Back to Germany: Leipzig

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Friday 12thMay

Back to Germany for a weekend. Friends of ours: Nicole and Ole, who had stayed at Endless Summer Backpackers, had invited us there to celebrate Nicole's 30th birthday. We retraced our steps back down to Hrensko, over the border and took a train to Leipzig. We found out about yet another cheaper travel ticket for travel during the week. A Sachen Ticket. It's incredible that in a country where train travel is so expensive, that hardly anyone appears to know about the discount tickets. Mike from the campsite told us about this one!! For us they are a lifesaver, saving us up to 50% or more of a normal price ticket! Buying at a ticket machine also saves you an extra Euro2! We arrived in Leipzig train station. An amazingly modern station with a multi-storey shopping centre beneath and above. For Germany this is pretty 'advanced' as most towns and cities, quite astonishingly, hardly even have a basic supermarket. One has to go from store to store to purchase specific types of goodies. Nicole met us at 5pm and took us by car, to her small flat about 10minutes drive away. Ole was to join us later. These two have been so very kind and hospitable to us. We feel so spoilt. On our first evening they had arranged for us to go to a local beer garden [where else], to meet their friends. This turned out to be a very late night indeed. As it was Nicoles birthday the next day, we had to stay here until at least midnight, but the party extended on until about 3.30am!! It was great fun speaking to all the different German people and most spoke good English. We all only got to sleep at 4am! and only surfaced the next day at midday!

Another Party and Volleyball in the City

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Saturday 13th May

Nicole once again spoilt us by providing a big breakfast/lunch with potfuls of great German coffee. Her and Ole are making us feel so at home and welcomed. THANK YOU NICOLE AND OLE. You are a great and fun couple. For the rest of the day we all lazed around talking, while Ole and a friend went out to purchase goodies for the next party. Yes, last night was only the starter!! Tonight is Nicoles real birthday - a German barbeque! Once again another very late night. It was so amazing to meet all her friends, mostly Germans but some Spanish and some Polish too. Wonderful and charming people. Such a great mix of cultures. The barbeque was top notch and could rival any South African braai. Once again we all rolled home at 3.30am, this time by taxi as no-one was in any state to drive.

Janet, Nicole and David
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Sunday 14th May

Another very late lie-in. Not used to these late nights. After another brunch, me and David took a walk into the city centre. Leipzig to us isn't such an atractive city at all. Being part of the old Eastern Germany, most buildings now are totally broken down, abandoned and derelict and covered in graffitti. You can almost feel exactly what it must have been like in war times. The air of abandonment and depression is tangible. It's almost as if the place hasn't been touched since the bombs dropped overhead, over 60 years ago. It's like walking through a stage re-enactment but this one's for real. Really weird. In contrast tho', the main CBD has some charm, with modern stainless steel and glass office blocks. As we wandered through the streets we came across a beach volleyball tournament taking place! Beach sand, hunky male bodies, curvy girls, music, sunglasses and all!!!It was free so we stopped to watch for a while. A great vibe. Being Sunday not much was open so we lurked around and found little pockets of charm in some of the backstreets.