Paris (France) – Dresden (Germany), 1st of May 2018 Daily number of km by train: 1165km Total number of km by train: 1165km Travel time: 8h30
The train ICE from Gare de l’Est in Paris
Georges in the ICE 🙂
Arrival in Dresden
Musaik
I stopped in Dresden for my first day to visit Musaik, a one-year-old program dedicated to teach music to kids from a disadvantaged area in Dresden (the contact was established by El Sistema France, that I thank you).
Deborah teaching the cello in Musaik
Launched by Luise and Deborah, two young musicians (violinist and cellist) and also teachers who discovered El Sistema during a year in a similar program in Peru, Musaik teaches music to 25 kids from a popular area in Dresden.
The two lessons of one hour and a half (first for violin and then cello) are made with lot of happiness, fun, games and energy.
The particularity of Musaik is that the classroom is in the middle of a mall, which means everyone who is shopping can see the kids.
You can watch the video about the program here.
Dresden
After those lessons, I had a small walk in Dresden. The city is really charming. Completely rebuilt after World War 2, it seems to be as it was before the war. My stay was too short to visit the incredible number of museums, but if you want to go there for a weekend, I definitely recommend the city (and for those coming from Paris, you can take a plane :-)).
Dresden Frauenkirche
The Fürstenzug—the Saxon sovereigns depicted in Meissen porcelain
At 19:00 I went to the Semperoper (the opera house of Dresden) to assist to “La Forza Del Destino” from Verdi. The place, rebuilt in 1985, is exactly as it was before World War 2.
The Semperoper
Georges at the Semperoper
Particularity of the Semperoper, during the entr’acte you can drink the Radeberger beer (in a glass that looks like a glass of champagne!). Indeed, the Semperoper is the symbol for the Radeberger beer.
Georges drinking Radeberger beer