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The Faithful Traveler

Mudlarks at work along the Thames

History is once again in the making again along the timeless river Thames, London’s river highway.  One of our Olympics delights during the opening ceremonies was watching football/soccer superstar David Beckham carry the torch along the Thames in a speedboat. 

It was just another event for the old man river that’s seen millennia of history already. The Thames is liquid history, say some Brits. And it continues to yield fascinating evidence of its eventful past to diggers known as “mudlarks” or “mud men” – those chaps who for generations have scavenged the Thames for saleable items. More recently, the diggers have uncovered artifacts that are now on display in the Museum of London, the BritishMuseum, and other austere harbingers of culture and history.

Among the valuables: pilgrim’s badges – souvenirs brought back by medieval faith travelers who trekked to shrines of saints in Canterbury and other popular medieval pilgrimage sites in Spain and France. The badges were once mass-produced in pewter and other materials. Thomas Becket was one of the most popular saints depicted on the badges.  Some badges depicted the shrine sites. 

A pewter pilgrim badge

Pewter or lead pilgrim badges were very popular in the period of about 1350 to 1450 AD, and were worn on hats and clothing. The sale of the badges at shrines brought income to the sites and helped reduce pilfering of shrine parts. The badges were also early tourism advertising because they encouraged others to visit the shrines and brought revenue to local traders. They were also proof that one had indeed visited a holy site and was therefore a true pilgrim. 

By the early 16^th century, pilgrimages were in decline as the church came under attack for corruption and the Protestant Reformation swept Europe. As England became Protestant, pilgrimage was held in contempt as superstitious and idolatrous. And lots of pilgrim badges ended up in the river Thames.

Ottawa’s Rideau Canal by night

 DC isn’t North America’s only national capital with plenty of summertime diversions for visitors. Right now, Canada’s Ottawa has events, sites, and exhibitions for guests, including faith travelers and other culture vultures. 

Right now affordable air fares by Porter Airlines  out of several U.S. cities make Ottawa a right-now attractive summertime vacation destination for a weekend or longer.  

What’s interesting right now for the summer traveler in this picturesque city that’s bisected by the Rideau Canal? 

The Ottawa Chamberfest is one of the world’s largest chamber music festivals, and its events and musical styles are on the city’s calendar from July 26 through August 9. On calendar is an array from string to Creole sounds, with many city churches providing the platforms.

Ottawa Chamberfest

 Through September 3, the magnificent Canadian Museum of Civilization offers the “God(s) A User’s Guide,  an exhibition from Europe that explores the diversity and similarities among mankind’s contemporary religious practices. 

Also in this museum is St. Onuphrius Church, a Ukranian church originally from Alberta province. It was constructed during the era of 1830 until about 1930 when many Eastern Europeans immigrated to Canadian prairielands. The church was donated by the congregation and reassembled, complete with ritual objects, décor and furnishings. 

While you’re in the museum, be sure to see the First Nations totem poles, prehistoric weapons, textiles and tools of 16^th-century New France, otherwise known today as Quebec and other North American areas France colonized in the 16th-18^th centuries. 

Ottawa’s don’t-miss anytime stops for faith travelers include the Rideau Street Convent Chapel inside the National Gallery of Canada  The chapel was part of a teaching convent, and was saved in 1972 from demolition and reconstructed in the gallery. Dating to 1887, its marbled cast-iron columns, altars, balcony, windows and soaring fan vaults are a unique example of Canadian ecclesiastical architecture. Through August 26, Janet Cardiff’s 40 voices of recorded choir music in the space sets a spiritual mood.

Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica is Ottawa’s oldest standing and largest church. Located across the street from the National Gallery, its early 19^th century construction took 40 years. The interior was completed later, and though it resembles marble, it’s actually painted wood. This church is one of five in Ottawa which display the award-winning creativity of stained glass master artist Guido Nicheri, who was honored by Pope Pius XI in 1933 for his work.

Elsewhere on the culture grid, Ottawa visitors stroll the grounds of Parliament Hill and watch the morning Changing of the Guard. One of Canada’s oldest food stops is ByWard Market. It’s been running since 1826, and its 260 stalls serve up a variety of meat, seafood, and prepared foods. It contains over 80 restaurants, pubs, and dessert stops.

