I’m blogging about my 60th birthday trip to Germany, and I’m up to Day 3, June 13. I was staying with my friend Kate, and she suggested giving me a walking tour of Leipzig for the morning through early afternoon. That sounded absolutely perfect after so much driving the day before. They live a short walk from the Altstadt, and we saw all sorts of wonderful things. I love German cities with so many old buildings mixed with modern ones, which is what I love about the roofline in the picture above.
The weather was perfect, as it so often is in June in Germany, bright and sunny, not too hot, not too cold. We walked all over the city. Let’s see if I can remember what most of these buildings in the pictures are.
We went inside the University Library:
Here’s the Neues Rathaus:
Love those towers!
I was excited to see the Bachfest booth, because catching the Bachfest was why I went to Leipzig first.
And there’s a statue of Johann Sebastian Bach outside the Thomaskirche, one of the churches where he served for most of his life.
More sobering, here’s the Holocaust Memorial. Each chair represents 100 Jews who once prayed in the synagogue on this spot and were killed in the Holocaust.
And here’s the Altes Rathaus:
We also went inside some “Passages” – beautiful enclosed walkways.
Some of the passages have cool art.
We had lunch (later) at the restaurant on the left. It has a cellar where reportedly Goethe used to hang out as a student.
Here’s a statue of Faust being tempted.
And a statue of Goethe outside:
At the Nikolaikirche, which I didn’t get a picture of that day, we got to go inside and sit in on a bit of a rehearsal for a concert that was part of the Bachfest. The soloist had a crystal-clear voice that filled the large space. We didn’t stay long, because we still hadn’t had lunch.
The Nikolaikirche was the site of meetings that ended up toppling Soviet domination of East Germany, and there’s a monument outside, with a pillar similar to the ones inside the church.
I still love that skyline!
And I’m always a sucker for faces on buildings.
Here’s the Hauptbahnhof:
And inside, there was more about the Bachfest.
Here’s a statue in front of the GDR Museum.
I insisted on getting a picture with the statue of the great mathematician Leibniz:
And there’s the Neues Rathaus again:
I’m afraid after all our walking, I took a nap, while Kate walked Riley and then prepared a wonderful dinner. We had fascinating guests that night. I mentioned that Kate’s husband worked at the U.S. Consulate in Leipzig? Well, the U.S. Special Envoy for Global Youth Issues, Abby Finkenauer, was in town, and she and her aide came over and we had completely fascinating dinner conversation.
I mean, did you even know the U.S. has a Special Envoy for Global Youth Issues? Here’s a description she posted today of what she does: “Since her appointment, Special Envoy Finkenauer has traveled the globe, consulting with young leaders and sharing their insights with colleagues across the U.S. government, to ensure that our policies and programs are thoughtful, impactful, and youth-informed.” That day (or at least some time recently), she’d met with young entrepreneurs. She was going to be traveling the next day to Chemnitz, where they were having “America Day” with a group from the USAFE Band participating. This was significant to me, because the reason I lived in Germany for ten years was that my then-husband was in the USAFE Band. I was glad I had other plans for Friday and wasn’t tempted to go to Chemnitz because that would have been a little too much. My husband had played in Chemnitz (and Leipzig) many times, though I had never attended one of those concerts – but I had attended many others.
Anyway, look at the website of the Office of Global Youth Issues. I was proud that our government is doing this kind of diplomacy. Abby Finkenauer was the youngest person in history to flip a Congressional seat, and she’s clearly an excellent person for this job. It was a beautiful evening, leaving me with lots to think about on my last day of being in my fifties.