Impressions of Leipzig

My oh my, what a wonderful start to our Europe adventure!  Leipzig is a beautiful city with an abundance of stories at every shop and around every corner.  Everywhere you look reveals another incredibly ornate building, or a church that has hosted more music and seen more battles than I can fathom.  With just a little imagination, you can pretend that you might catch a glimpse of Bach himself in the St. Thomas Church, or that when you go back out to the street, you will have to dodge horses and carriages instead of bikes and cars.  The architecture is fascinating, and even though Leipzig has many of the same features as cities in America such as shops, restaurants, streets, buildings, cars, buses, and bikes, each minute difference seems to jump out to me as we explore.

I am a big fan of living a sustainable lifestyle, and I cant help but notice the incredible layout of the city.  First of all, if you thought that Seattle was bike friendly, you might want to reconsider.  There is bike parking literally on every block, and all the racks are very well utilized.  During our walking tour yesterday, we had to dodge way more bicycles than cars! In the city center and main downtown area there are a few delivery trucks, almost no taxis, and seldom is there a private car.  There are no traffic lights in the city center, and people and bikes traverse the streets and sidewalks freely.  All the private cars drive on the circular road that runs around the perimeter of downtown, allowing for this pedestrian and bicycle bliss.

Not only could you walk around with minimal worry about cars, but the streets were virtually free from trash and debris.  Everything is very well kept, which is a stark contrast from some areas of Seattle or Tacoma.

This morning, Kaja and I went to see the market after breakfast.  There were numerous mobile shops selling fruit, flowers, meats, cheeses, milk, tea, specialty candies, and much more!  I could get used to coming to a market like this for all of my food!  One booth was not only selling fresh bread from earlier this morning, but was also making more break in a large trailer mounted oven!  Even though my stomach was full from our delicious breakfast at the hostel, I was tempted by the fresh fruit, and fresh pastries, but decided to wait for the friday market to get some goodies.

These past two days have been incredible, and I cant wait to see the brass quintet tonight!