For outdoors activities any time of year, there’s the Rideau Canal. Summertime brings tour boats with guides who narrate the city’s heritage and features, while cyclists cover nearly 100 miles of trail bordering the canal. In the cold months, the frozen canal becomes an ice rink for both recreation and transport.

For trip planning, go to OttawaTourism.

Travel ministry serves all ages

Some people say Moses was the first tour leader. He led the Israelites out of Egypt into their Promised Land.

A more contemporary travel leader was Thomas Cook, the mid-19^th century Baptist minister and traveling evangelist. His first project was to use new railway transport from Leicester, England to Loughborough – for 600 people willing to attend a temperance rally. Travel was a significant tool in his ministry to combat alcoholism.

Cook went on to bigger things beyond the temperance train as he pioneered modern international tourism. But he saw early on the value of using travel in his ministry. 

“As is so often true, when we take a closer look at history, we find that one many trying to carry out a Christian work improved conditions for everyone,” said christianity.com author Dan Graves. “A whole industry exists, thanks in large measure to Thomas Cook and his temperance vision.” 

Fast forward to now, and we find travel ministry is once again on the grow. Yet some still ask why a church or other faith organization would want to start one. 

For one thing, it changes lives, say those who do it. 

“People who travel and pray together form a very deep fellowship bond,” says Lori Jurans with Faith in Travel, a company that works with churches and Christian organizations to develop and enrich travel ministries. Faith ministry is about people who travel together for spiritual experiences. They might visit sites associated with their faith heritage, or they may travel or cruise together just for fun with fellow believers. 

Jurans offers ten reasons for forming a travel ministry:

• Deepens one’s faith in God
• Builds fellowship and enlivens a community
• Creates a closer bond between church/organization leaders and members
• Enables members to experience the Christian faith and sites firsthand
• Makes Christian history, heritage, and culture come alive
• Provides a Christian vacation option
• Appeals to all ages including retirees, families, couples, singles, and youth
• Offers outreach opportunities to inactive or nonmembers
• Presents a chance to see the world and God’s creation
• Provides the opportunity to learn about world history, events, cultures, politics, and people

Roger McCurry, a former pastor and founder/president of Koinonia Travel & Tours agrees. “Faith travel inspires, educates, refreshes and renews, creates fellowship, and strengthens faith,” he declared. “It helps a church accomplish its stated mission and minister to the total person – which touches a the physical, mental, and social self. It’s also a way to reach out to those with friendship and evangelism who are not in the church.” 

Faith travel ministry covers a spectrum of travel styles for individuals and groups – including pilgrimage, retreats, conferences, cruises, mission trips, and youth trips, to name a few. And it’s not just about those exotic locations on the far side of the Mediterranean. Destinations near and far figure into the equation as well. Churches can do a faith tour of Washington, DC or Lancaster, Pennsylvania that will enrich lives in the same way one to the Holy Land does. Live theaters that present faith-focused programs, historic churches and cathedrals, museums, and retreat centers are among the places groups may visit for memorable encounters. 

A recent religious travel survey by TravelStyles and the Globus family of brands found that 35 percent of all outbound travelers are interested in taking a religious vacation. And 17 percent of those respondents hope to do in the coming five years. 

“It’s the memorable spiritual stories you ‘live’ on faith-based vacations that give you the chance to do more than simply see the world’s greatest sights,” said Michael Shields, managing director of groups and emerging markets for Globus brands. 

Once you get your travel ministry going, you may one day be able to look back as Derrell Frye of NorthAcresBaptistChurch in Knoxville does on the journey of his Happy Travelers group. Frye started the ministry in 1988 with 32 people for a day’s bus trip to Chattanooga’s Tennessee Aquarium. Now participants represent over 80 churches, and Happy Travelers owns its own 55-passenger motorcoach. Frye says travel has done a lot to accomplish the church’s ministry to spread the Gospel. 

“Happy Travelers has been in every state this side of the Mississippi except Florida,” said Frye, “and as far west as the Dakotas. Mostly, we do day trips. We now send out over 600 newsletters each month to tell people about upcoming trips. We are non-profit and do rely some on contributions from our partners to keep costs down. This is, afterall, a ministry.”

Anassa Hotel luxury in Cyprus

 With its record-setting number of visitors this year,Israelmay remain the center of theHoly Landregion for faith travelers who want to walk where Jesus and His disciples walked and taught. But there’s much more to experience in nearby countries like Cyprus.  

