First European Adventures

What an adventure these past few days have been! In the past 48 hours I have found myself immersed in the beautiful city of Leipzig and German culture for the first time. In these action-packed days I have had some of the best coffee and food I have ever tasted and our first concert: the Gewandhaus Brass Quintet, which was remarkable.

After 24 hours of traveling, stepping out of the Leipzig Train steps for the first time into the city square, quite the amazing site awaited. It wasn't until then that it hit me where I was.

With cobblestone streets and mixed old and new architecture, it still feels unreal, like I'm walking around in Disneyland.

The first full day we met for a walking tour of the city which was a great opportunity to see what's around and learn some history. Leipzig was a part of. East Germany during the Cold War and the divided country, so there are memorials and a museum remembering this part of history, including sites marked that were part of the peaceful revolution that began in 1989 before the Berlin Wall came. Down. In addition, Leipzig was home or workplace to many important composers, including Bach, Mendelssohn, Schumann and Theleman.  In close proximity to the hostel are statues of these greats, and a coffee shop (one of the oldest in Germany - 1711) where the composers liked to met and work.

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Today we had a free morning and afternoon, so I spent it with several others at the Museum der bildenden Kunste Leipzig. This was phenomenal. The museum is 4 floors, and holds everything from modern to romantic and 17th century works. I was blown away by the complexity and beauty of some of the paintings, and also texts. One that struck me the most was a mural that stretched across a wall depicting earth and hell. The detail, intricacy and emotion in this picture was outstanding. I analyzed it for about 30min but could have easily spent hours.


After the museum, we had the opportunity to see the neues Rathaus and a circular tower that overlooked the city. It was beautiful, windy and a bit of a workout to reach, but well worth the trek.

Tonight we saw our first concert, the Gewandhaus Brass Quintet. They were phenomenal. With two guests performing with them as well, they were so communicative and together to a degree I don't know that I have ever experienced. They played a variety of music from traditional Bach, to piano and guitar arrangements and a ragtime, "Suite Americana" which I really loved. They told the story and background before each piece and the concert was a wonderful experience overall.


I've only been here two days, and I feel so lucky that I have already experienced so much, I can't wait to see what the rest of the month holds!