B is for Bratwurst

I've always wanted to wake up and find a beautiful woman in the kitchen, making me breakfast wearing nothing but a cute pair of cotton hipster panties and maybe one of my t-shirts.

On day two in Germany, I awoke in Sandy's living room and saw her standing in the kitchen, buttering my bread and scrambling my eggs.  She had prepared a classic German breakfast for us to enjoy, complete with a brilliant selection or meat, cheese, fruit, eggs and of course rolls (Germans LOVE their rolls).  It was absolutely delicious and a brilliant change from my usual stale bagel and generic-brand cream cheese.  It was only the start of my first full day in Germany and I was already in love with German beer and German food.  After refueling, I showered up and we set out to conquer Leipzig in a day.

We walked through a beautiful park, past the Leipzig Zoo and into the city centre.  We took some snapshots along the way and Sandy proved to be the perfect tour guide, answering all of my questions and offering a lot of personal insight.  Sandy is from East Germany and was about 7 years old when The Wall came down so she remembers what life was like before the fall.  I was absolutely fascinated to hear a first hand account about such an important time in history and amazed to learn some of the realities of living in a socialist/communist state.  It is incredible to see how far Eastern Germany has progressed in such a short time.

While we were strolling through downtown I saw a man who looked very familiar.  "Sandy," I whispered, "Is that who I think it is?"  She confirmed that it absolutely was and I have to admit I got a little excited.  I don't get star-struck very often, but when I saw this big-time German celebrity hanging out in the street, I had to take a photo!

After walking around for a couple of hours my stomach started speaking to me.  Surprisingly, in German.  It was saying, "Nur deutsche Lebensmittel zufrieden stellen wird mir jetzt!" I had "the hunger"- and only authentic German cuisine could satisfy me.  We stopped at the nearest pretzel shop and I indulged my urges.  

I savoured my salty snack, then Sandy and I hopped on a scenic bus-tour of Leipzig.  We zig-zagged through the streets while our informative, and somewhat manic, tour guide described the historical significance of the buildings we passed in Germanglish (her unique cross between German and English).  At the halfway point, we pulled over and were allowed to dismount the steel horse so that we could get a better look at Völkerschlachtdenkmal (English: The Battle of the Nations Monument).  The monument stands 91m high, making it Europe's biggest, and commemorates one of Napoleon's most decisive defeats in 1813.  The Battle of the Nations was the biggest battle in Europe before World War I and had Germans fighting on both sides.  The statues that surround the top of the monument are meant to represent Germanic heroism, and the whole idea of the monument is that a nation should be united, rather than split into parts that are forced to fight against each other as they were in this battle.  Adolph Hitler twisted and exploited this meaning and gave several speeches from the monument when in Leipzig.

Standing on the same ground where Napoleon fought and Hitler spoke made this the most historically significant place I have ever been.  It's hard to describe the feeling that I had while standing on such infamous ground... it was without a doubt eerie, but it was mixed with a sense of relief.

The last stop on the tour was Thomaskirche, or, St. Thomas Church.  This beautiful church is where Johann Sebastian Bach worked as a cantor for over 25 years until his death.  He played the organ, instructed the choir, taught Latin and composed much of his work during his time in Leipzig.  Bach is honoured with a statue outside the church and his remains are buried beneath the altar.

After the tour, my tummy was making noises again but only half as loud as Sandy's (seriously, it's like she has a rabid dog in her stomach).  Clearly, we were both in need of some German street meat!!!  We found the nearest vendor and ordered up a couple of mouth-watering Bratwursts.  I took my first bite and was in flavour country.  I savoured every morsel of my delicious, piping-hot meat tube and thought to myself, "Germany, I think I might be falling in love with you."

Later on that evening, back at the apartment we decided that tonight was Sandy and Jozef night; some quality time, just the two of us.  Sandy prepared a famous East German gourmet meal called "Student Sauce" for dinner.  Sounds classy doesn't it?  Well, it is!  It's luxurious ingredients include tomato ketchup, cut-up hot dogs and onion... and it was DAMN good!!!  I washed down my Student Sauce with a few Ur Krostitzers (Mmmm beer) and Sandy pounded back a bottle of wine.  With a nice little buzz on we decided to go out for a few drinks.  We had a few at a place called Barcelona and then a few more at a theatre bar called Pilot, for good measure.  Eventually, we stumbled back to Sandy's home and raced up the spiraling staircase of doom.  Sandy claims to have won this athletic contest.  I don't remember the result so we'll just have to assume she cheated.

It was another perfect day in Germany... tomorrow, Berlin!