We stayed in Leipzig today and since the weather was so nice in the morning, we decided to walk to the sights on my list that were farther out from the city and then take public transportation back.
First stop was the Löffelfamilie about 30 minutes away. A famous neon sign that's been around since 1973. It's actually an official monument, declared as so in 1993. Frankly, it did nothing for us. It's like seeing the Vegas strip during the day; it really should be seen at night when it's lit and moving.
Next was the GARGANTUAN Völkerschlachtdenkmal (Monument to the Battle of the Nations) which was a little less than an hour away. It was a nice walk, and the monument was so big you could see it from kilometers away!
Next to the sight was the South Cemetery which we visited for a while. Some people might find this ghoulish, but cemeteries in Europe are like gardens.
It was about 11:45 by the time we got back to the center, and we stopped for drinks with a view of the Old Town Hall (Radler for me!)
And then dessert somewhere else again. This was as close as I could get to an affogato! LOL I ate the ice cream out from under the whipped cream, it was yummy... but messy!
That was a lot of sitting and eating and drinking, so we decided on a walk though a park near by to help us digest it all!
It helped. And here are some other random sights we saw along the way
I wonder what this looked like when it was first carved!
While walking around, we noticed that there were lots and LOTS of police around, the more we looked the more the saw, and we even spotted sharp shooters on rooftops! What the Hell was going on!??!!?
I asked Google, and it turns out October 9 was the 35th anniversary of The Peaceful Protest in Leipzig that helped lead to the eventual fall of East Germany. I was both moved by the idea of it all, and REALLY uncomfortable being in a crowded pedestrian street in this day and age when events like this just bring out the crazies. Sharp shooters for crying out loud!!! There were commemorative events planned all over town, a light show, and a reenactment of the protest route from 7PM to midnight.
We stopped for another drink (this was a high-calorie day!) Time for a Lillet Wild Berry Spritz!
For supper, we broke the no resto repeat rule and went back to the Augustiner so I could have käsespätzle. You'll notice the police van in the shot, there were at least 5 of them just in that square.
After supper, as if we didn't eat and drink enough today, we stopped for dessert at Riquet - the café where we had our first drink. I had a Grand Marnier to help push down the meal!
As we left, we caught one of the light shows. It was very moving... and kind of sad too because things feel like they are swinging backwards now-a days.
We got back to the room by 7ish or so, down with the sun as usual. Time to pack our bags for our last city move tomorrow morning.
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