Day 2, Wed, Feb 3 - 2017 Germany Inspection Trip

From the Lufthansa magazine, the Munich terminals.

Wednesday

Where were we:
- München (Munich - MUC) International Airport, Terminal 2
- Berlin (Tegel)
- Magdeburg
- Leipzig


I had not landed in Munich - coming from the United States - in about 16 years. My journeys for the tour and site inspection for the 2014 tour took me into Europe via Frankfurt and home through Munich, so I had not done passport control or the walk from landing gate to passport control in this capacity recently.

When you get off the international planes at your gate in Munich, you ascend a very well heated jetway and get to a glass area where there are two escalators (including one amusingly short one - sort of like an escalator preview!!), and then you get to the upper level of the airport. You hook a right and then - using people movers - walk for what feels like a half mile but in truth is probably not even an 1/8 of a mile until you get to the center of (this floor of) the terminal. You hook a right and voila, passport control.

Singers and followers should be careful to get into the right passport line - whether they come through Frankfurt, Munich, or wherever in Europe - there are lines for EU Citizens, which are plentiful and then far fewer for non-EU citizens. But, confusingly, they have signs that say the lines are for each and light up one side for what is supposed to be in that lane. You can’t take pictures here either, FYI, and they will tell you that. If you are groggy and just got off a plane that flew 3200 miles, it is easy to get confused. 

At the passport control, take your time, read signs, look for and help your friends. I imagine the lines will likely be quite large in the summer so you will have time to figure this out.

A side note is that the passport control area in Munich is far smaller than its Frankfurt counterpart. That’s likely due to the vastly different amount of international, non-EU arrivals Munich sees as opposed to Frankfurt. But, be smart, go straight to passport control in either airport before you do anything else (unless you need a WC, there are a bunch a long the way, feel free to use those, but don't nap in there!).

At the passport control gate, they asked us both a few questions. They seemed to ask Andrew more than me, but that’s probably just random. We you are entering in the summer of 2017, just tell them you are here as a tourist and tell them the cities you will be visiting if they ask. If they don’t ask a question, don’t feel the need to answer anything else. But, don’t screw around here either. These guys and ladies are all business, and they should be with their duties for Germany and the EU.

Once you clear passport control you hook a quick right, head down an escalator (or you can take an elevator), and you are in the domestic terminal a floor below.  Here in Munich, at least today, there was no more security. We were done. This is different from Frankfurt where you have to pass through another pre-flight security check before getting into the domestic (and, I should say, by domestic I mean flights within Germany or the EU) part of the terminal.

Our domestic boarding gate was not too far from the center, maybe two people move rides away, and we found it quite quickly. There are, throughout the Lufthansa terminals, lovely little free coffee stations that can give you a variety of warm beverages ranging from regular coffee to espresso to Wiener melange to hot chocolate or just hot water for tea (and there are tea bags). They are not at every gate, but in little alcoves through the terminal, so just look for them or ask a Lufthansa attendant — and they all speak English (the Lufthansa staff) – and you should be able to locate them.

We both freshened up in the perfectly clean WCs in the Munich Airport right near our gate, had a few cups of coffee each before boarding began for our plane at 10:35 AM in the morning, European central time. Boarding was fast and we went downstairs (again there is an elevator) and then went outside for about three meters (it was covered) and boarded a long, accordion style bus. The bus was packed, but Andrew and I did manage to get a seat. We then began a lovely venture out and around the tarmac hinterlands before finally arriving at our Lufthansa A321-200 (name Bayreuth) at 10:43 AM. 

Andrew snuck off the bus quite quickly and immediately followed the herd of people towards the closet entrance staircase to the plane that used the rear door. Mind you, now it was raining and snowing and cold, so it was sort of a mad dash for the plane for the bus. However, Andrew got out before I could grab him and was in the line to ascend the plane far ahead of me. Our tickets were for row 6, so a rear entrance of a 48 row plane was not ideal. I love my friend Andrew, but I walked to the front entrance staircase knowing that this would be quicker. He figured it out quite fast that he should have gone the other way round as he had to wait for lots of folks to get seated before he could come back down the aisle to our row. He made it though eventually and we both found ourself in Row 6. I had an aisle seat and he had a window, and we had some German gentlemen about our age with a good beard sitting between us.

