IFFR Germany & Austria started off the 2024 European season of international section weekends with a superb meeting in Dresden, in the East of Germany. After a thoroughly mixed weather for flying this Spring, on the second weekend in June we were blessed with fine VFR flying conditions all across Europe for the entire weekend.
Members from the UK took various routes to get there. Rosi and Tony Flinn, flying G-BOMP decided to have a break half-way and stayed at Luxembourg on the Thursday evening: 4 hours to Luxembourg from Sandtoft, then the following day, 3 hours to Dresden in excellent conditions with a nice tail wind. Caroline and I, accompanied by Mike and Margaret Cromati in G-IFFR flew to Muenster-Osnabruck, staying in a wonderful traditional Gasthof right behind the airport, before a 2 hour 30 flight to Dresden on the Friday morning.
Joined on arrival at Dresden airport by members from Germany, Switzerland and the Benelux sections, we had a welcome buffet lunch at the airport. We were then bussed into town, to our hotel located overlooking the central square. In the late afternoon, we were divided into groups for a walking tour around the beautiful Altstadt (Old Town), learning much about its both its older history and its more recent past. It was a pleasure to see how beautifully the city centre is being rebuilt and restored to its former glories. In the evening, we got back together for dinner the Alte Meister (Old Master) restaurant.
On Saturday we enjoyed a cruise (Schifffahrt von Dresden zum Schloss Pillnitz) to Pillnitz Castle on a wonderful old steam powered paddle boat. On arrival at the castle, we enjoyed a tour of the castle grounds and gardens including the mobile greenhouse used in Winter to protect the massive 250 year old Camellia tree! Then it was time for lunch overlooking the river.
Suitably refreshed, we took the paddle boat back down the river to Dresden – moving rather faster with the current than we had come up it in the morning, fighting against the strong current resulting from all the recent rains.
There was time to explore the old town further, or to do a little shopping, before the Saturday night gala dinner. Another culinary feast – this time in the Steigenberger Hotel’s Restaurant de Saxe.
All too soon it was Sunday morning and time to head back to the airport. Having enjoyed tailwinds all the way to Dresden, of course we had 20 – 25kt headwinds all the way home. Tony and ourselves had a quick bite of lunch at our lunchtime stop at Muenchengladbach, getting back to the UK shortly before the next Atlantic frontal system moved in.
Another fantastic weekend, and our thanks go to the organisers, Fritz Breitenthaler and Ingo Neufert.
And thanks to Ingo Neufert and Tony de Bruyn for additional photos