This is our last day in Germany, after an incredible afternoon and evening in Dresden. More on that to follow. I ran today from Auer into Dresden in memory of my parents, and dedicated to my homeland Germany and as ever to the cause.

Today's run was great, even with another road diversion which added more than a mile to my run. The route was hilly, with a mix of deep green forest, open fields and picturesque cozy villages. The sun is out again and we are loving it. At the exchange point where I started my run we engaged several cyclists and a rough crew of men in a local restaurant. They took extra stickers to circulate amongst their friends and one of the women cyclists pretty much begged me for a BPR shirt. We found an extra that had been worn, but that made no difference to her. She rode off with a big smile. This area of Germany fields a lot of cyclists, all shapes, sizes and fitness levels. They were entertainment for me the entire way into Dresden.

Dresden is a cultural gem known as the "Florence of the North." As I understand it, it was firestormed by the U.S. and British after World War II was over. The Queen was so apologetic that the British Dresden Fund was set up to help rebuild the city. There has been criticism over this. More than 40,000 Germans died before Dresden was bombed and other valuable city and town lands were wasted by bombings and received no such assistance. Much of the old Dresden has been preserved in the Alt Staat and it thrives on tourism. I was completely taken aback by the beauty of the architecture and stood awestruck amidst the cathedrals and museums, photographing every detail I could.

We ended our day in Naundorf and passed off to the Orange team. The exchange point was at a sports stadium where an outdoor track meet was underway. Simon, Fabio and I went up to talk with the announcer. They embraced what we were doing, announced the run, and incoming runner Jason and outgoing runner Sunila joined the competing kids for a send off from the track.
We are on our way to Prague, saying goodbye to wonderful Deutschland.