We departed right on schedule, 11 am, and, different from our international flight, take-off here was a very bumpy as we cleared the clouds over the Bavarian countryside. Once we got above the storm it was fairly smooth sailing. I drifted off, finally, for all of 3-4 minute on the plane before the snack and beverage service began, but that was about it. I spent most of the time reading as did Andrew.

Snacks and service on this plane were simple. It was a few cookies and a drink of your choice. I got coffee — had to fuel up for the day ahead. And, really as soon as service finished, we were getting ready to begin our landing process into Berlin’s octagonal and relatively small Tegel Airport on the northwestern outskirts of the city. As we came into Berlin, I could see out the south side window and got a very good view from the old eastern side into the western side. The famous television transmitter tower helped me orient myself once we cleared the clouds. It was very windy out and coming down was bumpy, but we landed safely in Berlin a little after noon.

In Berlin, because of the interesting design of Tegel, you are never really far from the outside of the building. Once we got off the jetway, we walked maybe 25 feet or so before we had the security exit to the small inside terminal (there is no more passport control once you are in Germany). We popped out immediately and were warmly welcomed within about 30 seconds by Nick, Amanda, and Sue.

While Andrew and I used the restrooms quickly before the long drive we had ahead, Sue was kind enough to get us all coffees from the nearby cafe. We then immediately walked outside (again, the exit to the street was maybe 20 feet away from where we cleared security) we met Stephan, our driver and co-guide for the next four days, and walked across a few lanes of traffic (in crosswalks mind you, but there were no cars coming!) and right to his van. As simple as getting picked up at TF Green or the Manchester Airport. Perhaps even simpler. You never would have thought that for an airport in such a major city as Berlin. But alas, it was simple.

We boarded our rather large van (which has the front seats and two more rows of seating) and were delightfully surprised to find very nice bag lunches for all of us which sandwiches, fruit, and drinks. Top notch service from Sue!! We were very grateful for this bags.

Amanda sat up front with Stephan who was driving, Andrew and Sue sat in the middle row, and Nick and I sat in the first row, and we began a very quick exit from Tegel. We were headed straight out onto the road for our first appointment in Magdeburg. I would guess we were on the road by about 12:35 or so and we had about a 90-100 minute drive ahead of us. As we journeyed, we had a great discussion about Germany and about our plan over the next several days.

This trip to Magdeburg was of relative surprise to us about two weeks back. This city and venue, as the itinerary for 2017 now stood, is to be the site of the first full Chorus performance. It is considered a “run out” performance as we would travel from Leipzig to Magdeburg to do it on the first Saturday we are in Germany (we arrive on Friday). The original plan for this performance was for it to be in the city of Halle, a neighboring town about 20 miles from Leipzig, in the city church of Halle. Unfortunately, as tends to happen, the church elders have decided to do serious renovation and repair work on the church over the next year and a half. It may be done by the time we would be on tour, but there were no guarantees for this to be true. As such, booking a concert in this venue was simply not something the church, ACFEA, or, now that Andrew and I understand the circumstance, the Chorus should engage in. So, sadly, this venue fell through.

The Johanniskirche exterior.
I climbed up that south bell tower.
I am very out of shape.

However, Andrew and I have great, great faith in ACFEA - especially in Nick and Amanda (and I am coming to develop that same trust with Sue, she is really fantastic like they are), and Andrew and I both knew they would certainly present us with another great option. Indeed, ACFEA is very well aware of what we look for and want in a performance venue: a good space for the music we are performing (this is the most critical), a space which can hold us comfortably and meet all of our performer demands, a space where good audiences - both in size and in energy - can be expected and will come to hear us, and, ideally, a space of high historic importance and/or community importance or project or concert series importance.

Their solution to all of this was a very interesting and fascinating venue: the Johanniskirche in the Altstadt of Magdeburg.

Different from any other place we have sung on any tour, the Johanniskirche was, once upon a time, a church of high importance. Like many of the churches we are visiting on the first leg of the tour, it was also a church important in both the Catholic and then Protestant traditions. And, much like a lot of churches in this area of the world, it was a church where 500 years ago one could find Martin Luther preaching from its ornate pulpit.

