It still kinda feels like a dream, but I really was in Leipzig over the weekend.  I’m enchanted by this city.  It didn’t feel like Germany to me, although it is a German city, albeit a German city that still has many remnants of the former East German state.  The famous German writer Goethe lived and studied there and I found a quote where he compares the city to Paris, and I can understand this comparison after being there.  The scale of many of the buildings was so impressive, especially the train station.  It was so beautiful and how I wish I had remembered to bring my camera.  There was this Prussian waiting room outside of the tracks and it was definitely like being in a different century.  The wooden high-backed benches and the stained-glass ceiling dome gave the room a special ambiance and transported me to the era when Germany first became a republic.  It was a bit errie to be there though as practically no trains were coming in or out of the station because of a state-wide strike (I rode up in a car, but was let off there).  All these impressive structures convey this message, that Leipzig was an important city and held so much history.

Part of that history was recorded in the Stasi Musuem.  Stasi is an abbreviation for “STAatsSIcherheit Polizei” and was the East German secret police.  It was incredible to think that people lived in a city where they had to fear that their neighbors or whomever were watching them and recording any behavior or comments that were against the state.  We went to a couple notable churches in the city.  The first one, St. Nicolas, was known for its peaceful Monday demonstrations that eventually led to the breakdown of the communist control.  The other church, St. Thomas, is famous for its Thomaner boys choir and its former director, J.S. Bach.  We went to a concert on Saturday afternoon there and it was a great place for a concert and the place was packed.

The weekend was also filled with Ultimate Frisbee as Lori’s favorite team, Mother Tongue, was playing in a tournament there.  I cheered them on and had dinner with the team Saturday night.

Sunday was nice and we went to Doro’s church and had “Pfannkuchen” which in southern Germany is more like a crep, but in Saxony it’s a “Berliner” or to us Americans, a jelly doughnut.  The topic of dialects in Germany never ceases to amuse me, and Doro finds it fascinating as well.  We watched the last of the tournament and sadly had to pack my bags and say goodbye on Sunday afternoon.  I’ve plans to go back in February and am looking forward to it already, although that’s 3 months away.  There’s just much more to experience in this great German city!