Leipzig
The conductor of the Chiswick Choir, Hilary Campbell, is also the conductor of the Bristol Choral Society who regularly go abroad. This year they asked for extra singers from the Chiswick Choir to boost their numbers, although in the end they had sufficient and there were only 6 of us from Chiswick. I didn't sing - just went along to see Leipzig.
We got the tube to Heathrow - where in typical fashion I took the escalator while Mike took the lift, and I couldn't find him at the top because he had gone in to the Terminal and was behind the first row of check in desks while I was hanging around by the lift! He eventually rang me and told me where to find him. It took ages to check in - the guy didn't seem to know how to deal with the wheelchair - and at one point told us we would be taking it on to the plane! While we were checking in Tim and Sarah appeared, checked in and went off to the departures lounge! We joined them there later. When we got to the gate we were whisked off and told we hadn't been checked in properly (I could have told them that) and our seats were changed - they turned out to be really good seats at the front of the plane. Tim and Sarah had booked seats at the front of the plane but had been reallocated further back, even though the rows in front of us were empty.
We changed at Dusseldorf - as usual having to wait on board until everyone else had got off . The flight had got in late and when the assistance team arrived they had an airport chair because there wasn't time to bring Mike's chair up from the hold. We ran through the airport with the team fast-tracking us through passport control and then into a special lorry which took us to the plane. Discovered that everyone else had been obliged to wait on the bus until we were seated! When we got to Leipzig the chair was at the door thank goodness and the team took us to the luggage carousel - which was stationary! It turned out that none of the luggage from the London flight had made it on to the Dusseldorf flight because the time was too tight. Tim and Sarah had hand luggage only so they were ok. I went up to the office to fill in the requisite forms, and then the four of us shared a taxi to the hotel.
We were initially given a non-accessible room (probably because Mike didn't ask the choir organiser to book him one) but we went straight back down to reception and they immediately changed it for an accessible one - large and roomy with a huge bathroom. We met up with Tim and Sarah in the bar and had a couple of beers (hefe weisse mmmm) before going out to eat together at a nearby Italian restaurant. I had a huge lasagne which I finished because it was so delicious, but it made me feel very full and uncomfortable afterwards on top of the beer. Mike was up through the night feeling sick.
The next day we had breakfast (lots of nice things to choose from) and then walked to the Leipzig Primark to buy Mike a black shirt for the concert that evening. We then wandered up to St Michael's church where the choir were going to be rehearsing, and sat in the grounds reading for an hour. I carried on reading while Mike rehearsed. Then we had a packed lunch and got on a coach to go to Baden Dub - a small village about an hour away where they were holding a music festival. More rehearsing and then we went off for a walk and a coffee. The concert was very good - the church was packed, the audience appreciative and there were words of welcome beforehand. Afterwards there was a dinner at the local Hotel which had been pre-ordered and was very good. We got back to the hotel in Leipzig around midnight - and I was overjoyed to find our luggage was there waiting for us.
We had a totally free day on the Saturday so we decided to spend it at the famous Leipzig zoo. We started out from the hotel at 10.30 and walked round the main station first, then to the zoo. We were there all day walking round. It was huge - 67 acres - and fantastic. Late afternoon we shared curry wurst for lunch which turned out to be frankfurter covered in curry sauce with chips. Quite yummy. The only other time we sat down was to have an ice cream towards the end. We walked back and then had a wander round Leipzig even though it was about 6 pm by then. We managed a brief glimpse inside St Thomas Church before it closed. There was a Gay Pride march all over the place which was noisy and colourful. We had a beer at the hotel when we got back and then went up to the room to eat yesterday's rolls etc left over from the packed lunch. We were both too tired to go out again - I collapsed into bed at 9 pm and slept like a log
On Sunday we went to the service at St Thomas - hearing the organ that Bach used to play - although we didn't take communion as this seemed to be a separate event for non-visitors. We then spent a couple of hours in Bach museum. The first bit was quite interesting but many of the rooms consisted of panels with information about Bach's life. My feet were aching from yesterday so I spent a lot of time in the audio studio with headphones on and the complete works of Bach available to listen to, while Mike carried on round. Afterwards we had the most delicious soup in the Bachstrube cafe just outside - it was a thick potato soup with chopped frankfurter in it. Mike complained about the price! We then had another walk round Leipzig looking at the opera house etc. I felt really rough with a cold that had come on. We went to the station to find an open Apotheke for more tissues and lemsip capsule equivalent - and had lovely coffee and cake in a small cafe. I listened to the men's final between Federer and Djokovic in the room for a while and then we all went to St Michael's where I watched it on my phone outside while they rehearsed. It went to a 12-12 tie break in the fifth set and only finished after concert had started - I had headphones in crouched in the back pew! The choir put on the same concert - which I sat through again. This was more of a drop in concert, with people coming and going throughout! Afterwards we all went back to the hotel bar and drank beer and had a sing song.
