April 15, 2022
Day 3: Markranstadt - Leipzig
At the Zoo
It turns out that Leipzig boasts one of the best zoos in Europe. As we overcome jetlag and also visit with our friends and their family here, a visit to the zoo was our main activity for today. Such a visit is not just a casual matter of hanging around. The zoo is too big to see in just one day, so a one day visit especially is a bit of an athletic challenge. We put in 4-5 hours on it, and probably walked 10 km in the process.
The showpiece of the zoo is a huge biosphere that they call Gondwana land. This is a reference to the giant landmass that preceded the breakup into continents, and the biosphere supports a large area representing the jungly, dinosaur filled, wildlife rich era of 180 million years ago.
A river runs through the biosphere, and visitors can go on boat ride through it, that includes film and sound effects depicting the era. But this ride is mainly a chance to see the jungle and flowering plants.
No doubt because this is a holiday weekend, the zoo was absolutely stuffed with people. Mask wearing was minimal, and it really seemed as if the population has completely forgotten or chosen to ignore COVID. It's strange because this zoo was closed by the pandemic for two years, and until last month you had to book a time slot to attend. Perhaps in response to the loosening of restrictions now, the placed is thronged. In fact there were some venues - like the entire aquarium, and the gorilla enclosure, were it was completely impossible to attend. Even without the threat of a current superspreader, there was just no physical way to get in to the displays.
Outside the biosphere the zoo still featured some really impressive collections. For example, they have five snow leopards, and an impressive number of elephants.
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We returned to Markranstadt, where we gathered for supper with some of the key people we come here to see. These are the parents of Christian and Marius, the two young men who came to stay at our farm ten years ago and became our best friends, Christian's sister Anja, and his grandmother Kate. Tomorrow we will go to Kate's place, where more of the family will be gathered for Easter.
For general readers the following photos will mean nothing, but for the family - you know who you are!
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Supper was at a fairly upscale restaurant that is attached to a sauna facility, at a nearby lake, the Kulkwitzer See. The lakes near here are all relics of the former coal mining era. In the 1960's the very deep open pit operations were discontinued and filled with water, creating deep and clear lakes.
Although it is not accurate to say that every dish one might order in a traditional German restaurant ends up being a variant of schnitzel and potato salad, the roast chicken I thought I was ordering did turn out to be basically chicken schnitzel.
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Since I almost finished my main course, Jurgen had a surprise for me. It's called a windbeutel, which translates as air bag. In fact this was quite excellent, with ice cream at the centre and preserved cherries at the bottom. There should be enough calories in this thing to power me all the way to the North Sea!
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We always think we will put it on at route of one of our tours but haven’t yet. The other reason is we would love to go to a concert at the Gavanthause ( spelling)
Really looking forward to the start of the wheels turning. Good luck Dodie it is such a great start you have planned
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