But, toward the end the second World War, Magdeburg was hit by the allies very hard and almost all of its medieval and old core was obliterated. This is something that happened to many German cities as you all are quite aware, but Magdeburg, like Dresden, did get hit badly. The Johanniskirche was almost completely destroyed, but some of it survived to the point that, someday, the church building could be rebuilt.

Magdeburg and this venue are interesting places. This is especially true if you have an even a small knowledge or appreciation for the Cold War and the years that Germany was split into two: the free, western “West Germany” (BRD) and the Soviet control communist GDR (or DDR as you would hear here and I'll refer to it from now on. DDR = East Germany). The DDR, as we know it, was East Germany. Germany reunified on 3. October 1990, but from really the end of the second world war through the 9. November 1989, East Germany was a closed society strictly dictated by a Soviet-allied socialist government. 

I’ll let Google explain the rest of this history for you. This doesn't really sum it up. Really, make sure you read up on this history before the tour.

Now a glorious concert hall, the Johanniskirche
is tied directly into the rebirth of Magdeburg

Magdeburg and the Johanniskirche, in my opinion, are an interesting case-study of life after and during the Cold War. Magdeburg itself is alive and functioning well today. The city has a strong academic culture, busy shops, friendly people, and the signs of the west are as clear as the McDonald’s you see on the nearby corner. But, it was rebuilt in the era of communism/socialism and in the days of the Soviets and DDR. The buildings and their architecture reflect this very much, Of course, while it is a free, open society now, with signs and influence of the west everywhere from the 26 years of reunification, you can still see a city built of a different time. 

Personally, as a child living in Germany in 1989 and 1990, I spent a very little direct time in the East before reunification, but did spend some time in East Berlin and in a small Czech town on the border. I know a little bit about what the architecture of the era looked like and the very uniform, simple, functional building style of that time from that experience. 

This feel and style of architecture is still here in Magdeburg, but with a level of new life and energy. A reason I think seeing Magdeburg is fascinating is that, unlike many other German cities we will visit on the former “East” side, I think Magdeburg gives you the closest glimpse of a former East German city in look and feel (only).

I would not look as this assessment of Magdeburg as a bad thing - there are some very lovely and beautiful areas of this city, certainly, but I think it is good for us all to see and know historically a few things before visiting it. And also know, the residents are quite proud of their city remerging on the map and putting much energy into the projects they have ahead of them.

This brings me back to the Johanniskirche. Keep in mind, under the socialist and communist regimes, going to church was not looked upon kindly nor, truthfully, legally allowed. Churches were to be considered museums and/or historic sites first, not necessarily places of worship and God. The Germans, however, have a deep religious history in all their states spanning many faiths and disciplines. So, churches and places of worship were built - before the world wars - all over the country. On the western side, many if not all of the major churches were rebuilt nearly identically to their original designs with, in especially the big West German cities, little to no expense spared (and in many cases with financial support of the United States). On the east side, there was some rebuilding in a few key places, but there was also a great deal of straight demolition. And, in a few places you can still see today, crumbled buildings or churches from WWII were just left as they were for many unfortunate reasons.

Beginning in 1990, right around the time of reunification, the Johanniskirche was restored, slowly, and over many years through many different fundraising projects (plaques of which you can find all over the church today). If I read a particular plaque correctly, the major restoration and rebuilding project was completed in 1999. But, instead of reopening the church as a parish church, the Johanniskirche was turned into a specialized performance hall - one with exceptional acoustics. Connected to the main nave, a series of performance hall features were added (with a newer, but really well down architectural style). The side of the hall is thus built up in a really fascinating way where there is a little restaurant and bar for intermissions, restrooms, dressing rooms, warm-up spaces, and a huge loft for receptions and such at the very top towards the roof. There is also an elevator to get you to and from all the different levels.

In the main nave, you can see the remnants of the original structure, but the liturgical elements are gone. Much like the George Kent Performance Hall, this former important parish church - which is held close to the heart of its residents - now serves as a venue for, mostly, music. So, it is a performance hall, built in a former church, but with great lighting, space, flexible audience seating, risers, and great audience and performer spaces. 

