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Dresden (meaning people of the riverside forest, Upper Sorbian: Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German Federal Free State of Saxony.
Dresden has a long history as the capital and royal residence for the Electors and Kings of Saxony, who for centuries furnished the city with cultural and artistic splendour.
The city was totally destroyed by the controversial Allied aerial bombing at the very end of World War II.
The impact of the bombing, 40 years in the German Democratic Republic and contemporary city development have all completely changed the face of the city.
Considerable restoration work has helped restore selective perspectives of Dresden. Since German reunification in 1990, Dresden has re-emerged as a cultural, political and economic centre in the eastern part of Germany.
Dresden lies on both banks of the river Elbe, mostly in the Dresden Elbe Valley Basin, with the further reaches of the eastern Ore Mountains to the south, the steep slope of the Lusatian granitic crust to the north, and the Elbe Sandstone Mountains to the east at an altitude of about 113 meters.
The highest point of Dresden is about 384 meters in altitude. With a pleasant location and a mild climate on the Elbe, as well as Baroque-style architecture and numerous world-renowned museums and art collections, Dresden has been called "Elbflorenz" (Florence of the Elbe). T
he incorporation of neighboring rural communities over the past 60 years has made Dresden the fourth largest urban district by area in Germany after Berlin, Hamburg, and Cologne.
The nearest German cities are Chemnitz (80 km/50 miles to the southwest), Leipzig (100 km/ 62 miles to the northwest) and Berlin (200 km/ 124 miles to the north). The Czech capital Prague is about 150 km/ 93 miles to the south; the Polish city of Wrocław is about 200 km/ 124 miles to the east.
Nature
Dresden claims to be one of the greenest cities in Europe, with 63% of the city being green areas and forests. The Dresdner Heide to the north is a forest 50 km² in size. There are four nature reserves. The additional Special Conservation Areas cover 18 km². The protected gardens, parkways, parks and old graveyards host 110 natural monuments in the city.
The Dresden Elbe Valley is a world heritage site which is focused on the conservation of the cultural landscape in Dresden. One important part of that landscape is the Elbe meadows which cross the city, 20 kilometers long.
Climate
Dresden has a cold-moderate to continental climate. The microclimate in the Elbe valley differs from that on the slopes and in the higher areas. Klotzsche, at 227 meters above sea level, hosts the Dresden weather station.
The weather in Klotzsche is 1-3°C colder than in the inner city. In summer, temperatures in the city often remain at 20°C even at midnight.
The average temperature in January is −0.7°C and in July 18.1°C.
Summers are hotter in Dresden and winters are colder than the German average. The inner city temperature is 10.2°C averaged over the year. The driest months are February and March, with precipitation of 40 mm. The wettest months are July and August, with 61 mm per month.
Royalty
The royal buildings are among the most impressive buildings in Dresden. The Dresden Castle was once the home of the princely and royal household since 1485. The wings of the building have been renewed, built upon and restored many times.
Due to this integration of styles, the castle is made up of elements of the Renaissance, Baroque and Classicist styles.
The Zwinger Palace is across the road from the castle. It was built on the old stronghold of the city and was converted to a center for the royal art collections and a place to hold festivals. Its gate (surmounted by a golden crown) by the moat is famous.
Sport
Dresden is home to Dynamo Dresden which had a tradition in club competitions up to the early 1990s. Dynamo Dresden won eight titles in the DDR-Oberliga.
In the early 20th century, the city was represented by Dresdner SC, who were one of Germany's most successful clubs in football. Their best days coming during World War II, when they were twice German Champions, and twice Cup winners.
Dresdner SC is a multisport club. While its football team plays in the sixth-tier Landesliga Sachsen, its volleyball section has a team in the women's Bundesliga.
Dresden has a third football team SC Borea Dresden. ESC Dresdner Eislöwen is an Ice hockey club which is playing in the 2nd Bundesliga again. Dresden Monarchs are an American football team in the German Football League.
Major sport facilities in Dresden are the Rudolf-Harbig-Stadion, the Heinz-Steyer-Stadion and the Freiberger Arena.
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Milano, Italia
...is the largest city of Italy. It is the capital in the Province of Milan, as well as the regional capital of Lombardy.
The municipality (Comune di Milano) has a population of 1.3 million, while its urban area is about 4.5 million. The Milan metropolitan area is the largest in Italy, with a population of 7.4 million.
