On to Leipzig, Germany June 20 part 1

 

We trained it to Leipzig and hauled our luggage to our apartment.  We booked a 2 room apartment with kitchenette in a hostel/hotel/apartment called the Sleepy Lion.  We only booked an apartment because that was all that was left for our 3 night stay and the price seemed right.  Very large rooms, especially for just the 2 of us. We had beds for 4 and floor for 8.   Great.

View from our window on the 4th floor (lift available and used).

If you follow thhe street to the end, that is where the train station is.  It would not have been a bad walk if the sidewalks weren’t made of cobblestones.  The bicycle path was smoother, but we would certainly get run over.

After checking in, we walked around the old town, which is a 15 minute walk away and went to a grocery and bought some wursts, you know German hot dogs, and sauerkraut  and cooked them in our room.  Oh yeah, we also bought local German beer in the grocery for about 60 cents a bottle, large bottle.  Wonderful dinner.   We bought cereal for breakfast along with yogurt.  Well we thought we bought yogurt.  I think we had cereal and sour cream, garlic and chives for breakfast.  Live and learn.  (since I wrote this we ate at a very nice restaurant that served bread and this same spread for our bread….)

The next day we decided to go to the zoo.  Yes, the zoo.  We were told the Leipzig zoo was the best in Europe.  Then we were told it was one of the best in the world.  Well, it’s true.  It is a great zoo.  What makes a great zoo?, you ask.  One of the things that stood out was how they keep the animals.  At one point I even asked why we had gone on an African safari because their presentation of the animals was so realistic.  They had  4 or 5 different types of animals roaming around a huge area, just like on our safari.  There were zebra and giraffes and wildebeest and vultures and you get the idea.  You got excited when you spotted another animal……in a zoo.!   The pictures we took just can’t convey the experience.  Sorry.

We went on the spider monkey island.  When you cross a bridge to get to this island, a worker tells you to put your zoo map in your pocket because the monkeys like them.  I followed directions.  We were also told to stay away from the railings because the monkeys bite.  So we listened to that, too.  The monkeys are everywhere. 

   how often do you get a shot like this?

Well, one monkey jumped on my pant leg, climbed up and grabbed the map out of my pocket, and ran away.     I’m pretty sure I got his picture first, not knowing what his plant was, I turned away.

The worker had to jump over the railing, shoo the monkeys away and get the map.  Boy did I love that.

           The worker was always trying to keep the monkeys away from the visitors.  Who do you think will win this standoff?

                                                                 

Have to include some other zoo pictures, just can’t help it.

    Aren’t these lovely shiny fish.  They are piranha.  Don’t stick your finger in and pet them.

This bear has long thick hair that bounces when he runs        

      

     This not an armadillo.

The gorilla area was special, too.  You know they use tools, like us.  So to keep them thinking, there is a box with something they want in it, so they have to devise tools to get it.

                                                                                                                  

Then this one took time out to relax on his rug.  Are we sure they are not human?

                                                              

 

When I said we went to the zoo, I should have said we ended up at the zoo.  We started out for the zoo, we had a map that showed where the zoo was, but not where the entrance was.  So we headed out and visited a very lovely open space with joggers and bikers and mothers with strollers, but no zoo entrance.  We walked for about 45 minutes before we got the chance to ask, and boy were we in the wrong place.  So we got some extra exercise.  Then we walked around the zoo for about 4 hours.  We should be thin (we have not lost any weight).

We came back to our room and got  ready for a dance show at the Central Theatre.  We saw a sign at the visitor’s center we visited when we first arrived.  We didn’t know what kind of show it was going to be, but got tickets anyway.  So we rested for about an hour and off we went again, to the theatre.  Well, we loved it.  It was a dance and song show performed by an ensemble of seemingly dozens, but actually only 10 performers.  They did songs and dances from A Chorus Line, and jazz, modern, tap and other stuff along with songs.  We enjoyed it totally and found out when we got back to the hotel, and could ask the desk clerk who speaks English, what the ticket said.  We had seen a performance by the Leipzig University of Music and the Arts.  Well done.