Forget Berlin - go Leipzig!!
The trip out of Halle again was easy. We hitchhiked together from a gas station close to her place, Kristin to Berlin, me to Leipzig. We both found a car after a short while, and I arrived in Leipzig around 8pm, where my host Uta picked me up at the tram stop.
Uta, Sonja and Marvin are living together in their vegan/vegetarian shared flat in an old building in Leipzig Lindenau, next to Plagwitz. I met all of them, including Mara, Marvin's girlfriend, the evening I arrived, immediately being served some wonderful dinner with "Grünkohl", something we don't eat, not even know, in Austria.
The next day, I joined them going to "Gieszer 16", kind of a cultural & house project in Plagwitz, where we picked up boxes full of clothe donations. Being activists of the Calais Migrant Solidarity, Marvin and Mara are about to go down to Calais in order to document the refugees' situation, and taking those clothes with them.
For more info, check this out:
Calais Migrant Solidarity
Well, this was only the beginning of a wonderful week in Leipzig, the "New Berlin".
More quarter have been checked out then, like popular Südvorstadt and Connewitz. Those are the most lively, student-inhabitated parts of Leipzig. You can find there a lot of restaurants, bars and pubs (which I didn't check out), but also cultural centres and some squats. Most of the lefties' scene is concentrated there, in the South part of Leipzig, and it is considered to be Nazi-free, as right activists do not dare to cross the river to this part of the city...
Those squats and cultural centres also provide the so called VoKü (Volksküche, something like community kitchen). They offer - mostly vegan - food for very low prices. You can find a VoKü somewhere in Leipzig every day. Imagine, a huge plate full of rice, topped with some creamy veggie-coconut sauce, accompanied by a wonderful plate of fresh salad and a cold beer for € 2,70. Or that amazing peanut sauce that came with mixed vegetables and potatoes (€ 1,50). Not to speak of the selve service lasagna & salad place for a free donation. I just loved it!
One of the random things you can find on the streets of Leipzig
Apart from that, Leipzig has a lot of advantages, that make it not only the "New" but also the "Better" Berlin for me. Amongst them the following:
- It's not really touristy
- Its size, which makes it easy to commute by bike only - no need for public transport
- A lot of green areas within the city
- It's cheaper
Did I already mention that I love Leipzig?
Uta, Sonja and Marvin are living together in their vegan/vegetarian shared flat in an old building in Leipzig Lindenau, next to Plagwitz. I met all of them, including Mara, Marvin's girlfriend, the evening I arrived, immediately being served some wonderful dinner with "Grünkohl", something we don't eat, not even know, in Austria.
The next day, I joined them going to "Gieszer 16", kind of a cultural & house project in Plagwitz, where we picked up boxes full of clothe donations. Being activists of the Calais Migrant Solidarity, Marvin and Mara are about to go down to Calais in order to document the refugees' situation, and taking those clothes with them.
For more info, check this out:
Calais Migrant Solidarity
Well, this was only the beginning of a wonderful week in Leipzig, the "New Berlin".
More quarter have been checked out then, like popular Südvorstadt and Connewitz. Those are the most lively, student-inhabitated parts of Leipzig. You can find there a lot of restaurants, bars and pubs (which I didn't check out), but also cultural centres and some squats. Most of the lefties' scene is concentrated there, in the South part of Leipzig, and it is considered to be Nazi-free, as right activists do not dare to cross the river to this part of the city...
Those squats and cultural centres also provide the so called VoKü (Volksküche, something like community kitchen). They offer - mostly vegan - food for very low prices. You can find a VoKü somewhere in Leipzig every day. Imagine, a huge plate full of rice, topped with some creamy veggie-coconut sauce, accompanied by a wonderful plate of fresh salad and a cold beer for € 2,70. Or that amazing peanut sauce that came with mixed vegetables and potatoes (€ 1,50). Not to speak of the selve service lasagna & salad place for a free donation. I just loved it!
One of the random things you can find on the streets of Leipzig
Apart from that, Leipzig has a lot of advantages, that make it not only the "New" but also the "Better" Berlin for me. Amongst them the following:
- It's not really touristy
- Its size, which makes it easy to commute by bike only - no need for public transport
- A lot of green areas within the city
- It's cheaper
Did I already mention that I love Leipzig?
phaenomenal - 4. Mar, 13:57