Arriving in Dresden for the first time and staying at the Westin hotel on the banks of the River Elbe was an ideal place to start. Looking across to the old town, a glass of chilled wine in hand whilst enjoying the peachy sunset, set the scene. The Germans have made an art of gemuetlichkeit and I easily blended in to the bar terrace, where small groups of friends had gathered to relax, chat and simply make the most of a beautiful warm evening.
A morning walking tour of Dresden was a fascinating insight to the city, where the influence of Augustus the Strong is still keenly felt today. The Baroque architecture is so impressive. From the Zwinger - built in 1710 for celebrating a wedding, to the Palace Museum, and incredible Frauenkirche, to name just three buildings. There truly is such a wealth of interesting places to explore, including the Transport Museum housed in a former Royal stables built in the 16th Century to accommodate 100 horses. Here I saw an apt quote on the wall: "Nur wo du zu Fuss warst, bist du auch wirklich gewesen" which roughly translated means that only when you walk do you really see... How true, remembering to keep looking up at the architecture everywhere offers so many riches.
A visit to the Volkswagen Transparent Factory was a high-tech experience of Germany's largest car manufacturer. (10.2m cars were produced in 2016). With a focus on producing electric cars, the market is expected to be 25% electric by 2020.
After an overnight stay at the excellent Taschenberg Palais Kempinski hotel and a delightful breakfast sitting outside in the hotel's courtyard, site visits to the Conference Center at Messe Dresden and Ostrapark followed. Both offering extensive meeting space. With the Radebeul wine region of Saxony only a 30 minute drive out of Dresden, we then had the highlight of visiting the Schloss Wackerbarth Winery. Very small in output terms (600,000 bottles per year which equates to 0.4% of German wine production) this beautiful location would be ideal for a special occasion.
Next stop was to Dresden's Neustadt railway station to take the high speed train service to Leipzig, Germany's largest train station and fastest growing city. With a journey time of under an hour, this was a swift and comfortable way to connect the two locations. Dinner at the five-star boutique Hotel Furstenhof was a charming finish to the day.
An overnight stay at the Westin Leipzig and we were on our way for a morning city tour by foot, taking in the Kongresshalle am Zoo - unique event space adjacent to Leipzig Zoo. After lunch at the Radisson Blu hotel, next stop was the Leipzig Porsche Plant where 650 cars a day are produced. With the tag line 'more emotions per hour' touring the manufacturing site and being professionally driven at break neck speed in a Panamera certainly lived up to that description. The customer center was designed in the shape of a diamond:
A wonderful evening concert 'Classic Airleben' was the perfect end to the day, relaxing in the open air setting listening to world class music performed by the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra in the Rosenthal Park, with a picnic.
An overnight stay at the Westin Leipzig gave us the chance to have a final morning in Leipzig, experiencing the city from a different angle on a boat tour. Packed with so much to see and do, both Dresden and Leipzig offered so much more than I had anticipated and both deserve a longer visit to explore more deeply. Work aside, as a fan of the fabulous traditional German Christmas markets I think December would be a magical time for a return trip and the chance to soak up a festive style of 'gemuetlichkeit'. Just imagine some light snow, a concert of seasonal music, mulled wine, the delicious coffee and cake combinations the Germans do so well and some tempting gift shopping...A perfect Winter long weekend to look forward to.
My grateful thanks to the German Convention Bureau for hosting the itinerary, which included other notable features from travelling by Trabi Safari to the Deutsches Hygiene-Museum Conference Center; site inspections at the Hotel Pullman Dresden Newa, Impact Hub Dresden - a start-up and meeting space, Maritim Hotel and International Congress Center Dresden. No wonder we clocked up record numbers of steps taken and worth every one. Providing such a helpful resource for event planners organising any type of conference / congress / event in Germany, the GCB really streamlines the process and is a pleasure to work with. I highly recommend both the CGB and choosing destinations in Germany, especially Dresden and Leipzig which both offer exceptional value for money compared to other European cultural hot spots.