Truth be told, there are lot of interesting ideas here that we might be able to steal back in Westerly!

A comparison to Kent Hall, though, is unfair, as this facility is much larger in terms of height and width and scope than our hall. However, we are to expect an audience in the 600 person range, if not more, when we get back here in 2017. The concert we are to sing here is part of a special series held my the elders of the Johanniskirche called the Kuratorium für den Wiederaufbau der Johanniskirche zu Magdeburg. Specifically, once a year they have a huge concert present by the Kuratorium that they invite the entire city too as a fundraiser. And, being even more specific, the concert fundraiser is for the restoration fund of their stained glass windows. 

The windows of the Johanniskirche were all destroyed during the war. The Kuratorium has gone about replacing them, one window at a time, through funds raised in this annual concert. They have commissioned artists to do the design of these replaced windows. Our concert is to support the Kuratorium and the Johanniskirche in these efforts. 

In fact, I can show you a photograph (see below) of the specific window we will be singing for on the concert. With the concert here, in the Johanniskirche, we will leave what is anticipated to be an incredible audience with two things: a performance of the Bach B Minor in an exceptional acoustic space for this performance AND a piece of us and our love in commitment in, when it eventually goes in, a soaring stained glass window. We will be helping a city continues its long and ongoing rebirth and renaissance and emergence from a period of time of great struggle in the city. And we will be helping out a community and its most important cultural center share are and beauty for a long while. 

I think that is quite special.

The window there on the right, that would be
 the Chorus of Westerly supported window.

So, that’s a long explanation as to why our car was not headed for Jena but to Magdeburg!! And that’s where we ended up, less than two hours after arriving in Berlin.


Magdeburg
We first went to the local Maritim hotel to see their large restaurant. The thought, at the time, was we were to have a group dinner here in this very large venue after we finished the concert at the Johanniskirche on Saturday night. 

Before our meeting with the catering manager, we enjoyed Earl Grey tea together - Sue, like Nick, is English, but she has lived in Germany since 1981 and carries with her the best of both worlds, and her German is flawless. 

After our cup of tea, we took some pictures and completed our inspection of the dining facility. It was a nice place, a bit cold in terms of charm, but functional for a meal after the concert. There emerged quite a conversation about dinner plans for Magdeburg and the timing of things for singers and followers, as the drive to and from Leipzig is lengthy. But, those decisions were to be be for later, for now, we were to inspect and figure out the logistics here to see if this were doable should we decide to use it.

We left the Maritim about 2:50 pm or so and then quickly headed over to a different restaurant right on the river Elbe to see if this might be a better fit. Truth be told, it was a lovely venue and lovely location, but its capacity was too small for a group dinner for us without some very clever human management that might be impractical. Alas, we put it in the book as a bit of a maybe (really, for someone else, though I liked the location, but I get it being too small) and then quickly darted off to our meeting at the Johanniskirche.

We arrived right on schedule for the meeting at the Johanniskirche at 3 pm. It was very, very windy out, but perfectly clear otherwise. The wind did make things ridiculously cold, so we scurried inside right away to begin our meeting and inspection with three members of the Johanniskirche staff.

I have already written about the background of the church and the nature of our concert. This was explained to us both on the ride to Magdeburg and once we arrived. The more we learned about the place and the concert, the more we were pleased with what we heard and we seeing. It seemed like a very good fit for the Chorus of Westerly.

The acoustics in the Johanniskirche are excellent. In fact, I dare say for our Bach B Minor, they are better than our own hall. As I noted above, this facility has been turned into a fully functioning concert hall - albeit in a former church, but we know all about that. As such, the lighting was good, the staging area for this was good, the site lines were perfect, and the audience seating and layout quite comfortable and useful. And, again, the sound in there was marvelous. 

Looking up and down in the hall was quite a trip too. It has high, high ceilings, flat and very simple walls, and lots of windows up high. About 1/3 of them have their new stained glass in them. We will help them get another one of the windows in.