As one of the Mediterranean’s most historic and beautiful islands,Cyprus is a sun and sea companion destination that’s only about an hour by air from Tel Aviv orAmman. Also,Cyprusenjoys good relations withIsrael, free of political or military strife, and it’s filled with biblical significance – notably the Apostle Paul’s contributions to the faith. Because the nation was once part of theUnited Kingdom, English is readily spoken throughout. 

When the apostle Paul embarked on his first missionary journey, he took Cypriot-born Barnabas with him. They sailed fromAntiochand landed first at the Cyprus port of Salamis in the eastern Mediterranean. On the island they met John Mark and a community of Jewish believers who had taken refuge there after the martyrdom of Steven. 

Paul and Barnabas traveled and preached the Gospel throughout Cyprus as far as Paphos, the island’s capital on the west coast.Cyprus was where Saul was first referred to as “Paul,” a Hellenized version of the Hebrew name. 

Visitors to this eastern Mediterranean island find lots of sparkling coastal beauty, along with layers of secular and biblical history left by Greeks, Crusaders, Ottoman Turks and the apostles. Archaeological sites, Byzantine art and early church history are in the mix. 

Salamis – Paul’s landing site – there is a Roman theater, stadium, agora and several early Christian churches. Although it is not historically verifiable, tradition says Barnabas was martyred at Salamis in AD 61. In Larnaca there’s Panagia Aggeloktisiti, the oldest known church in Cyprus dating to the 6^th century. Another Larnaca stop for faith travelers is the Tomb of Lazarus, which is in a crypt beneath The Church of Aylos Lazaros. 

Paphos is where the magician Elymas (Bar-Jesus) – a Jewish false prophet – opposed Paul who then rebuked and temporarily blinded him. It is also location of St. Paul’s Pillar, a stone column tradition says Paul was tied to when he was whipped with “40 lashes less one” (2 Cor. 11:24-25). Tomb of the Kings is an ancient underground necropolis carved from rock whose chambers were a refuge for early Christians during the time of persecutions. The Monastery of St. Neophytos is a grotto created in 1159 by a monk who cut it out by hand. The site has fine frescoes from the 12^th to the 15^th centuries. 

On the route between Salamisand Paphos, there’s Limassol. Most visitors stop at the rock there which marks the mythological birthplace of Aphrodite, ancient Goddess of Love and Beauty.Cyprus was an important pilgrimage center for the ancient world’s worship of the goddess.

For more information on touringCyprus, go to visitcyprus.com.

St. Davids Cathedral

Travelers go to Wales for golf, castle and walking tours around some of this UK sector’s stunning scenery like Snowdonia National Park. Others glimpse landscapes inhabited by British royals or tug on their Welsh family roots. Travelers with a penchant for famous Welsh citizens past and present pay homage to notables such as Dylan Thomas, Anthony Hopkins, or Richard Burton, to name a few. 

Faith travelers have even more to explore in Wales, say Church of Wales leaders.

Bishops and their parishioners are spotlighting pilgrimages near and far during 2012 and 2013. Part of the motivation is a discernible uptick in visitations to Welsh holy sites like St. Winefride’s Holy Well in Flintshire. Nuns from the Order of the Most Holy Saviour of Saint Bridget have opened a guest house to accommodate pilgrims and visitors to the well. 

Throughout its craggy, beautiful interior and coastline, Wales has about as many active churches and ruins of ancient churches as it does castles. Along the way, there’s lots of ecclesiastical heritage, legend and lore to explore. 

Why are the Welsh promoting pilgrimage? 

Pilgrimage, said Wales’ Bishop Dominic Walker of Monmouth Diocese, can be an outward expression of the personal inward spiritual journey. “We are aware that we are a sacramental people and that the outward expression of that journey is also important in nurturing that inner reality,” he said.

Walker proclaimed this year a time to visit holy sites in the homeland and Bible destinations around the Mediterranean and elsewhere. 

Wales’ St. Asaph Diocese is making next year its time to “forge links with holy places and promote religious tourism in north Wales- which is location for the North Wales Pilgrim’s Way. That route begins at Bvasingwerk Abbey in Greenfield, Flintshire and links to a pilgrim route on the Lleyn peninsula, ending at nearby BardseyIsland.  

