We didn’t get home till 1am last night, so we were off to a slower start this morning. Ready to explore our immediate area a little closer, we grabbed our Rick Steves Germany guide (we’ve also used the Lonely Planet this trip and it’s been a good accompaniment) and did a little guided walking tour of the area.

The tour mostly focussed on the reconstructed buildings of the old Saxon Kings, including baroque palaces, giant old churches, opera houses and old battlements that now serve as tourist lookouts. A couple of soviet era buildings, including the Palace of Culture with its Marxist depictions of German history carved in iron on the doors, rounded out a lovely walking tour that we completed at a lazy, satisfying pace. Everything in this part of town is so close together, it really is quite special.

While the tour itself was fun, it was the small things we stumbled on along the way that made it special. A sausage sizzle with a big band playing celebrating the anniversary of something or other. A medieval themed restaurant that also served up delicious, traditional Saxon food. But the discovery in the Catholic Church was the most impressive of all. Built by Augustus II to further ingratiate himself with the Pope and make himself popular enough among the Polish people to become their King, the towering church is not as frequently visited as the Protestant Frauenkirche. However we were curious enough to check out this Catholic monument in Martin Luther country, and we were rewarded with a stunning rehearsal by a choir and orchestra from the local opera! They were setup at the front of the church, and the sound reverberating around the Church hall was breathtaking. We were so inspired we decided to pop down to the local Opera House and buy ourselves a ticket to a Mozart concert on Monday night!

In stark contrast to yesterday’s diversity rally, gathered outside the statue of Martin Luther today was a well organised rally of white nationalists waving flags and chanting slogans that I’m glad I couldn’t understand. Their numbers were modest, but their prescence was strong. Guess wee shouldn’t get too comfortable.

Stay vigilant, comrades!

Post-script: Took a little stroll later and was blocked by the fascist rally. Glad it happened, my detour led me to the anti-fascist rally – young people with middle fingers raised and punk music blaring out of the back of a truck. My people.

Fuck fascists forever.