We spent two nights in Dresden and once again our diverse aims shaped our single complete day. As far as Linda was concerned, the main question was not which parts of Dresden to visit but how to watch the Cats’ second final as we wandered around. Davey was fixated on locating the perfect bike shop and, although his team was playing Linda’s, he viewed the game as a side issue. Meanwhile, I was on the lookout for the Jane Austen book bags that I had seen in Hugendubel in Frankfurt. They featured a print of Austen’s portrait and a quotation by her translated into German. What could be a better gift from one English (or German) teacher to another? Dwayne’s sole aim was to buy a set of nail clippers. He is, after all, an unassuming man with modest requirements – apart from his boat.
It was scarcely to be believed that only a week had passed since the Cats’ losing finals match to the Tigers, which had filled Linda with such woe in Wittenberg. I assumed that she would hunker down in our hotel to watch the match against the Swans, but she decided to watch it instead as we walked around Dresden, her eyes fixed on the tiny screen of Dwayne’s iPhone and her arm linked through mine. My role was to ensure that she didn’t trip over the uneven pavements or cobblestones, run into other pedestrians or get rammed by bikes or trams. At the same time, I had to keep my eye out for promising shops and tourist options and do my best to react sympathetically or encouragingly to her cries of distress and delight.
As it turned out, her reactions were pure and simple delight. By half-time, the Cats were up by 36 points and Linda could breathe calmly for a whole half hour. We spent that blessed period having coffee in the Kunsthofpassage, a lovely set of courtyards with funky architecture and shops brimming with artistic and hippie objects. I found two little pencil cases made out of treated paper, with the word “Schreibkram” (writing stuff) on them. Davey bought a tee-shirt with a bike print on the chest and Dwayne, who had succeeded in finding a set of Zwilling nail clippers, began to try them out, admiring the German workmanship and very nearly sending his clippings into our coffee cups. In the course of Dwayne’s purchase, I learned the German word for “clip off” (abknipsen) and felt unreasonably pleased with myself. Yet another vital gap in my knowledge of German has now been neatly plugged.
 |
 |
 |
| Out and about… | …in the… | Kunstofpassage |
Although the Cats were so clearly on top, Linda was still in a state of tingling nervous tension. “Imagine being 36 points up and losing from there,” she said. “That would be devastating.” With these words she confirmed her status as a crazed fan.
Fortunately for her (and for all of us except David), her team kicked away in the third quarter and gained an unassailable lead by the fourth. At that stage, we were catching a tram into the Old City (Altstadt) to eat at the market and visit the City Museum (Stadtmuseum). There we looked at photos of Dresden in various stages of its history, including under Nazi and Soviet control.
Most importantly, we saw the horrifying pictures of the city after the blanket bombardment by the Allies in February 1945. There were also pictures of several other bombed cities, since the museum curators clearly wanted to demonstrate that Dresden was not the only city to suffer during World War II. In short, the photos formed a gallery displaying man’s inhumanity to man, which seems to know no bounds, as my mother used to say.
In the end, we all had our needs met, even Davey, who, despite bemoaning his team’s loss, was pleased to find a Garmin heart rate monitor in a bike shop. I also found four more Jane Austen bags in the relatively small Hugendubel in the Altstadt Galerie. Dwayne’s nails, by the way, are now as trim as Davey’s beard.
So we are ready for Barcelona and the imminent arrival of Linda’s daughters, our old travelling companions from 2011. They will have different needs from ours and their youthful presence will add a fresh perspective, new energy and extra sparkle to our little band of fellow travellers.
Final Notes
Hotel: We cordially disliked the Park Inn Hotel. The welcome was chilly and the wifi weak and ponderous. The place simply had nothing to recommend it.