A landscape in Pembrokeshire, Wales

Some of Wales’ most famous holy sites include Tintern Abbey in the southeast region, which inspired poetic output from both William Wordsworth and Alfred Lord Tennyson. The 12^th century Cistercian abbey remains a romantic, picturesque ruin where visitors may imagine monastic life in the Middle Ages. Gothic in style, Tintern invites contemplation about the days before King Henry VIII devastated monasteries around Britain in the mid-16^th century. 

St. David’s Cathedral is one of Britain’s oldest and grandest, and it stands on the western Pembrokeshire coast where a sixth century monastery was founded by David, a Celtic monk. It survived plunder in the “Dark Ages” by Norsemen, and was a major pilgrimage destination throughout the Middle Ages and remains a thriving church today. Notable among its features is the carved Irish oak wooden ceiling from the 16^th century. A wooden crucifix or rood is suspended from the ceiling in a 20^th century replacement of the medieval version. 

The Welsh celebrate St. David, their patron saint, on March 1 – the date of his death in 589 AD. 

Nick Mayhew Smith profiles about 40 Welsh sites in his excellent handbook, Britain’s holiest places, an essential guide and reference for the faith traveler.  

And if you have Welsh heritage, keep in mind that your ancestors may have been among those who began transporting their faith expressions to North America in the 17^th century. Some of them took their Baptist traditions to the Plymouth-RhodeIsland region in the 1660’s. Quakers, Reformists and Mormons set down their traditions elsewhere. 

As a descendant of those early arrivals, you can return to the “old country” to find church records your people left before they departed for new lives and freedom from religious persecution. Besides online resources such as ancestry.com, there’s The National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth which has the largest collection of Welsh family records in the country. There’s also the option of hiring a professional genealogist to research your family’s origins and help you map out a tour itinerary for the quest.

Voluntourism in Ghana

Whether it’s souvenirs they buy in the local market, or experiences they recall for a lifetime, most travelers want to take home something that reminds them of destinations they’ve touched. 

Some are taking home even more these days by giving back to nations and communities they visit.

 “There are amazing benefits for those interested in volunteering overseas,” says govoluntouring.com founder Aaron Smith. “Not only is there a sense of fulfillment, which may be hard to explain to those that haven’t gone yet, but there is a deeper cultural connection. It comes from learning. It comes from meeting new people, sharing challenges, and knocking down the walls of prejudice and stereotypes.” 

Voluntourism blends volunteer efforts with traveling abroad say those who advocate it. And those who participate are sometimes surprised at how much they get back from giving of themselves. It’s a way to build human bridges across the chasms of ethnic, political and religious divisions that contribute to the world’s problems. Projects range from engagement for a few hours to several days or even weeks. 

Even luxury-loving cruisers are getting in on the voluntourism trend worldwide as cruise companies and cruise organizers combine onboard relax and pamper with optional giveback projects ashore. These might include beach cleanup or building/repairing infrastructure in a port. Some cruises incorporate fundraising events into the floating itinerary, such as an onboard walkathon at sea to benefit a charity. Other voluntour cruises are arranged by groups who charter the ship specifically for the purpose of doing projects along the way – like delivering supplies to impoverished countries. 

For many faith and ministry groups, voluntourism is nothing new. But it’s on the grow with these organizations. 

American Jewish World Service (AJWS) inNew York Cityorganizes cross-cultural group programs for high school, college and rabbinical students to learn, serve and travel in Africa, Asia and theAmericas. AJWS partners with grassroots organizations to meld education, community connections and tourism as it honors its objectives of promoting human rights, equality and social justice. 

“We’ve been sending groups for many years to Ghana,” says Alexis Kort, program officer for summer programs, “to do things like build infrastructure in communities. Besides the projects we do, we take groups to visit slave fortresses so they learn about the slave trade history and how it impacted the country they are in. We also go into national parks for activities like canopy walks in the jungle or visits to animal sanctuaries. We also have Shabbat with local Jewish communities – this is all very meaningful and educational for young people.”  Kort added that AJWS programs are not meant for Jewish people to go abroad and just hang out with other Jews. “While we might have Shabbat with local Jews in a country we are in, our purpose is to serve all those need our help.” 

Faith travelers may mine their own ministry organizations for ways to help. Or, they can find opportunities through national tourism organizations such as the Jordan Tourism Board North America (JTBNA). 

