Triumph but with regret. You can imagine it was like this for Lewis and Clark's Corps of Discovery in November 1805, when America's most famous explorers floated down the Columbia River and reached the Pacific Ocean after a two-year journey. Our party of 18, plus Group Leader Dirk Broeren and wingman Carl Heinz Schneider, was within 17 miles of the end of our journey (at least on bikes) when we climbed on our two-wheelers and began pedaling this morning after 11 days on the Elbe. The mood of the group was mixed — pensive, melancholy, relieved, joyful, plain weary.

    It was a gray morning as we pedaled toward the Renaissance Lobkowitz Chateau, owned since 1739 by the family of the same name, at the confluence of the Elbe and

Nan Ottenritter has a red light, but she doesn't mind the greenery.

Vltava rivers. I'll admit to a mixed bag of emotions. I had been out of the United States for two weeks on two previous occasions, when my career as a sportswriter brought me to the 1991 Pan-American Games in Cuba and to the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics. That was 22 years ago and I was a relative youngster. I think veteran travelers will agree that spending time away from home is a learned endeavor, both mentally and physically. I was in great biking shape. But I was out of shape for the mental part of it. So, yes, I was looking forward to being home in a few days. On the other hand, I wasn't ready to part with the enjoyable dinner conversations with Nan; with the wry wit of Elliot or Kate's omnipresent enthusiasm; with Nancy's infectious spirit — with any of the unique traits of every one of these new friends. I wasn't done getting to know them.

    Camaraderie like this, on adventures of all kinds, whether in a Road Scholar group or

Leah Hayes and Jay Schneider take a break in the Czech countryside.

with another group, is what spawns talk, as an adventure winds down, of the group reassembling for another adventure — "Let's do this next year, all of us!" We certainly talked about doing that. We talked about how much fun it would be to choose something palatable to all of us, most likely on a bike, perhaps on a bike and barge, a year from now. A number of our new friends had ridden in years past on the Danube on a Road Scholar program, "Bicycling Along the Danube." In fact, Sue Walker was on that Danube program some 20 years earlier and, if you can believe it, her Group Leader was ... drum roll ... wait for it ... Dirk Broeren! That's correct, and Dirk remembered Sue! Will we all reassemble at some point? Will a smattering of us reassemble? Who knows, because we shared emails, and I knew some of us would stay in touch.

    And so it was such thoughts that were on the back burner, I'm sure for many of us, as we cruised up

Doggone it! Dick Morasch (left) isn't interested in any sheperding.

the river to our destination, the aforementioned Lobkowitz Chateau, less than an hour north of Prague.

     Formally the Melnik Chateau, the chateau was originally wooden and was rebuilt with stone in the 10th century. In the 13th century, it got a Gothic makeover and was the home of 23 Czech queens and princesses. In 1753, the Lobkowicz era began.

The Lobkowitz Chateau is sittin' pretty.

During World War II, the Nazis took control of the chateau. Then, in 1948, it was nationalized and the family was forced to leave the country. The chateau was returned to the clan in 1992. Inside the chateau are valuable pieces of art and historical furnishings. One of my favorite works was the Big Hall, where detailed 17th-century maps of countries and European towns are exhibited, including Paris, London, Venice, Vienna, Florence and Madrid.

We sat down for a nice lunch after exploring the chateau, then it was time to make our way a

Kay, Kate, Jay and Elliot prepare to depart.

quarter-mile downhill to a parking lot where our bus awaited us for the one-hour ride into Prague to the exhilarating final day of our adventure. A heavy downpour chased us down the hill (really, Mother Nature!?!???). When we first rode up to this parking lot on our bikes a couple hours earlier, it was dry — and least in the skies. I didn't look around too carefully to see if their were any visible tears as all of us adventurers handed our bikes over to Carl Heinz Schneider. We all hugged Carl, because he was heading back north to deliver

Carl and Dirk make final tallies.

the bikes to their next destination. Same with John and Bettina Caffrey, who weren't joining us for the final two nights in Prague, instead meeting up with their family for a two-week cruise. My memory of that final day with our old friends, the bikes? It was Sylvia Mabe giving her bike a well-earned thank-you kiss. And shortly after, we boarded a bus that would get us into Prague by day's end. I think we were all eager to spend our final two nights in the magnificent capital of the Czech Republic.

