Wilkietours are familiar with DDR history from trips to Berlin and several other East European countries, so Baz, Colin, Alan, Phil, Clive, Patrick and Tony readily signed up when a tour to Saxony was proposed by Wilkie.
After the short flight into Berlin's Tegel airport we picked up our 8-seater and headed south to Leipzig. After a walkabout around the old town centre we made our way to the railway station for the train to Zwickau. We bought tickets from the ticket office for seats in the stand adjacent to the home end for 21 Euros. Mid table Zwickau were playing struggling SG Sonnehof Grossaspach from Aspach in a 3 Liga game. The home forwards couldn't hit a barn door; the visitors secured a single goal victory with a header from a corner after about an hour's play.
Saturday morning we took a tram ride out to the railway 'museum' at Plagwitz, which is free entry but only open to the public on Saturdays. Afterwards we visited the impressive DDR museum back in the centre before taking a tram to the Sportsforum Sud stop for the afternoon game at the RB Arena. Our seats were high above the half-way line with an excellent view of the playing surface. Mainz 05 were the visitors for this Bundesliga clash. RB proceeded to chalk up the goals in this one-sided fixture, their quick, incisive play leading to a resounding 8-0 victory in front of an appreciative crowd.
The main feature of our weekend was to see Lokomotive Leipzig at the Bruno Plache Stadion, 'Das Bruno' to the fans, it is one of the oldest grounds in Germany. The iconic wooden main stand was built in 1932, and Wilkietours can confirm that the old stand is carpeted! Lokomotive's opponents for the early Sunday afternoon kick off were FSV Union Furstenwalde. The teams entered the playing area to the sound of a steam train; the home side took an early lead but found themselves 2-1 down by half-time after a couple of errors led to a penalty award, and defensive somnolence enabled an unchallenged header from a corner. Loko equalised with a well struck free-kick from outside the box and the game finished 2-2. On our return tram ride we stopped off at the very impressive memorial to the Battle of Nations (1813), completed in 1913.
On Monday morning we headed south-east of Liepzig to visit Colditz Castle. We took a two hour tour before heading north to Berlin and the return flight to Gatwick from Berlin's Schoenefeld airport.
A return trip is definitely on the cards, firstly to experience a steam railway excursion into the mountains that we intended to experience this time, secondly to get a couple of games in, possibly at Chemie Leipzig in the north of the city and a trip out to Dynamo Dresden.
After the short flight into Berlin's Tegel airport we picked up our 8-seater and headed south to Leipzig. After a walkabout around the old town centre we made our way to the railway station for the train to Zwickau. We bought tickets from the ticket office for seats in the stand adjacent to the home end for 21 Euros. Mid table Zwickau were playing struggling SG Sonnehof Grossaspach from Aspach in a 3 Liga game. The home forwards couldn't hit a barn door; the visitors secured a single goal victory with a header from a corner after about an hour's play.
Saturday morning we took a tram ride out to the railway 'museum' at Plagwitz, which is free entry but only open to the public on Saturdays. Afterwards we visited the impressive DDR museum back in the centre before taking a tram to the Sportsforum Sud stop for the afternoon game at the RB Arena. Our seats were high above the half-way line with an excellent view of the playing surface. Mainz 05 were the visitors for this Bundesliga clash. RB proceeded to chalk up the goals in this one-sided fixture, their quick, incisive play leading to a resounding 8-0 victory in front of an appreciative crowd.
The main feature of our weekend was to see Lokomotive Leipzig at the Bruno Plache Stadion, 'Das Bruno' to the fans, it is one of the oldest grounds in Germany. The iconic wooden main stand was built in 1932, and Wilkietours can confirm that the old stand is carpeted! Lokomotive's opponents for the early Sunday afternoon kick off were FSV Union Furstenwalde. The teams entered the playing area to the sound of a steam train; the home side took an early lead but found themselves 2-1 down by half-time after a couple of errors led to a penalty award, and defensive somnolence enabled an unchallenged header from a corner. Loko equalised with a well struck free-kick from outside the box and the game finished 2-2. On our return tram ride we stopped off at the very impressive memorial to the Battle of Nations (1813), completed in 1913.
On Monday morning we headed south-east of Liepzig to visit Colditz Castle. We took a two hour tour before heading north to Berlin and the return flight to Gatwick from Berlin's Schoenefeld airport.
A return trip is definitely on the cards, firstly to experience a steam railway excursion into the mountains that we intended to experience this time, secondly to get a couple of games in, possibly at Chemie Leipzig in the north of the city and a trip out to Dynamo Dresden.
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