We were able to grab some breakfast on the Monday just before our taxi turned up as the restaurant opened just in time. We had a straightforward journey back - just tedious waiting for wheelchair assistance all the time.
Photos
We got the tube to Heathrow - where in typical fashion I took the escalator while Mike took the lift, and I couldn't find him at the top because he had gone in to the Terminal and was behind the first row of check in desks while I was hanging around by the lift! He eventually rang me and told me where to find him. It took ages to check in - the guy didn't seem to know how to deal with the wheelchair - and at one point told us we would be taking it on to the plane! While we were checking in Tim and Sarah appeared, checked in and went off to the departures lounge! We joined them there later. When we got to the gate we were whisked off and told we hadn't been checked in properly (I could have told them that) and our seats were changed - they turned out to be really good seats at the front of the plane. Tim and Sarah had booked seats at the front of the plane but had been reallocated further back, even though the rows in front of us were empty.
We changed at Dusseldorf - as usual having to wait on board until everyone else had got off . The flight had got in late and when the assistance team arrived they had an airport chair because there wasn't time to bring Mike's chair up from the hold. We ran through the airport with the team fast-tracking us through passport control and then into a special lorry which took us to the plane. Discovered that everyone else had been obliged to wait on the bus until we were seated! When we got to Leipzig the chair was at the door thank goodness and the team took us to the luggage carousel - which was stationary! It turned out that none of the luggage from the London flight had made it on to the Dusseldorf flight because the time was too tight. Tim and Sarah had hand luggage only so they were ok. I went up to the office to fill in the requisite forms, and then the four of us shared a taxi to the hotel.
We were initially given a non-accessible room (probably because Mike didn't ask the choir organiser to book him one) but we went straight back down to reception and they immediately changed it for an accessible one - large and roomy with a huge bathroom. We met up with Tim and Sarah in the bar and had a couple of beers (hefe weisse mmmm) before going out to eat together at a nearby Italian restaurant. I had a huge lasagne which I finished because it was so delicious, but it made me feel very full and uncomfortable afterwards on top of the beer. Mike was up through the night feeling sick.
The next day we had breakfast (lots of nice things to choose from) and then walked to the Leipzig Primark to buy Mike a black shirt for the concert that evening. We then wandered up to St Michael's church where the choir were going to be rehearsing, and sat in the grounds reading for an hour. I carried on reading while Mike rehearsed. Then we had a packed lunch and got on a coach to go to Baden Dub - a small village about an hour away where they were holding a music festival. More rehearsing and then we went off for a walk and a coffee. The concert was very good - the church was packed, the audience appreciative and there were words of welcome beforehand. Afterwards there was a dinner at the local Hotel which had been pre-ordered and was very good. We got back to the hotel in Leipzig around midnight - and I was overjoyed to find our luggage was there waiting for us.
We had a totally free day on the Saturday so we decided to spend it at the famous Leipzig zoo. We started out from the hotel at 10.30 and walked round the main station first, then to the zoo. We were there all day walking round. It was huge - 67 acres - and fantastic. Late afternoon we shared curry wurst for lunch which turned out to be frankfurter covered in curry sauce with chips. Quite yummy. The only other time we sat down was to have an ice cream towards the end. We walked back and then had a wander round Leipzig even though it was about 6 pm by then. We managed a brief glimpse inside St Thomas Church before it closed. There was a Gay Pride march all over the place which was noisy and colourful. We had a beer at the hotel when we got back and then went up to the room to eat yesterday's rolls etc left over from the packed lunch. We were both too tired to go out again - I collapsed into bed at 9 pm and slept like a log
On Sunday we went to the service at St Thomas - hearing the organ that Bach used to play - although we didn't take communion as this seemed to be a separate event for non-visitors. We then spent a couple of hours in Bach museum. The first bit was quite interesting but many of the rooms consisted of panels with information about Bach's life. My feet were aching from yesterday so I spent a lot of time in the audio studio with headphones on and the complete works of Bach available to listen to, while Mike carried on round. Afterwards we had the most delicious soup in the Bachstrube cafe just outside - it was a thick potato soup with chopped frankfurter in it. Mike complained about the price! We then had another walk round Leipzig looking at the opera house etc. I felt really rough with a cold that had come on. We went to the station to find an open Apotheke for more tissues and lemsip capsule equivalent - and had lovely coffee and cake in a small cafe. I listened to the men's final between Federer and Djokovic in the room for a while and then we all went to St Michael's where I watched it on my phone outside while they rehearsed. It went to a 12-12 tie break in the fifth set and only finished after concert had started - I had headphones in crouched in the back pew! The choir put on the same concert - which I sat through again. This was more of a drop in concert, with people coming and going throughout! Afterwards we all went back to the hotel bar and drank beer and had a sing song.
We were able to grab some breakfast on the Monday just before our taxi turned up as the restaurant opened just in time. We had a straightforward journey back - just tedious waiting for wheelchair assistance all the time.
Photos