We looked at and saw really everything in the main hall and on the side floors. The top, top floor - where there is a decent sized reception space - is glorious. Truly glorious. Unfortunately, though I must say there was a lot of confusion about this and lack of clarity - in my opinion - due to issues of either fire code or weight limit stress (which seems odd for a structure supported by steel) - they say no more than 100 people can be up there. I have to tell you, I’ve worked a lot of concerts, events, and receptions before in lots of spaces (as you all know), and I think that number is grossly too low. 
But, that doesn’t help them or me or ACFEA for that matter negotiate with the Magdeburg fire department. Our thought was it might be a cool place for a sandwich or something between rehearsal and concert (and that might be possible) but better yet for a Chorus and followers only reception. The answer was no for right now, but I might not give up on that just yet because it would be pretty spectacular. And, yes, there is a perfectly fine elevator that gets people up there (unlike the torpedo tube elevator in Stephansdom to their attic). 

No promises here — Andrew and I tried, but first answer was a no.

The staff at the Johanniskirche were excellent and so enjoyable to work with and tour the space with, and, while singers and followers might not note such things, I certainly do. Good artist managers, venue managers, agents, is so important in our world. These folks got it, clearly. They run a very well organized machine here at the Johanniskirche and I believe them when they talk about their good audience sizes for this hugely important community event.

Towards the end of our inspection and meeting, I noticed a sign in German about the steps going up the bell tower (all the way up to the top). The first lady we were with said no, I couldn’t go up. The second lady said no, it was 270 steps and I shouldn’t do it. Then the gentlemen we were with, looked at the both and, in German, said something along the lines of, fine, let’s see if they can do it, and they unlocked the door!

This is the north tower, we climbed the south.
It was something.

Andrew, Nick, and I decided to make the climb up this very, very old (and this was original from hundreds of years ago) uneven, stone, winding staircase. And I started out sort of sprinting up. And, 270 steps at first on an old, winding, uneven stone staircase seems simple - and then you realize how out of shape and overweight you are about 1/3 of the way up. You also realize you are just getting over bronchitis and left your inhaler in the van. But, you then remember how often are you in Magdeburg climbing a staircase built hundreds of years ago ascending a bell tower to, more than likely, get an incredible view of the city once you get the top. And you go faster!! Unfortunately, with Andrew also in the same recent respiratory illness phase as I was in recently (and I’m more out of it than him), about 1/2 way up, at the first level landing, Andrew deemed it wise for him to call it a good try and head back down. I probably should have done the same thing, but sometimes (okay, a bit too often) I’m a stubborn ass just hell bent to do something, so Nick and I kept going.

We both thought we had reach the top where it was very light when we realized it was another landing — I swear this was the end of the 270 steps they told us about, but there was at least another 3 stories (or 4, God only knows) of an OPEN spiral staircase to the very top. Open in the sense that the first 3/4 of the way up, the stone stairs went right to the wall and you could brace with two railings and there was wall all around you…this part the room was slightly larger, the staircase smaller, and you the walls from the side of the stairs and its little metal rail was about 6 feet away on each side. So, this was the scary part. But, up we went.

And we reach the top. Let me tell you, it was so well worth it. The wind was awful and scary in its own right, but we were well protected from falling over, no worries, and we did not stray to far from the center of the little landing at the top of the spire. But the view, goodness, incredible. 

The Magdeburg Dom (cathedral is Dom in German and will be hence used) was glowing as the sun was going down in the sky. The clouds and sky were blue, orange, and pink and it was just exceptionally beautiful. No, we did get to see any bells, those are enclosed and protected in a room with no access on our end (though I did see the entrance) - we were actually well above them at this point. But, it was awesome.

The truth is the climb down the stairs was just as challenging, if not more so, as it was harder to see for some reason going down, and the uneven cobblestone stairs were treacherous. Both Nick and I clung tightly to the hand rails. We made it back safely, no worries!

We might, might, be able to persuade them to let folks make this ascent in 2017 - it is geared at the very top as a safe viewing platform. But, it is not for little kids or anyone with mobility, balance, or other issues. And, if heights isn’t your thing, it’s not for you either. We’ll see. It was cool. One of the highlights for me so far!! Again, no promises.

The maestro in Magdeburg.

