cafe with the best view in Germany

Our trains are actually really good, punctual and well used, despite many complaints.
And this is the best seat in the train, excellent view, sensible choice of food and drink and usually plenty of seats.

news from all over the world

At the station the international press is just that. On the other side of the stand the papers are mostly Russian and other east European.

city farm

On a plot that has been vacant for many years we have a small farm. Geese, hens and some other poultry and lots of rabbits who were hiding in their warren when I took the photo.

from the top of the tower

No, I did'nt take this photo. It's part of a display in the foyer of the Wintergartenhaus about the building and later renovation of the tower with the MM on top.

Gondwanaland

I have been watching the stell skeleton of this roof being built over the months and now all the major parts are there.
The name refers to the original continent that later split into Asia, Africa and South America.
The building will be home to a huge (2.7 hectare) display of tropical animals and plants in as natural environment as is possible in Northern Europe.
An animation can be seen here, in German but the film is not bad. http://www.zoo-leipzig.de/film/film.php?type=imagefilm_hq&size=720&fullscreen=yes

reflections

...same lake...

different view. This time it's the concert hall.

and the lake.

Pedallos in the shape of swans.

Auensee Pioneerbahn

At the edge of town there is a small lake around which this "Pioneer Railway" runs. Woo-woo!

Water,water everywhere but not a drop to drink...

Our manhole covers have some style.
Stupidly because using water here is very expensive, we use only 30 cubic meters each per annum which is a fraction of the consumption in many other countries.
Good!
No bad! If we don't flush away enough water down the sewers it gets smelly and the water authority needs to spend more to clean up, pouring drinking water down the drains - so costs rise.
Solution, raise the price for water.

fitting in

When the new block was unveiled I thought it was too high, but gradually the shopping mall with some offices and flats at the top is growing on me. The house with the goldern cupola was once a store now its a bank. The building at the front right is the OLd Town Hall.

600 years old

Not only our university is 600 years old. Just up the road this dispensing chemist or to use an older name apothecary has a nice display in its window showing the various houses/ shops it has occupied on the same site in all that time.

no highrise?

I just love these old roofs in the Old Market. There must have been a byelaw limiting the height of buildings plus roof.
I like to imagine what the rooms behind the windows are like and who used them.

a bit of colour

The Mädler Passage (its an Arcade really!) has invited local school children to submit pictures which are now hanging. The arcade is really a posh bit of town but the upper reaches are dull (and under the dead hand of conservation) so it is good to see it all a bit brighter.

highrise?

Although when you're in the centre it's easy to feel dominated by the buildings there are in fact very few higher than 6 or 7 storeys. From the big green park of Rosenthal you can see just how lucky we are!
The Wintergartenhochhaus, built in 1970-72, with the MM sign on it is 30 storeys tall, the whitish building is the major hotel (27 floors) and was built by the Japanese in the late 70's and the greenish one just in front is used by the Sachsen Bank. Other tall buildings we have are the "weisheitzahn I showed on Feb 16th and a few church steeples - Oh and the hideous Volkerschlachtdenkmal seen on Feb 4.

who were they?

This small family group is on the corner of a non-descript building. It must have been expensive to commission and in the last hundred years or so the weather, time and probably dreadful air pollution the like of which we can no longer imagine have taken theit toll.

another view

I like the mixof buildings, the dome belongs to the Leipzig Federal Court and the the glass facade to a firm of accountants.

old and new

The old DDR sign means "smart as a new pin" because of.... The new sign is for a dry cleaners.

Augustusplatz

Unusually the square was freeof traffic.

Gewandhaus concert hall

Every time I visit I am impressed by the inspired architecture. This time we sat in the Organstalls and so got a different ( and better) view.

signs of the times

I took this because the red and white stripy awnings reminded me of the Mediterranean, but looking more closely the old DDR sign on the roof "Tradition and Progress" appeals to me too. And then - what do all the street signs mean?

yet another fountain!

Is it me? Do I just like fountains or are there really so many around? In any case they will soon be switched off for winter- so I'll enjoy them for now.

Perfumed garden

This newish garden is designed for people with disabilities to enjoy. The labels are also in Braille and the plants are chosen for their scent.
Also a nice sunny day -its coming down "cats and dogs" here.

industrial ruin?

This is all that's left of the roof of a gasometer. It's future is undecided but the delicate wrought ironwork is under a conservation order (which doesn't mean that it will be preserved only that it cannot be altered by man, nature can do what it wants!)