Beds at the Avalon Hotel in Gross Kreutz were good and so was the breakfast. Even had bacon and eggs, in addition to the usual German fare. By 8:30 we were heading south on the Autobahn towards Leipzig. Arrived less than 2 hours later and found a parkade right away near our first destination. That was the Thomaskirche, where J.S. Bach (see pic) conducted the boys choir and composed most of his music from 1723 to 1750. Apparently a new composition for every Sunday -- amazing!

From there we went to visit the Stasi Museum located in the former Leipzig district headquarters of the East German secret police. Very interesting displays of their actual interrogation rooms, some of the equipment they used (e.g. telephone tapping devices, mail opening/resealing devices, bulk paper shedders) among other things. Makes you thankful to live in a free country!

By then we were getting a little hungry, so we had a light lunch at a restaurant with outdoor sidewalk seating. By this time it had also warmed up beautifully -- high 20s and sunny. After a quick stroll through the farmers' market in the market square, where we admired the fresh "spargel" (white asparagus) for sale, we headed over to the Bach museum. The is a relatively new museum with lots of interactive displays, which Sherry really enjoyed. Some of them allowed you to listen to Bach's music in various ways.

Then it was time to get on the Autobahn again, for the remainder of our journey to Prague. We were expecting some sort of border crossing and Czech toll road (according to the GPS) but nothing. We realized we must be in the Czech Republic when the road signs started appearing in Czech.

We arrived at the Avion Hotel (somewhat outside of central Prague) at about 7:30 and checked in. So far all the "3 star" hotels I researched and booked on line have been very good. Nothing to complain about at all.

We had dinner at the restaurant adjoining the hotel. The food was quite good, despite a few "not possibles" which we've once again had to become accustomed to in Germany and now in Prague also.

Ron and Evelyn are keeping up with us quite well (considering they are 20 years our senior) and they seem to be really enjoying themselves.