This is an account of the trip my wife Geraldine and I made to Dresden in our 2003 4/4 two-seater. It may seem a long way to go, but in addition to all the obvious reasons I was keen to get some good mileage done and so run in our almost new Morgan quickly.

Leicestershire to Dresden and back is about 1800 miles, and Mog behaved perfectly, never giving us a moment of disquiet. One has to get used to the way continental Europeans drive on their motorways: the French are impatient (they show they want to get past by driving one car length behind you) and the Germans drive at a rather frightening speed, but you eventually get used to it. You also find out that it is possible to drive into a huge Belgian motorway service station, with a dozen pumps, and the only fuel they have not run out of is diesel. Perhaps this is because their petrol is a bit cheaper than it was in Germany. And another warning to Morganeers: most German towns seem to regard their cobblestones as an ideal road surface! Have a close look at the next picture - of a fine Saxon house and a fine Saxon road.

For both ferry crossings normal caution made sure we arrived with time to spare, and we got put on earlier crossings as a result, so we did very little waiting.

The first night in Calais gave us our first taste of a French meal and then day two was Calais to Koln (Cologne). Finding the Ibis hotel in the centre of Koln was a challenge, and I ended up getting directions from a taxi driver (in French - I think he was from Algeria or Tunisia - since his English and my German were equally bad). After a late lunch we walked to the cathedral (the largest one I've ever been in) and explored the riverside, and had a typical German meal (sausage and sauerkraut).

Day three was a longer drive, all the way to Dresden, and we were on the road till 4:30. The Germans drive as fast as they like on some motorways, and you have to use your mirrors carefully: you think it's safe to pull out to pass a lorry, but in a trice there is a car, headlights blazing (they keep them on all the time, even in bright sunshine) that in a few seconds has arrived from nowhere.

Our host Jim (Geraldine's cousin) and his German wife Sylvia have a lovely new house on the outskirts of Dresden (Radebeul) and we were given wonderfully generous hospitality, with lifts to local places most days.

The only trip Mog did once we got to Dresden was to nearby Moritzburg, where there is a gorgeous castle (more like a palace), and I wanted some pictures with Mog in the foreground. Otherwise it was Jim's car that took us to explore Dresden, Pillnitz, and Torgau. Torgau is on the Elbe, north of Dresden and there is a memorial there marking the point where American and Russian forces met towards the end of the Second World War. But the point of going to Torgau was a wonderful exhibition of the Reformation in Europe, and we saw Luther's 95 theses and the papal bull excommunicating him, and many other original documents and artifacts of the time.

On Saturday, being given a lift to the centre of Dresden at 6:00 a.m. we caught the bus (the Bohemia Express no less) to Prague, a three hours' journey each way. Prague was very crowded with tourists (much more so than Dresden) and was full of narrow alleys, large churches, and the palace/castle. We crossed over the magnificent Charles Bridge and explored by foot till our 6:15 departure. A very full day.

Dresden is still rebuilding some of its major buildings damaged in the February 1945 bombing, though most of them have been restored by now. Then in 2002 it suffered further damage through the Elbe flooding, and so there is reconstruction work from this still going on. We decided on our last day there to take the tram to the centre, and visit as many museums and galleries as we could. We did five: the porcelain museum, a scientific museum, the armoury, the main painting gallery, and a folk art museum. And we have still only seen about half of what Dresden has to offer.

Then on Wednesday, after a week of Jim and Sylvia's wonderful hospitality, meeting Sylvia's parents too, we began the return journey. Our destination was Koblenz, so as to vary the route, and we spent an afternoon exploring this unspoilt Rhine city, built on the confluence of the Moselle with the Rhine.

Thursday gave us a morning's exploration, this time of the monastery at Maria Laach, which was a truly memorable time. The main building is a magnificent Romanesque church, and we took some pictures of the outside, internal photography being forbidden. Then on to Calais.

It was a fitting end to our road trip that in the car park on our last evening abroad we were joined by four TR3s (late 1950s originals) and a Morgan Aero 8.

Friday saw us sail on to the ferry with hardly a pause, and so safely to Rachel and Paul's (daughter and son-in-law) house at Brentwood for lunch and an overnight stop. Then after lunch on Saturday home, to a lawn that needs mowing, and back to our usual routine.

Most memorable and enjoyable, and now we are planning 2005, which looks like being a trip through France to the Bordeaux region. I wonder what the wine will be like.

John Everett
(July 2004)