Month: January 2019

Some snow, nothing more than a dusting on the rooftops that barely lasted a few hours.

… this seems to be a pattern developing. A brief flurry of snow that lasts for a few hours, maybe a day or two in the shadows before melting away, always hovering at just a little too warm to stay. I guess I don’t mind so long as it doesn’t start glazing over, but I have a feeling that may start happening. Give a good sub-zero (you know, -10°C or -15°C) so that the moisture dries out and does turn things into a giant ice-rink. Otherwise, I’ll be investing in crampons…

The Weihnachtsmarkt has disappeared and the weekend tourists are back, coming in on Friday afternoon — or maybe it’s just the last weekend before everyone heads back to work. Hard to tell, but the streets were pretty full yesterday afternoon (despite the crappy weather) and again today.

… and it has been a gray afternoon. A little filtering made the Nikolaikirche positively menacing:

 

 

Of course, this kind of light really saturates the colors that are out there — this one jumped out:

 

Meanwhile, over on Grimmaischestraße, things were definitely “business as usual.” Not terribly crowded compared to what it was like before Christmas, which isn’t surprising. A few brave buskers and street artists out, lots of shoppers and walkers. Oh, and there’s STILL glühwein to be had…

 

 

The phone is, of course, the common denominator here:

 

 

As I said, there’s still glühwein to be had… the tables are still set up and there’s still a few folks hanging out enjoying a cup or three.

 

The brave street artist, hustling away —

 

And now that Karstadt has closed, this is it:

 

People, with phones at the ready, immortalizing their visit as best they could:

 

… and the lights are still up, pretty much everywhere. Wondering when they’ll finally come down…

But the wheels still keep a-turnin’, things to do, places to see —

Gray, rainy, cool but not cold like I’ve experienced elsewhen and elsewhere… January in Leipzig. So here’s some things from the same place but another time:

Still trying to get this connected to the Facebook page… here’s hoping.

This is more of a “test post” since the August, 2018, decision by FB to make it difficult to share content from blogs such as this one. We’ll see if it works.

If it does, enjoy the image below:

Views from the window… feeling very Jimmy Stewart about it all… but less criminal. After all, the police station is down there, too!

Today’s light is nothing like this, though…

This blog’s name, as some might know, started out as a joking riff on a song by John Cale (“At Half Past France” John Cale, “Paris, 1919” for those following along at home) and was intended to share a journey of two people, as seen from the perspective of one of them.

Landing in France, situated in a village in the Pas de Calais so tiny it no longer had a bus stop on the regional system, the title seemed to suggest something, but now I’m not sure exactly what. A joke? A veiled prophecy?

Today, I am as far from Paris as France is wide, in a town that was compared to Paris, by German writer, for its arts and natural surroundings. And it’s an old town, just as Paris is, with its medieval nooks and crannies, mysteries, and stories.

Less than a hundred meters away, stands a building built in 1165 (Nikolaikirche), serving as a focal point and a landmark.

And in December, there was plenty happening in the neighborhood, most especially the Leipziger Weihnachtsmarkt, the annual Christmas market here.

It’s among the oldest in Germany, and one of the best known, so there’s plenty of tourists and day-trippers who come to take it all in. Lots of history, even the recipes… I mean, even the Flammküchen are historical!

Of course, there are plenty of photo-ops if you are paying attention, no matter which way you look.

This group was greatly amused when I showed them the series of images I’d made of them. I was using the 12mm lens, so I had to get in close to do these… it was not a subtle street photo but very much in their faces.

All shapes, sizes, and modes of transportation — being so close to the Hauptbahnhof, it was an easy walk or scooter ride to the Market. And, of course, you could dress any way you wanted.

“FROMAGE!”

 

Her word for 2019 is “Challenge.” And so we will…

Only this, and little more:

One tiny blue horse, one very big heart

A tiny blue horse for the coming Year of the Boar (05 February).