Leipzig vs Dresden - do not ask me

I love Leipzig. It is a cool and diverse town. The people are friendly and the food and drinks are good an cheap. It is a lively town but not noisy and dirty. Not too many people although it grows.
We took a car ride to see some other place like the airport (mostly freight) and Porsche fabric.
 
The city is surrounded by three lakes. In the city are a lot of parks and small rivers. It is very green and colorful.

My advise for you: go in spring or summer and enjoy not only the city but as well the nature in and around the city. By bicycle it wont take long to the lakes were people sail, swim and just enjoy each others.

first and last picture of Dresden - Katholische Hofkirhce

Dresden? Well to tell you the truth we stayed there for only a couple of hours. The opera, churches and cafes. As I felt sick I was not in the mood to explore another city. I have to come back.

As our friends live in Leipzig we will come back. Thank you for having us around. It was great.

Plagwitz - the past is futures neigbour

Plagwitz is a part of town and a song by a local band. But that is not the only reason why we took the tram to go there. Our friends told us what to do and see in Leipzig. In Plagwitz there is an old fabric and quite near there are some lofts. Sounds good because I like these things and there no tourists. Behind the scenes...

old spinning factory

We headed to the old cotton spinning factory. A huge area with tall brick buildings. These days the are a lot of start ups like architecture firms, galleries, cinemas, cafes, lawyers and so on. There are some flats as well. What a perfect spot to take nice pictures.

Plagwitz station

The train station of Plagwitz is just around the corner. As lots of houses and buildings in Saxony it looks abandoned. We followed a gravel road alongside the station and found some very nice spots to take pictures.

Time for a drink. We went to the racecourse that is surrounded by a nice park. After some snack and beer we headed to the town center. So many people seemed to have the same idea. But why? Ten... hundreds... thousands of people.  It was a football game. RB Leipzig vs. Monaco. We did not go. Instead we had a nice dinner and some beer.

Google told us we made 18 Km today!!! Now we realized how big the city was... What an easy day :-)

Leipzig - I like you

After our hiking trip in Saxon Switzerland we explored Leipzig. (Perhaps I should remind you that this hiking trip took hours and we made more than 20 Km on that day!) So we planed an easy day. Firstly we walked to the town centre to go for a good brunch. Secondly we bought a day pass for the public transport. Easy day -  no not at all. I tell you.

We decided to go to see the city from above. I like that  because you get a good overview which helps you to decide where to go. The MDR tower the tallest building in the city is not a beauty but the view from the platform was great. There is an entrance fee of some euros.

Monument of the Battle of the Nations

Back on the ground the tram brought us to the Monument of the Battle of the Nations. The architecture reminded me of Aztec Temples and Soviet buildings. Strange but very impressive. (entrance fee: EUR 8.00) Over 400 steps lead to the top! We were exhausted time for a break.

We sat next to the Monument for a smoke. In front of the Monument they rebuilt the "pool". In winter it is for ice skating and in summer you can see the reflection of the building. We were so lucky to see the bottom :-(

 

Getting there and around Saxony

While Leipzig is served from Basel several days a week there are daily flights from Zurich to Dresden. About one hours flight with small airplanes brings you to the mayor cities in Saxony.
Flixbus serves Leipzig as well but with a change of bus
in Berlin. By train you can reach Saxony as well but the connections are not too good and the journey time of more than 8 hours is a bit long in my opinion. I read that in a few months the open a new train route from Munich to Dresden by ICE, Germany's high speed train.

The cities itself have a wonderful public transportation infrastructure which is almost as expensive as in Switzerland. As the region is quite flat I recommend exploring it by bicycle. Leipzig for example is a very bicycle friendly city.
For longer distances the trains are running on time and are comfortable. The network expands over the border to the Czech Republic.

Over the mountains - Saxon Switzerland

On the first day we had to confirm a statement or a cliche. I am Swiss and yes I love hiking!

So we got up early and headed to the trainstation. Sandwiches and water were the only items in our backpacks. From Leipzig to Bad Schandau the centre of Saxon Switzerland it takes less then two hours by train. We got off the train and startet our hike towards Rathen probably the most popular town in the National Parc of Saxon Switzerland. We did not have any clue how long it is going to take nor how hard it will be. We are Swiss we can do this ;-) No, come on its holidays I just did no researching.
We followed the river Elbe towards Dresden. After some time we realised that we took the right path. The one that goes up the hill. (Yes hill, I did not see any mountains there. Just rocks and hills.) It was steep and took us about one hour to get on the top of this hill called Lilienstein. I was definitifely worth going up there.

view from Lilienstein - Elbe and Rathen

There is a parking lot in the middle of the route. From there some hundreds steps lead you to the top. A small but cosy restaurant serves cold drinks and snacks. We did not have time as my friend is a camera man he took some pictures. (Sorry no videoclip this time).

Lilienstein and one obelisk 

The descent to Rathen took us little more than one hour and was much more beautiful than the way we came. In Rathen there is a cable ferry that crosses the river to get to the trainstation. The famous Bastei Cliffs are located in Rathen. As we allready hiked for more than four hours we did not go up there. I am affraid you have to google the cliffs. 

We did not see too many other hikers along this way. The paths were in a good condition and the sings helped to find the way. 

With breaks todays hike took us about 6 hours. Costs: 1.50 Euros for the ferry and 5 Euros for a beer and a coke. 

Trains Dresden - Bad Schandau and back run every hour. Rathen - Dresden twice an hour. 

You can make it as well, dear reader!

Saxony - secret love

Ever since he heard the special dialect the first time he was not only amused he wanted to hear it all day long. As I love travelling so much I decided to help him out. So I booked the flights and called our good friends. I did not make any plan for this trip. As you know it has been a long time since my last journey. (Well I did one trip but it was not worth writing about I am sorry.) I just wanted to go away from home.

Saxony is a federal state of Germany and lies north of Bavaria and on the boarder to the Czech Republic. Yes one of the states of former German Democratic Republic. But it is not everything related to history or politics in my life. I wanted to see Dresden, Leipzig and the Saxon Switzerland.
No it is no part of Switzerland I am still talking about Germany ;-) A beautiful landscape opens on the way from Dresden to Prague with mountains, rivers and large forests  caleld the Saxon Switzerland.
A fully packed plan for only four days. Two friends, four days and not much of an idea....

Südfriedhof Leipzig