Duckies of Leipzig

The forecast had been for rain, so we tried to get ourselves a couple of disposable umbrellas in the huge shopping centre across from our hotel, forgetting that shops do not open on Sunday in Germany. Fortunately, the forecast was wrong anyway.

We explored some more today, using Leipzig's extensive tram system to get around (a nice gesture by the hotel was complimentary travel during our stay). I was keen to get back to the Gewandhaus and the opera house, which are at either end of Augustusplatz, that's what we did for starters, and these two duckies were in a nearby fountain advertising the 325th anniversary of opera in Leipzig (this is a big year for the Gewandhaus Orchestra also, whose 275th anniversary this is).

The closing concert of the cantatas series was at 8pm today (in the Nikolaikirche this time). Afterwards we all went for what we call The Grand Gala Dinner, which is a tradition of these trips away when everyone gets together for a meal. We'd had a but of trouble arranging it this time because not too many places stay open for food later enough to fit it in after the concert ended, especially when the staff in the Café Madrid insisted on rushing us to get our orders in before the kitchen closed. Despite that we had a great time together and agreed that the weekend had been a tremendous success, both musically and socially.

(Extras for today show: a couple of the street performers who were all over the place; a good old Trabant which we spotted passing by near the Opera House; and one of the fine buildings which are part of the University 0f Leipzig.)