One of the things I really enjoy doing in Dresden is going running in the Großer Garten. This park is located just a few blocks away from my dormitory. It's about 2 sq km (500 acres) big. I like it because it has lots of trees, trails (both dirt and paved), and interesting features. The park's features include a small palace in the center of the park, at least one flower garden, a mini-railway that winds through the park, a zoo, several lakes, some streams with small bridges crossing them, some open fields and soccer pitches, and sculptures scattered throughout the park. I still haven't explored all of it. I like to run around the park without a predetermined path, going a slightly different way each time. I often see mallards and very interesting-looking Mandarin ducks near the streams and lakes. Now that it is fall the ducks are well-camouflaged. The color of the bright yellow leaves that have fallen to the ground is striking against the dark dirt paths. I occasionally see other runners in the park, but mostly I see walkers. Many of the walkers are older couples.
When I go running I don't take my camera with me, but below I've included a few photos from one time just over a month ago when I walked through the park with my classmates. Most of the photos are from around the park palace. I want to return to the park with my camera sometime to take a photo of a statue that startled me the first time I ran through the park. I believe it is of a woman with a child and a lioness with her cub that have scared each other and look absolutely horrified. I stumbled across it as it was getting dark one evening and just about jumped out of my skin.