Milan is known as one of the world’s capitals of design and fashion. The English word millinery is derived from the name of the city. The Lombard metropolis is famous for its fashion houses and shops (such as those along via Montenapoleone) and the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele in the Piazza Duomo (the large shopping mall).
The city and will host the Universal Expo in 2015. People from Milan are known as "Milanese".
Climate
Milan's winters are typically damp and cold, while summers are often quite warm and humid.
Average temperatures are -4/+6°C in January and +15/+28°C in July.
Snowfalls are relatively common in winter, even if in the last 15-20 years they have decreased in frequency and amount.
Humidity is quite high during the whole year and yearly rain averages about 1000 mm (40 in).
There used to be fog in the city, although the removal of rice fields from the southern neighbourhoods, urban heating effect and the reduction of pollution levels have reduced this phenomenon in recent years, at least in the downtown.
Things to see!
There are few remains of the ancient Roman colony which later became a capital of the Western Roman Empire. During the second half of the 4th century BC, Saint Ambrose was bishop of Milan.
He had a strong influence on the layout of the city, redesigning the centre (even if the cathedral and baptistery built by Ambrose are now lost) and building the great basilicas at the city gates: Saint Ambros, Saint Nazarus, Saint Simplician and Saint Eustorgius, which still stand, refurbished over the centuries, as some of the finest and most important churches in Milan.
The biggest and greatest example of Gothic architecture in Italy, the Milan Cathedral, is the third largest cathedral in the world after St. Peter's Basilica in Rome and the Cathedral of Seville.
Built between 1386 and 1577, it hosts the world's largest collection of marble statues with the widely visible golden Madonna statue on top of the spire, nicknamed by the people of Milan as Madunina (the little Madonna), that became one of the symbols of the city.
Language
In addition to Italian, approximately a third of the population of western Lombardy can speak the Western Lombard language, also known as Insubric.
In Milan, some natives of the city can speak the traditional Milanese language—that is to say the urban variety of Western Lombard, which is not to be confused with the Milanese-influenced regional variety of the Italian language.
Religion
Milan's population, like that of Italy as a whole, is overwhelmingly Catholic. It is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milan. Other religions practised include: Orthodox Churches, Buddhism, Judaism, Islam and Protestantism.
Milan has its own historic Catholic rite known as the Ambrosian Rite (Italian: Rito ambrosiano). It varies slightly from the typical Catholic rite (the Roman, used in all other western regions), with some differences in the liturgy and mass celebrations, and in the calendar.
The Ambrosian rite is also practised in other surrounding locations in Lombardy and in the Swiss cantonof Ticino.
Fooooood!
Like most cities in Italy, Milan and its surrounding area has its own regional cuisine, which, as it is typical for Lombard cuisines, uses more frequently rice than pasta, and features almost no tomato.
Milanese cuisine includes "cotoletta alla milanese", a breaded veal (pork and turkey can be used) cutlet pan-fried in butter (which some claim to be of Austrian origin, as it is similar to Viennese "Wienerschnitzel", while others claim that the "Wienerschnitzel" derived from the "cotoletta alla milanese").
Other typical dishes are cassoeula (stewed pork rib chops and sausage with Savoy cabbage), ossobuco (stewed veal shank with a sauce called gremolata), risotto alla milanese (with saffron and beef marrow), busecca (stewed tripe with beans), and brasato (stewed beef or pork with wine and potatoes).
Transport
After Bologna, Milan is the second railway hub of Italy, and the five major stations of Milan, amongst which the Milan Central station, are among Italy's busiest. The first railroad built in Milan, the Milan and Monza Rail Road was opened for service on August 17, 1840.
High speed train lines are under construction all across Italy, and new lines will open from Milan to Rome and Naples in one direction, and to Turin in another.
The Azienda Trasporti Milanesi (ATM) operates within the metropolitan area, managing a public transport network consisting of three metropolitan railway lines and 120 tram, trolley-bus and bus lines.
The ATM tramway fleet includes several Peter Witt cars, originally built in 1928 and still working. Overall the network covers nearly 1,400 km reaching 86 municipalities.
Besides public transport, ATM manages the interchange parking lots and the on-street parking spaces in the historical centre and in the commercial zones using the Sosta Milano parking card system.
Milan has three subway lines in a system called Milan Metro, with a network size of more than 80 km. It is comprised of three lines; the red line which runs Northeast and West, the green line, running Northeast and Southwest and the yellow line running North and South.
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City - Dresden
Country - Germany