After our trek up to the heavens we wrapped it up at the Johanniskirche and then headed into the nearby city core and rebuilt (or rebuildig) Altstadt to assess the shopping and, more importantly, dining situation should we send singers loose in this little area between the rehearsal and concert in lieu of dinner after the concert (which is the plan we are leaning towards as of this writing). There are a lot of options, quite quickly and quite cheap, within really easy walk (like across the street and a block) from the Johanniskirche. There were a fair amount available and out on a frigid winter day, so it stands to reason there should be more options and more outdoor options in the two main squares on a warm July day with a late sunset in July 2017. We walked around and checked out a few places to eat over the next half hour or so, there were indeed some fun places before hopping back in the van with Stephan and making a quick trip over to the very, very impressive Dom in Magdeburg. 

The Dom (cathedral) is not a site of regular concerts of our type nor would it really work for us, but the structure itself — at least from the exterior — is breath taking. It’s only a few minutes walk from the Johanniskirche and singers and followers will likely be able to make a trip over here if they’d like (on foot and on their own) during the good size break between rehearsal and dinner.

The enormous Magdeburg Dom.

By 4:47 pm we were back in our warm van and headed to the autobahn to head to Leipzig. It is a good trek between the two cities, about 80-90 minutes. But, after the concert, the singers will be able to relax on the ride which is almost directly straight (it’s not winding or anything like that) through the German countryside as we head back to Leipzig.

Autobahn
Our drive was actually lovely. The vast farms of the countryside - dotted with many wind turbine farms - was made even more beautiful by the sun setting in the southwest sky. It was a magnificent sunset and one I tried to get a good picture of but failed since we were in a moving van. By the way, our time to Leipzig was better than the time I’m noting above. Why? Because there is no speed limit for non-coaches on the autobahn. And let me tell you, that mini-bus or van thing we are in, well, Stephan drives it very well. And there were people passing us. Kind off amazing to see someone pass you on a highway at a speed they’d get arrested for in the US. Alas, it’s open road in places here so, engage!!! Sorry, I’ve typed too much without a Star Trek reference!!

Leipzig
We arrived into Leipzig and got checked into our hotel, the InterCity Hotel, around 6:15-20 pm. We had yet another meeting ahead of us, this time a tour of the InterCity and room inspection, right away, so we had a very short time to go to our rooms, drop our stuff off, use the bathroom, and then we were back at it at 6:30 pm touring the hotel.

The IC was actually quite nice. It’s been recently built  and is a new hotel. The rooms are simple, very clean, and very identical to each other. Everything is new, so I found no really issues with anything. They seem to have all the room types we need, a great check-in process, ample space for breakfast and such, a great hotel bar, and very comfortable beds. The showers and bathrooms are not huge in a regular room, but they are private and the showers were good. It was a bit like the hotel, for those who have been on them, in Prague and Vienna and maybe sort of a hybrid of the two. The rooms were small, definitely city hotel rooms, but not too small that you thought, oh my goodness, I am in a broom closet. It sort of reminded me of a hotel say in the actual city of Boston at like the Hilton or Sheraton in Back Bay. Perhaps a tad smaller, but again, perfectly fine. VERY clean. The hall ways were quite easy to navigate as well and the elevators were very efficient.

A few great things to know about this hotel. 

One, the location is FABULOUS. You are not right smack in the center of the Altstadt (old city) but it sits right on its edge — basically, you cross the big main street (it’s a ring street like Vienna) and boom, you’re in it and within really 5 to 15 minutes walk of everything. Truth is, you are within 2-3 minutes walk of the beginning of all of it and it is really, really easy to navigate. And, once you cross the street and get inside the ring, you are already there. The location is really fantastic. This is very important to me in the hotels on our tour, but especially this one, but Andrew and I were both very, very impressed.

Two, Leipzig has an incredible and really user friendly (and extensive and frequent) tram network. This might be blasphemy for me to say, but it gives Vienna a run for its money. It doesn’t go inside the ring sans maybe one line, but you can basically pick up the tram at any point along the ring, and, if you are on the other side of the hotel, hop on to it and it brings you right back to the stop about 100 yards from the hotel. It can also easily take you to historic and interesting sites, of which there are some you certainly might want to visit, outside of the ring should you desire.