The range of Jordan’s options include these: 

• Wadi Musa Handicapped Society – The center provides academic and vocational training for children who are physically or mentally handicapped. Visitors may help in classes with handicrafts, music and other activities with language translators on hand.
• Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature – This non-governmental organization conserves and manages Jordan’s wilderness areas and has projects for volunteers that range from helping locals create herb farms to doing bird and wildlife censuses.
• Abraham Path/Al Ayoun Hiking Trail – this multi-faith, multi-cultural hiking trail is now being surveyed and a portion near the Ajloun Nature Reserve is already in use. Volunteers are needed to build infrastructure and help acquaint rural Jordanians about benefits they’ll receive from development of the trail. 

Malia Asfour, JTBNA director, is a voluntourism advocate who believes the concept is a traveler’s ticket to meaningful hands-on experiences in Jordan. 

“It is a concept that we’re working on promoting as a means of enriching the travel experience in Jordan,” says Asfour. “Visitors go beyond the adventures of sightseeing to more meaningful experiences of engaging with the communities themselves.”

Armenia’s Geghard monastery

Ancient stone walls hang off cliffs overlooking the beautiful Azat River Gorge inArmenia. Grounds of the Geghard Monastery hold monastic cells and several small churches, cut from surrounding rock during the 11th century. Visitors can almost hear the chanting monks whose pious steps have worn valleys into the stone steps. 

Towering cliffs surround the Geghard at the head of the Azat valley. The monastery dates to the 4th century, according to tradition by St Gregory the Illuminator who led his people into Christianity. Arabs destroyed the first enclave in the 9th century, but another was flourishing by the 13th century. Its relics – such as the spear which had wounded Christ as He hung on the Cross – drew pilgrims for centuries and fame to the site. Relics of the Apostles Andrew and John were added in the 12th century.

 But there’s more to Armenia’s contributions to Christian heritage than ancient monasteries in beautiful settings. 

This country which lies west of Turkey between Eastern Europe and Western Asia was the first to adopt the Christian faith in 301 A.D. several years before Constantine I declared it the Roman Empire’s official religion. Yet it’s best known today today for the tragic genocide its people endured in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, not for its role in establishing the early Church.

As the Christian world prepares to celebrate 1,700 years of the faith in 2013, Armenia deserves attention and visits by faith travelers excited by a “new” destination that’s thousands of years old. Even though it’s usually not included in that regional fold called the “Holy Land,” it should be.

Armenia’s population remains 94% Christian – far greater than in western countries like the U.S. The Armenian Apostolic Church, the original church, continues to be independent of both the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches because it rejected early church splits and controversies. It traces its foundation to Jesus’ apostles, Bartholomew and Thaddeus. 

Although the Soviets tried to stamp out Christianity in Armenia by destroying many churches and sites through most of the 20th century, they were not successful. The people held onto their faith in secret, and when the Soviet Union fell, they set about rebuilding and adding churches such as a new cathedral in the capital city of Yerevan for 2,500 worshippers. 

So what engages the faith traveler in Armenia? 

For one thing, it’s the stories of the people’s faith resilience through centuries of onslaught, including the Russian Czar’s attempts in the late 19th century to force the people to assimilate their ancient Armenian Apostolic Church into the Russian Orthodox tradition. 

The stalwart walls, arches, and compartments of UNESCO World Heritage Sites like Geghard Monastery associated with Christianity are the headline attractions, as are arresting views of Mount Ararat – the resting place for Noah’sArkfollowing the Great Flood as recorded in Genesis, Chapter 8. 

Other faith heritage sites include the cathedral of Echmiadzin and the archaeological site of Zvartnots; the monasteries of Sanahin and “Haghpat” – which means “strong walls” in Armenian. Strong walls indeed. Begun in 967, those walls have been chiseled and changed by succeeding generations, and they’ve withstood onslaughts by Egyptian Mameluks, Kurds, Turks, Mongols, Ottomans, Persians, Russians. . .and others. Religious murals and paintings were mostly removed in the Soviet era, yet remnants do remain. 

Armenia’s pleasing what else for the traveler includes connections with the locals in voluntour projects, and tours of majestic alpine scenery and pristine highlands. The country’s cuisine and other cultural pieces reflect its crossroads locale along the Great Silk Road between Europe and Asia. That its culture has survived and thrived through the centuries pulls the traveler who finds soulful satisfaction in time travel and a touchpoint with the most ancient beginnings of Christianity. 