After riding tall in the saddle for 10 days, Sylvia Mabe leaned down to give her bicycle a gracious goodbye.

Elliot's Day's Biking Total: 17 miles.

Day 10: Day of Contrasts: An Invigorating Ride and a Sobering Experience at Terezin

(The Nazi concentration camp recalls a cruel period in history)

Day 10, From Decin to Roudnice, Via Camp Terezin

After a quiet first day in the Czech Republic, Larry and Nancy Embree found beauty that should be trumpeted. 

    It's difficult to say whether all of us knew the emotional swing we would be feeling on a day that began amid the spectacular flowers and lush grasses and trees of the Czech Republic countryside. This

The springtime poppies were constant companions along the Elbe Bike Path. 

would be our last ride over 30 miles (31) and the longest we would go the next day was 17.

    We kept a leisurely pace throughout the morning and pulled into Litomerice, a charming town of well-maintained buildings from the Gothic, Baroque and Renaissance periods. We had lunch on our own, so my wife, Kay, and I took the time to explore before settling on a cute cafe with an open front for sidewalk lunching. While there, we saw Carl Heinz Schneider, who was Group Leader Dirk Broeren's wingman and the fellow who so ably transported our luggage from hotel to hotel for nearly two weeks. We invited Carl to eat with us, and later we strolled the streets and ran into Nan Ottenritter. We walked with her before returning to our bikes.

    I wasn't sure what to expect as we rode into Camp Terezin, a cruel trick played by Adolf Hitler, who

The Terezin Cemetery.

told the world that he had built a city for the Jewish people, to protect them from the ugliness and stresses of war. In fact, within the serene facade lay a real concentration camp, with nearly 60,000 Jews inhabiting an area designed for only 7,000. The close quarters, disease and lack of food were omnipresent.

    Notable Jewish musicians, artists and leaders were sent there, allegedly safer than elsewhere. Hitler did this as a way to stave off uprisings or objections around the so-called civilized world. His plan worked for a long time, resulting in nearly 200,000 men, women and children who passed through its gates as a way station to the east and probable death.

    Words, mine at least, lose their value in trying to explain the atrocities of Hitler's actions. Photographs of the Terezin grounds suggest a better depiction of what occurred here.

This was an isolation room where Terezin prisoners who spoke out, or were believed to, were kept for endless days. 

From 1940, Cell Block A in the Small Fortress was used by the Gestapo to house prisoners, including Allied POWs.

In 1991, the Ghetto Museum opened with help from former prisoners in the building of the former Terezin School. 

    With its two fortresses, numerous memorials, a Ghetto Museum and Jewish Cemetery, suffice to say, the image of the living memorial of Terezin doesn't leave a person, ever. The mood was somber when we rode out of Terezin, fittingly in a light rain, headed to our hotel in Roudnice.



Elliot's Day's Biking Total: 31 miles.

Day 9: A Chicken in Our Midst, 'Park Place' and Time to Czech Out 

(And I Don't Apologize for My Attitude About Altitude)

Day 9, From Bad Schandau across the Czech Border to Usti nad Labem


    If you'll recall yesterday, you saw a photograph (below right) of Charlotte Sutton and my wife, Kay, looking up

Charlotte and Kay look up yesterday.

at a vantage point high on a cliff en route to our night's destination in Bad Schandau. Would you like to know what they were looking at? Unfortunately, I found out on a bus ride up to those cliffs this morning. Our Road Scholar adventurers took a field trip up to the Basteibrucke (a bastion cliff formation), which affords spectacular views of the surrounding countryside and the Elbe River below. Umm, "spectacular" is in the eye of the beholder, of course. The only thing spectacular to me about being up on those cliffs is how far down you could fall if you happened to slip. Am I a chicken? Yeah, I guess so.

