Leipzig surprises

---

We have chosen to stay in Leipzig for two nights just to give ourselves a break from one night stands. Our guidebook mentions a few places of interest in the old town and so this morning we set off to see what the city offers, using the tram that stops just across the road from our hotel. The tram was quiet at first with just a few people of mature age on board. We are also of mature age, but our ‘touring uniform’ of long shorts and walking shoes clearly mark us out as different. By the time we arrived at our destination, the Hauptbahnhof, there were many different people on board and we had faded into the background.
Leipzig’s Hauptbahnhof is the biggest train station in Europe, so we checked it out as the first of our sights for the day. It is massive, with high roofs, huge archways and three floors with shops. Oh, and there are platforms too, with a range of trains waiting to depart! We saw the fast ICE trains which are like the TGV ones in France, as well as very sleek looking regional trains. The ban on smoking in the station seems to be the main reason the whole place is clean, tidy and fresh. It’s a credit to those who take care of it.
Out in the streets of the old town we loved seeing the beautiful old buildings, which have been used to house services, stylish shops and restaurants. The old town is quite compact and easy to see on foot. Each corner we came to seemed to open another set of lovely views and lots of music from string groups, lone accordion players and an opera singer, which turned out to be a recording.
We visited two very old churches, both Lutheran and each special in its own way. The Thomaskirche with its great organ is where Johanne Sebastian Bach was the choirmaster and where he is buried. A short distance away is the Nikolaikirche with its pastel and white highly decorated neoclassical interior.
All in all this was a very satisfying wander around part of the city, but with rain threatening we headed back to the Hauptbahnhof and caught our tram out to the suburbs. A quiet evening is in store as we prepare to leave tomorrow for Kassel.

---