But, here is the best part, every tour singer and follower - everyone staying in the hotel with us - gets a FREE (free!) Leipzig Transit pass for the DURATION OF YOUR STAY! Meaning, you get a pass when you check in and between that moment and the moment you check out, as long as you have that pass on you, you can hop on and off any tram, bus, or whatever in Leipzig whenever you want and for any ride you want. You don’t have to validate it or anything. You can just use it. And they will help you at reception and give you maps if you have questions. The staff here is very “user friendly” and proud of their city.

Finally, wait for it, this hotel has very good and password free to guests Wifi! They have done a great job here in this hotel and they have one a lot of points with both Andrew and I during our stay.

Okay, enough about the hotel, but I thought you’d all like to know all that interesting stuff.

We finished our meeting and inspection in the hotel at 6:50 pm. We took a ten-minute break to freshen up and then all met downstairs in the lobby at 7 pm to head out into Leipzig. She’ll have to forgive me but one of Sue’s friends and main contacts in Leipzig, who for now I’ll call Frau Leipzig, met us in the lobby and brought out into the city so we could get to know it a bit and learn how easy it was to navigate.

Worth noting right away as we noted on our walk: Right across the ring from us is a HUGE mall with all sorts of shops in it — including a grocery store and Target-esque store so if folks need stuff, this is a great option. Secondly, a block away from us is the main train station, one of the largest and best in Europe which also has a mall with 300 shops (I’m not sure if that’s true, because that seems like a lot, but that is what Frau Leipzig said) and the train station and its shops are open late into the evening. So, this is great for folks to know. Nearly every tram in the city stops within two blocks from our hotel at the Hauptbahnhof (main train station) so we really are right at the nerve center or entrance into the core of the town (city, but Leipzig once you cross into the Altstadt from the ring really has a big town feel).

We crossed from here into center and began a beautiful walk all around the side and main streets of Leipzig which are remarkably clean and well lighted and safe at night. What’s really neat is Leipzig is filled with lots of little side or connector passageways and hofs, also well lit, and filled with little shops and tons - tons - of restaurants.

The Altstadt is quite beautiful and the streets are so deliciously charming. As charming as all those side and winding streets in Prague. In fact, Leipzig has a very Prague feel to it. It’s interesting to compare Leipzig to Prague because, at least from my quick visit here — which has been a quick one – Leipzig and Prague have had a lot of money come into them, have made great strides since the fall of the Eastern bloc and end of the Cold War, and they feel very western. Like West German cities of old. And things from the second world war, minus a few notable buildings left as war monuments, have been rebuilt and repaired or are really now undergoing serious rebuild and repair. But, you’d be hard press to know the Cold War past in Leipzig if not from the smattering of really ugly buidlings built every few blocks in the Altstadt on sites where total obliteration either from WWII or the DDR days took place. There are some really hideous ones in there for sure, but there is so much beauty in other places. (Noting too, though, this is true in the center part of the city, as you push out you’ll see a lot more “scars” from the DDR days and a lot of empty or falling apart buildings which are still in need of help and investment. Sue points out this is related to building ownership dating back decades — I’ll explain that at another time or let the guides explain it to you when you are her).

I really enjoyed this walk in Leipzig. Both Andrew and I immediately commented that the Chorus and our followers are going to adore this city, especially in the summer months.

We found our way to the Nickolaikirche, one of the three churches where Bach was kantor. This and Thomaskirche are the two that survive. We could not get in to see the stately Nickolaikirche at this hour, but it was beautifully illuminated in the winter Leipzig sky and was quite a sight to see. In this church was the beginnings of the freedom movement in the DDR. The movement that brought Germany back together and “took down” the wall started in Leipzig and in this church (keeping in mind, it was an active church in the DDR days). But a movement that changed a nation and the world began here and spread through Leipzig from actions that took place here more than 25 years ago now.

Nickolai looking up.

I write a lot about this time as it was a time of profound impact in my life. Having lived in West Germany in 1989 and 1990, and being 10 and 11 years old, I was in this nation as it began to heal itself and come back together. At first, it was hard for me to grasp what this all meant, but I have a very brilliant mother who is an incredible teacher. And she helped guide my sister and I during that year and understand the importance of what we were seeing close up and personally. I thus, have quite an affection not only for the German people, but a great appreciation for what it meant for the country to be reunited. What it meant for the wall to come down. What it meant for families to be reunited across a closed border. What it meant for freedom to come to these people. Because of the divisions though, in that time, by time in the DDR was spent either on a train crawling through the country side and stopping in stations surrounded by police dogs and warnings to not take pictures or get off the train, or, briefly, in East Berlin soon after it was open. I got a very small taste of what their oppression had looked like, but did not experience that first hand — but I did know what they had gone through and how much sadness and distress and woe it created. What I did see and watch was the joy of that ending, and the bringing together of people through trust and friendship.