Group Leader Dirk Broeren (left) is so unaffected by heights he leans back with hands on the railings. To the far right, Dick Morasch aims his camera at the gorgeous Elbe River below. The photo below is what Dick captured.

    Not long after returning from the Basteibrucke cliffs to our hotel, we loaded up for the exciting day

Bettina Caffrey may have heard one of my jokes, but not the udder one.

ahead, an adventure complete with crossing the border from Germany into the Czech Republic, meeting three generations of Czech women at a resting spot, exchanging our Euros for the Czech currency, and bedding down for the night in another country.
  Dirk Broeren couldn't tell us for sure what our border crossing would be like. The border crossing for automobiles is on the other side of the river from the bike path. Dirk said he's encountered Czech border agents verifying the passports of cyclists; to that end, he'd made sure we were all carrying passports in our pockets or packs. So anticipating fanfare of some sort, we all were a bit disappointed when no Czech official was there to frisk us, or even greet us, as we left Germany.

I crossed from Germany into the Czech Republic with my wife, Kay, and Dirk Broeren. As you see, it was a snap.

    Few words were spoken about it at the time, but immediately upon crossing the Elbe River Bike Path from Germany into the Czech Republic, the difference in the level of maintenance from one country to

Three generations of a Czech family roller-bladed to our water break.

the next was evident. The difference between Germany's place as an economic super power and the more fiscally humble Czech Republic trickled all the way down to the bumps our seven-speed cruising bikes felt on the Czech Republic surfaces, be they bike paths or road. Houses weren't kept up with the same care, nor were yards as neatly kept and landscaped. It was an authentic eye-opener for us.

   That said, during a water break at a shelter house just off the bike path, a Czech woman, her daughter and granddaughter sat with us and we briefly exchanged pleasantries. Nearby the shelter house was another reminder of the fierce devastation of WWII on the natives of what was then Czechoslovakia. We saw a bomb shelter that had simply become part of the landscape. Farther down the river, another bomb shelter was the lounging place for three teenagers smoking cigarettes.

Bomb shelters along the Elbe River Bike Path have lived up to their intent, standing intact since WWII.

   Our first experience in a town in the Czech Republic was in Děčín, where we rode across a bridge over the Elbe River and went our various ways finding lunch. My wife, Kay, and I went to a local supermarket

Dirk, Logan,  Sue, Paul and Elliot eat lunch in a Decin park.

where Dirk Broeren had suggested we could find lunch meat, cheese and bread to make a sandwich and sit down in the town square to eat. We did that, and many of us also took the time to go to an ATM to secure enough korunas to last us through Prague.

   We rode the early part of the afternoon and we were all grateful to pull into our Děčín hotel. Kay and I took an evening walk with Elliot, Kate, Larry and Nancy, then it was lights out.



Elliot's Day's Biking Total: 33 miles.

Day 8: If You Like a Good Cliffhanger, You're in Luck ... and Why 'Bad' Can Be Good 

(And By the Way, Napoleon Bonaparte Slept Here)

Day 8, Dresden to the Spa Resort of Bad Schandau


   As the group assembled on the tiled drive outside the Hotel Elbflorenz in Dresden, there was

It's time to saddle up and bid Dresden a hearty goodbye.

excitement in the air. That's because we'd been hearing from Dirk Broeren, our Group Leader, and Carl Heinz Schneider, his wingman, for several days about that night's lodging. Every hotel we stayed at had its own signature; all comfortable and very clean, the beds a homey respite to lay our weary bodies after a day full of education, exercise and camaraderie.

    But as nice as the hotels had been, Dirk and Carl hinted that we were in for a special treat that night. So off we went, unaware at just how spectacular the ride would be, not so much for what we saw on the ground, but what we saw above it: the Alps ... or a version of them.  

    Along our route that morning, we noticed a bit more traffic on the Elbe River Bike Path. No surprise. It was Sunday and Dirk explained the Germans love to climb on their bikes on the weekends. So, too, they

Paul Walker "sweeps up" as the group rides south.

love to picnic, go boating, swimming and just relax, and there's no prettier place to do that than along the Elbe. Like many rivers, industrialization along riverbanks has caused pollution and endangered wildlife. Indeed, before industrialization, Atlantic salmon swam freely in the Elbe. But in the 1950s, toxins spewed from factories polluted the spawning grounds of the salmon and they soon disappeared from the river.

