May 13 - Leipzig

Tuesday was the last day of the conference....... my husband was busy all day, and I had planned to be busy also-- all of the stores that were closed yesterday for the religious holiday would be opened up today, so it was my day to shop.

And that I did... in and out of nearly every shop tucked into the winding streets around the market square in Leipzig. I found my European-outlet hair dryer, a nice small size that will be great for traveling. I don't know why I hadn't thought of this before, instead of worrying about adapters and connectors and plugs.

I also went into the shoe store that looked so interesting the day before, and I bought a pair of walking shoes made in Spain. The brand name is Pikolinos, and they are, without a doubt, the softest, most comfortable, supportive pair of genuine leather walking shoes that I've ever had. Plus, they look nice, and cute, not like little-girl shoes, and not like old-lady shoes. If the store had two pairs of this style in my size, I would have bought more than one. But Pikolinos has a dot-com web-site, so I will order another pair when we get home. I put the shoes on right after I paid for them, and I felt like I could have walked in them all day long--- which I did, on all the rest of the days of our trip.

Tuesday in the Leipzig square is one of their open-air market days, and the square was filled with carts and booths and small refrigerated trucks filled with olives and nuts, cheese, fruit and vegetables, meats and fish, potted plants and freshly-cut flowers. It seemed that every woman in town was out there with a large wicker basket on her arm, filling it up with what she would need till the next market day, which would be Thursday. I looked at all the glass-sided refrigerated trucks... delicious-looking cheeses of all kinds, fresh-looking meats and homemade sausages.... all the vendors competing with one another to get the most sales. I lost count of how many vendors were selling the thick white asparagus.... the roots look tough and raw before they're cooked, and they reminded me of wood dowels.

In one of winding streets around the square, I found a tiny antique shop that was fun to look into. So much porcelain in there, all very pretty, but also very expensive, plus I didn't want to buy anything that could break on the way home. Near the door of this little shop, I found a basket filled with small gold spoons-- demitasse size, the same size that is served with the cups of tea that I've had since we've been here. Of course I had to buy them.... I found eight of them with the same design, for a price of three Euros.

It was a wonderful morning and afternoon.... I had lunch at one of the little cafes, watched all the people in the market for a while, then looked at some of the other shops. I was so happy to be in those comfy Pikolino shoes that I just walked and walked till I had seen everything in and around the market.

After the conference was over that evening, my husband and I had dinner at one of the outdoor cafes near St. Thomas Church. I ordered a small cup of potato soup and grilled salmon. Everything was homemade, very nicely presented.... as soon as we looked at our dinner plates, we knew the food would be delicious, and it was.

After dinner, we walked around the market square for a while, then went to another cafe for dessert. (So many cafes to choose from.) We had apple cake (kuchen), and I ordered yet another cup of chamomile tea. This cafe served the tea in a pretty glass with a thin glass handle.... perfectly cute. I would have loved to buy one of those tea glasses (which I had seen in the shops) but those would be too easy to break on the flight home.

After dessert, we walked around a little bit more, then walked back to the hotel on the main street. We had only been in Germany since the 9th, and already had done more walking than we normally do in two weeks back home. And this was only the beginning of the trip. The next day, the plan was to leave Leipzig (after picking up the rental car) and begin to tour through the itinerary my husband had spent so many weeks planning.