Globana Airport Hotel Leipzig

... tonight in the outskirts of Leipzig. we have found that Starbucks do free 1 hour internet, so that has been our net places. After a relax and recouperation we head off to the Reichstag, time is going by and we really should be on the road but the Reichstag is meant to be good. So we get there and queue up..the wait is 45mins and it's around 7pm by the time we get the audio tour and walk up the Dome and work our way back down. It very interesting and there is an ...

... were pretty and the rope climbing frame near the monkeys was a hit too.

Unfortunately, there was a long drive ahead, as we had planned to get to the Netherlands, so we had to cut the visit a little short. In the end we set off around 1.15pm and drove solidly for about seven hours, plus an hour's break. Once again the Michelin guide had underestimated the journey. It had suggested a five hour trip (yeah, right! Me and my helicopter!)

... which was part church service and part concert. The first piece was played on the large organ at the back of the church, then the choir performed a number of pieces by Byrd, Bach, Buxtehude, and Monteverdi. Some were accompanied by a small organ, other by string players. It was beautiful singing, made more so by the environment.

Leaving the church, we walked back through Mitte looking for somewhere to eat, but also enjoying the stalls and ...

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We caught the tram into town and visited the tourist bureau. Unfortunately it appears that there is not much on at the moment - the festival season starts the day after we leave!

We explored the huge Hauptbahnhof (railway station) which includes a 3-level shopping centre. We had an enjoyable lunch at Pic Cin cafe (spelt that way!) - ham cheese and mushroom crepes for J & A.

We looked at Nikolaikirche and Thomaskirche, both ...

... in our jumpers, and it didn't help that there was no response to the buzzer to call the office. We tried ringing them but no answer there either. After about half an hour, Helen tried buzzing one of the other apartments and someone answered and let us in. It turned out that the owner/caretaker/whatever had damaged his foot and tings were a bit chaotic while he limped around in the four-storey building. He was very friendly though, a spoke good English.

After ...

The Start of our Travel was the regular Train-Journey from Zittau to Leipzig. A not very spectacular drive, which we do almost every week. We wanted to use the time to improve our spanish skills but ended up talking to some carneval-junkies, boarding the train some 15 minutes after us...

... Zwar wird uns Eintritt in eine Lounge gewaehrt - aber ich brauche wohl niemanden erzaehlen, wie belastend eine solche Warterei ist. Und noch etwas: es wurde noch ein Zwischenstop eingeplant - in Karachi (Pakistan). Montag ca. 23:00 Pakistaner Ortszeit - wir werden mit einem groesseren Mitarbeiteraufgebot durch den Flughafen von Karachi geleitet. eine knappe Stunde spaeter - unser Flieger (diesmal von Cathay Pacific) startet nun hoffendlich zum endgueltigen Ziel: Bangkok

Leipzig had one of the coolest museums we've visited so far: one dedicated to the operations of the GDR (East German) secret police, known as the Stasi. The GDR kept extremely detailed tabs on EVERYONE in their country, employing spies of all ages and collecting and filing all the information. The Stasi Museum (Museum an der Runden Ecke) was their old headquarters in Leipzig and has been kept as it was to show the oppressive nature of even the Stasi workplace. Very exciting and VERY cool!

... segment of the holiday. It was great to have fruit salad, cereal and a hot food selection again because for the last week we've just had pastries, rolls and individual fruit. Encouraged by her find at the train station the previous afternoon, Belinda had mapped out the Bodo Hennig retailers in Leipzig (information provided by the Bodo Hennig website the night before) and so we bought some tram tickets and set off on our way. I was happy to see a ...

... t be in our section. 3:52 - Just to set the stage, Angola needs to win by at least 2 goals and needs Mexico to lose to advance to the next round. Iran is already out. 3:55 - The teams walk out and everybody is standing waving flags. I give the edge to Iran for fan support, at least of the flag waving variety. 3:58 - the national anthems of the respective teams are played, Angola's is quite a catchy little tune 4:00 - It's the most anticipated game of the world ...