     Until German reunification in 1989, the river was a wasteland. But when the Wall fell and German reunification began, the cleanup began. In the late 1990s, the Czech Republic came on board and water has since been cleaned, fish ladders have been built and salmon again spawn in the Elbe and its tributaries. A few years later they swim to the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean to answer the mysterious call to end their life cycle in the spawning grounds where it began.

     We rode steadily toward our destination, stopping for lunch in the village of Pirna, which has a plaque

on a building (right) claiming Napoleon Bonaparte slept there. I decided that if I had a dollar, or rather a Euro, for every village that claimed it had housed Napoleon overnight, I'd soon be wealthy.

Food for thought: Dirk and Charlotte chat at lunch.

Regardless, in that village, we had a great lunch and then put the bikes in overdrive as we began to experience "Saxon Switzerland," where the scenery was dramatic. This area of rugged cliffs and bizarre sandstone rock formations extends along the Elbe River between Pirna, Germany and the city of Děčín in the Czech Republic. The stone formations are at least 100 million years old and the soft stone has been sculpted over time by water and wind into dramatic columns of stone. There was no worry about cycling up the mountains. Our route followed the flat bicycle path along the Elbe.

Charlotte Sutton (left) and Kay Lazar look to the cliff-side vantage point where they will stand the next morning. 

     As we neared our night's stop at the hotel Dirk and Carl raved about, we digested what we knew

Larry and Nancy Embree are a pair of well-red bicyclists.

about the Bad Schandau area. The most central holiday resort town in Saxon Switzerland, it has a Medieval center and small shops, along with spa, wellness and sports facilities. With a population of 2,927, the hamlet is on the right bank of the Elbe, at the mouth of the little vally of the Kirnitzsch. In German, "bad" means "bath," and people come from far and wide to enjoy the spa facilities. My wife, Kay, and I would later stroll its charming streets, then sit down in a little park and watch the locals before sitting down to a delicious dinner.

Glorious weather abounding, we hopped off our bikes and walked to our nearby hotel in the spa town of Bad Schandau.

The Park Hotel in Bad Schandau was all that Dirk Broeren and Carl Heinz Schneider said it would be ... elegant.

Carl Heinz Schneider speaks softly and carries a big fork, and spoon, and knife.

Nearly every German hotel steps up to the plate at breakfast. This is what awaited the Road Scholar adventurers after a good night's sleep at the Park Hotel in Bad Schandau: a selection of meats, cheeses and, top right, a type of trout.

Elliot's Day's Biking Total: 30 miles.

Day 7: Off the Bikes for One Day, Exploring "Florence on the Elbe," and Recharging the Batteries 

(And a Greatly Needed Chance to Wash Some Biking Clothes)

Day 7, A Full, Fascinating Day and Another Night in Dresden

The Road Scholar adventurers began the morning with an expert-led lecture in the Zwinger Palace courtyard.

   Amazing what a hot shower, a delicious dinner, a good night's sleep, a  yummy breakfast and, most of all, dry clothes will do. We awoke for a full day off the bikes to gray but dry skies (and least until the afternoon) in incomparable Dresden, known as "Florence on the Elbe." Dresden is capital of the state

Sue, Kate & Leah hear the Dresden story.

of Saxony. I say "incomparable" because the Dresden story is that of a city bombed and nearly demolished by British and American forces in WWII, only to rise, piece by piece, in the decades since. Restoration has helped to reconstruct parts of the historic inner city, including the Zwinger Palace, the Dresden Frauenkirche and the Semper Opera House, all of which we learned about during a walking exploration with a local expert.