Trip planning and tour resources are available from the Armenian Tourism Development Agency (ATDA) and armeniainfo.am.  ATDA answers questions about lodging, transportation and things to do, as well as Armenian tour operators who work directly with travel agents and providers in North America and elsewhere.

Moses was the first tour leader

Rabbi Peter E. Tarlow is a busy man. He’s director of Texas A&M Hillel (foundation for Jewish campus life), a tourism safety expert, speaker and consultant, and founder of “Tourism & More Inc.,” his tourism security training firm.

Rabbi Tarlow’s recently offered his unique perspectives in an essay published in The Bryan-College Station Eagle about why he connects religion and tourism. As America celebrates National Tourism Month in May, Tarlow’s insightful comments about why we travel are especially timely.  

“I remind people that Moses was the first group tour leader, taking us on an extended 40-year journey across theSinai Peninsula,” said Tarlow. “I also note that the founder of the cruise industry was another Biblical character. Noah, whose name in Hebrew means: ‘to rest.’ Despite my tongue-in-check comments, the careful Biblical scholar knows there is much more that connects travel and tourism in faith.” 

And then there was Abraham, the first Hebrew or “ivri,” said Tarlow. “Today’s tourism is the child of those early Hebrews, he explains. “”The process continues in the Abrahamic tradition of caring for those who seek to explore and rejuvenate their souls.” 

As people of faith, Tarlow continues, we understand all of us are on a journey through life; all of us are tourists on this planet as it spins around our sun. 

“Tourism is much more than merely hotels and restaurants and fun and games,” he added. “It is the understanding that we are all brothers and sisters traveling on a mere rock through the seas of time.” 

Thanks, Rabbi Tarlow. Let’s all salute our friends in tourism, the $700 billion industry that is in the top five private employers in the country, with over 10 million workers. 

Keep on travelin’ and “mazal tov!!”

Leipzig's St. Thomas choir celebrates 800 years

 Any choir with 800 years of tradition and a director who was Johann Sebastian Bach is certainly worth celebrating. Throughout this year,Leipzig- one ofEurope’s major centers of music – is doing exactly that.  

The St. Thomas Boys’ choir is Leipzig’s oldest cultural asset. Bach was its most famous choirmaster during the years he  lived and worked in Leipzig from 1723 until his 1750 death. It’s one leg of THOMANA, the triad of St. Thomas Church (believing), St. Thomas Boys Choir (singing) and St. Thomas School (learning). 

Enter the church for one of this year’s events, and you’ll see and hear the organ the master Bach played. Celebrations will peak in September and October/November with Jubilee Weeks.  

Other musical giants also resided in Leipzig- Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy; Clara and Robert Schumann; and Richard Wagner.  

Mendelssohn’s home from 1835 to 1847 is open for tour.  Schumann Haus is another musical history stop for stories about Robert and Clara Schumann. The Museum of Musical Instruments is another must see for those with more than a passing interest in instrumentation.  The world’s oldest intact pianoforte is among the 5,000 pieces dating from the Middle Ages to the present. 

Leipzig also has significant modern political history. The city made its mark on history October 8, 1989, when a “Peaceful Revolution” occurred among 70,000 citizens who gathered in the city center to demand reforms from the East German communist regime.  They said prayers for peace inside St. Nicholas Church, the city’s oldest, and filled the streets in what the beginning of a grassroots movement to re-unify Germany.  Several riveting pieces of sculpture in the city center portray the people’s struggle for freedom.  

Students of the Cold War find theStasi Museum of great interest.  Exhibits reveal how the Stasi (secret police) of the former German Democratic Republic spied on the people.  The Leipzig Forum of Contemporary History in the heart of downtown is dedicated to the history of the old communist regime.  English labels are absent in both museums, but English brochures fill in some of the visual blanks.  

Boutiques and stores in the city’s center draw some visitors to buy or merely survey local merchandise. One of the most interesting areas for retailing is Specks Hof, a former exhibition district that now holds small shops and cafes to augment nearby department stores and the fresh Tuesday and Friday produce array inMarket Square. 

For more information about Leipzig’s celebration year, consult the German National Tourist Office at 212.661-7200 or www.germany-tourism.de. Concert and festival information are at http://www.bachfestleipzig.de  and www.thomana2012.com).