So, seeing a city like Leipzig thrive — much like Prague or Budapest – is impactful to me. Seeing a city like Magdeburg work so hard to make this move too, is also impactful. Seeing the Nickolaikirche and knowing what began there was pretty special.

Approaching the Thomaskirche.

And, on the ground outside of the Nickolaikirche are 140 tiles that, over the course of the evening - and in seemingly but not actual random location - built into the cobblestone that one by one over the course of the evening turn on. Randomly, and changing their color each night and order each night. These tiles represent the growing movement of freedom that started in Leipzig from the church and how it grew and grew and grew until finally it was all over the DDR (as it also spread throughout the other Soviet bloc countries in the east). It’s a powerful little monument to a major time.

This is a lot of history, but man, this country drips history.

Our walk eventually took us by the next and perhaps more important Bach church and the second Chorus venue, the Thomaskirche (A LOT more on that tomorrow), which, like its Nickolai cousin, was also gloriously illuminated. It was also closed for the evening, but in this church lies what remains of Johann Sebastian Bach and this is the church for Bach music and Bach performance. It is also one of Leipzig’s most active parish churches with its own extensive musical program. Outside is a great statue and memorial to Bach where we definitely snapped a few pictures. Andrew was almost giddy seeing the church, and I don’t blame him, so was I. Truth be told, getting to sing here is a real coup and a real treat for us for a myriad of reasons you all know so very well!!

Churches aside, we also took a look at some other good and historic restaurants, not for the full group meals, but so we can have good tips to give people when they go to eat on their own. There are many, many options and we’ll try our best to compile a list of them for you all next year if not before. But, the good news, things here are very reasonably priced. I daresay, and this could change in the summer, cheap.

Andrew's seat at the Ratskeller.

But, we had dinner reservations at 7:45 pm at the Ratskeller in the “new” town hall, which is still pretty old or looks old and is an incredible building. A grand restaurant with a lovely menu, beer, and wine selection, this is to be the site of our first night group meal together once we are all in Leipzig. It is a very good space for this and the room we are using, adorned with old Leipziger battle armor and shields and other various “bling” as Nick called it is a perfect atmosphere for us and for us to start off together. The meal will be served buffet style and we try everything - for our meal, served to us family style, that the Chorus and followers will have. It is good variety and very, very tasty. And, they already know, our group likes their beer quickly and cold, and they’ll make sure they are ready for us!!

Our dinner was truly lovely and it was great to get some true German beer, though, I’ll admit, rather than Leipziger local I opted for some good Bavarian dark wheat beers which I love so much and had a couple of them. It was so very tasty. We did inspect the place before dinner with the management, and this was a very good and efficient meeting, but the real inspection was the food which both Andrew and I can report back was quite good. We are in for a treat our first night together in a place that will work great for the Chorus! I’m quite excited about it.

Nick and Amanda on the #9.

After dinner, having explained to our group (most of whom knew this) my unending love of public transit, Frau Leipzig said good-bye, but then Sue, Amanda, Nick, Andrew, and I decided to take the tram back around the ring to the hotel. I ride was all of 4 minutes back, but saved us about 15 minutes of walking and, as advertised was very, very easy.

We headed back into our hotel just before 10 pm. Having been up at this point for nearly two days without sleep, it was time to head in for the night. Our departure was at 8:45 am in the morning for a crazy day that would take us to a big important meeting at the Thomaskirche, then on to Jena for a meeting, a meal, a tour, then on to Weimar, then on to Erfurt for lots of other things. So much ahead of us.

I got to my room, took a very enjoyable hot shower and waited up until 11:30 pm or so to be able to FaceTime home so I could talk to my family and send them love home before bed.

Huge day ahead on Thursday.

Seacreast, out.