    At the heart of the Dresden story is a bitter debate over justification of the bombing. A city of

The view of Dresden, "Florence on the Elbe," from atop the Frauenkirche.

culture and famous for its architecture, it wasn't an industrial center manufacturing war supplies or an important political center, like Berlin. So why in February 1945 did Allied forces try to destroy the city. And indeed, they nearly did: estimates of the dead at the time ranged from 25,000 to 500,000, although more recent estimates place the toll at 25,000 to 30,000. The baroque architectural masterpiece was turned into an inferno, the result of 3,400 tons of explosives dropped by 800 American and British aircraft. Both Allies and Germans have argued over the real purpose of the bombing. Defenders

Destroyed in 1945, the Semper Opera House reopened 40 years later.

 of the horrific assault say Dresden was a major communications center and bombing it hampered the Germans' ability to get messages to the army. The opposite viewpoint is that the attack was meant to punish the Germans and weaken their morale. It is a debate that is likely never to be resolved.


   With a sense of Dresden's history by late morning, we had the afternoon free to explore on our own. We all were excited, because this city teems with energy. Kay decided I need a good application of sun block before we hopped on a bus,

Kay is cheeky about SPF50.

then we were off on a 10-mile loop from the heart of the city into beautiful neighborhoods, finally completing the loop at the Innere Neustadt on the north bank of the Elbe River. After lunch, we walked across the Augustus Bridge (our group rode over it a day earlier) back to the south bank and the Old Town.

A window into Jay Schneider?

 Built between 1907 and 1910, the Augustus Bridge is the city's oldest and replaced a sandstone bridge built by Augustus II the Strong in 1731. This new bridge was built with nine arches in order to provide a wider opening for river traffic. Bustling with foot traffic, cyclists, cars and three tram lines, vantage points over the nine arches are ideal places to observe the beauty of the Old Town.
    
   An equally perfect vantage point to take in the panorama was our next stop, Brühl's 

Off the bike for a day, I climbed to the "Balcony of Europe."

 Terrace, set between the Elbe River and the Old Town. Nicknamed the "Balcony of Europe," it is a terraced promenade lined by some of Dresden's most beautiful historic buildings, including the Royal Art Academy and the Albertinum Museum. Brühl's Terrace was originally part of ramparts built to protect the city. In 1739, Count Henrich von Bruhl had the idea to make them into a terrace and work was completed in 1748. In 1814, a staircase was added so the terrace connects with the Schlossplatz, which is the city square of Old Town.

   As I mentioned in an earlier blog posting, we had been in Mother Nature's good graces for much of our

The foreboding gray skies finally let loose in early afternoon.

adventure. Yes, we got drenched coming into Dresden the previous day. But this morning had been rain-free even though the forecast called for an all-day soaking. So when the skies opened, no one was surprised. We took refuge in Dresden shops while working our way over to the signature landmark of Dresden, the Frauenkirche (the Church of Our Lady).

    The World War II air raids left this magnificent building in a 42-foot-high pile of rubble

Rubble for 40 years, the Frauenkirche finally was rebuilt by 2005.

that was left untouched for 40 years. In the 1980s, the ruins became a site of the East German peace movement and thousands gathered here to peacefully protest the regime of the East German goverment. The church was rebuilt after the reunification of Germany, with construction beginning in January 1993 using original plans from builder Georg Bahr in the 1720s. The reconstruction of the Fraunkirche's exterior was completed in 2004 and the interior in 2005. In the first three years, 7 million people visited the church as tourists and to attend worship services.Two devotional services are held daily and two liturgies every Sunday.

    Kay and I finally reached the church and scampered up the steps with others visiting the city, shaking off our umbrellas before filing into the church and finding seats in a pew. The interior is magnificent. In June

Finding a pew in the Frauenkirche is well worth the time.   

 2009, Pres. Barack Obamba took time after a nearby meeting with German Chancelor Angela Merkel to tour the church, lighting a candle and signing a book at a memorial to the firebombing. He stood before the church's old tower cross that was retrieved from the rubble of the church in 1993, 48 years after the building was destroyed. The rebuilt church has a new tower cross that was paid for by the people of Great Britain and crafted by the son of one of the British pilots who bombed the city. Obama was quoted during a press conference with Merkel that Dresden had overcome "great tragedies and is now this beautiful city of hope."


Elliot's Day's Biking Total: 0 miles.