Romantisches Hotel Schloss Gattersburg Grimma

... in the dome. So as a consequence it is around 8.30pm by the time we get in the car and out of the parking lot!
Luckily the drive is only around 1 and half hours, we stop at Maccas for dinner as it's fast and keep driving on to Liepzig. We land just after 10pm, to the guy who looks like he doesnt know we have a booking. Luckily his wife knows about us..we get into our room which is clean and comfy and try and decide what we are doing tomorrow.. Rothenburg it is!

... park and cemetary complex next to the memorial.

We bought some hot dogs from a street stall to augment lunch, trying to warm up a little! Fortunately the sun came out for a few minutes while we had our picnic.

After lunch, we drove back into town, parking at the underground carpark below the Hauptbahnhof - it is a 5 euro maximum charge, so cheaper than 3 of us on the tram. We walked through the old town (Mitte) to the Gewandhaus hall ...

We slept in until 9:30, with only a few disturbances overnight. We had been worried about noise from the trams outside the door and the railway line next door, but it wasn't bad enough to wake us. The renovation included double-glazed windows, which certainly cut out a lot of noise.
We spent the morning pottering around in the apartment, and trying to arrange for a load of washing - but the man was off having his foot treated so we couldn't (or get onto the ...

... autobahn and stopped at a conventional roadside bay, choosing the table most sheltered from the cold wind and finishing off our leftover wiener schnitzel with salad.

We arrived at Leipzig at a reasonable hour and fund the road our apartment was on (Torgarstrasse) with no problems. However, with 400m to go, we were met with our now familiar problem - the road ahead was blocked by roadworks. We followed the GPS advice to find an alternate route, but of course ...

... thing in Saxony - afternoon tea (at least traditional in the country areas where they grew up). Then 'twas time to say "tschoss" as I caught a lift with Connie up to Chemnitz. I had a great time and really appreciated the time and effort that the girls put into showing me the sights of Dresden and tasting some of the culinary dishes of Saxony.

I was in Chemnitz for only one reason - to catch up with the star of the local theatre - Anna ...

... my time here, I went on some trips with my parents, visited other family members and of course some friends as well ! I had a lovely Easter with lots and lots of sunshine and I ate about 726378739898390 eggs, haha I hope, you are all doing fine !? I will add some pics of course :) Big kiss Jo

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!

... names to learn. Detentions to hand out.

The first week back is just for teachers, but there is so much to do. We have to figure out lesson plans, curriculum, and figure out what classes we are teaching and when. Our IB coordinator (and schedule planner) had a stroke over the summer, and so we have to do a lot of this stuff on our own while he is still in hospital and recovering. The chaos is pretty amazing. I have been assigned to ...