wakey-wakey!

I am continually impressed by the number of small reliefs that decorate so many older buildings here.
This one on the old town hall seems to be a night-watchman or maybe the chap that acted as an alarm clock for or ancestors. His mate was probably not so welcome.

ravens outside

During the winter months we experience a gathering of birds like Hitchkock never saw on a daily basis. These are seed crows that overnight in parks and the zoo where it's a little warmer. They ssemble just before dawn and then just before we see the sunrise they fly up into the sun at a height of maybe 100 meters.
below is a small film of them.

the tunnel

Leipzig is getting a tunnel!
It may qualify as the world's shortest undergroung railway, but it has been a long-standing dream to allow trains to pass through the city rather than making a long (at least 10 minutes) detour round the city centre and having to enter and reverse out of the terminus, and the money was available!
We are all greatly inconvenienced by the tunnelling but it is technologically interesting. The Old Market Square will also get a station and the construction site is fenced of with a series of interesting photos (more soon).
This one shows a station where a historic arch was in the way, so it has been slid (is that the past participle of slide) to one side and will later be slided (no I prefer slid) back to it original position.

market day

Tuesdays and Fridays we have a food market and if the Old Market Square is not in use for another purpose it takes place here right in the town centre.

plattenbau!

I don't think there can be a town in Europe which doesn't have large blocks of "cheap" flats that are destined to be seen as "social housing".
Here they are now either renovated to a high standard and much desired or they have been or will be demolished.
Leipzig is full of houses built before WW1 and which are under a conservation order. They were mostly built in long terraces which cut off the view into their gardens, so this block opposite our zoo with the zoo carpark in front of it makes a pleasant open space.
What is irritating is that the other half of Germans often assume that we have only such blocks of flats and that they are all awful.

no money isn't always bad

This is the "Blechbüchse" or tinbox. Behind this facade is an older buildung that was badly damaged in the war. The original facade was not thought worthy of reconstruction (was that cost or ideology?). Now there are further plans and the popular facade will probably be kept in the new design, or maybe not! Suddenly money is a problem so we can be glad that nothing will change too quickly.
Sorry no post yesterday, it was a "computer-free day" for me.

fly away

and yet more snow! I want to fly away but can no more do so than these fine birds.