Great Train Journey - Leipzig: Part 1 (7 pics)

From July 18th, 2012 through July 28, 2012, I took my first extended vacation in Europe since I arrived in Poland.  There were a number of places in the Eastern part of Germany that I wanted to see, and I had enjoyed my train trip to Berlin earlier this year, so I planned a trip that would let me travel from my home in Poznań, Poland to München (Munich), Germany.  The map below gives you a general idea of my route, but since Google Maps doesn't show train tracks, it's based on road travel.  :)

I left on July 18th from Poznań, took the train to Berlin where I changed trains and took the train to Leipzig, arriving in the early evening.



Like all of the main train stations I travelled through in Germany, the Leipzig Hauptbahnhof (main train station, or "Hbf" if you see an abbreviation) is a huge building.  Unlike every other train station I have seen so far (admittedly, only 7 so far), it has a shopping mall (the Promenaden that you see on the green sign) that takes up two stories underneath the train station.

I ended up with a hotel room on the 20th floor of my hotel (the Westin), which put me higher than most of the other buildings in the city.  So I'm just going to close this post out with some pictures from my hotel room window of the city.  I'll dive into more specific locations in the next post.

Leipzig was hit hard by the fall of Communism.  I've seen it referred to as one of the "success stories" of the post-reintegration period, but there is still a lot of the city that is being rebuilt, or buildings that are unoccupied and in disrepair as they wait to be refurbished or torn down and replaced.  This was the view outside my hotel window looking right towards the old town.

Looking off to the left my hotel windows is this old building.  This is the remains of the old Astoria hotel.  That big maroon roof is the top of the Hauptbahnhof, and the bright white part of the building you can see on the back left of the Astoria courtyard is the Best Western hotel.  Although the Westin is surrounded by some sketchy buildings on most sides, it's actually pretty conveniently located and a pretty good place to stay.  That is if you don't mind having to pay for internet access (22 Euros a day, access to the gym, and a whole lot else).  Or like me, you can just do without those things.  :)

This is a zoomed in view over the old city from my hotel window.  That big tower is part of the New Town Hall.  

 It was interesting to see contrast of this part of my view.  The old city is underneath, with one of the cathedrals there on the left.  And in the background was the nuclear plant providing power to the city.

That monument you see is one of the main reasons I wanted to stop in Leipzig.  I'll get to that later.  Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this brief tease.  I'll try and arrange for another post each day that provides more info.  I'll eventually move through each city of my trip.


Thanks, and enjoy!