Bremen

Easy to get to Bremen by train from the cruise terminal. It all went very smoothly.

Uschi and I checked in and then headed out to explore Bremen. I had heard from Dennis , who was there at uni, that  it was a great place, and it was. I could totally understand why it would suit students, but at same time would suit most people. 

 

It is a city renowned for thefairytale story of the musicians of Bremen.

 

You can see how often the donkey is touched, can't you?

The beautiful main market square reminded me of the main square in Talin. How beautiful, and not too busy. 

 

I was particularly keen to visit the area of Snoor, a very picturesque part of the old town with buildings dating back to the 14 th century. I spent hours in this beautiful pedestrian area with its quaint little shops and narrow alleyways. 

 

Here a beautiful placard depicting life in the early days here at Snoor, and a first taste for me of Platt Deutsch.

What a fascinating language it is.

 

Translated: 'Why are you looking at me like that?  Was that your mouse?' 😄

In one of the many quirky corners I found the Bremen musicians theatre, with its own more colourful version of a statue of the 4 animals.

 

I didn' t want to leave Snoor/Schnoor, so spent a long time at a table outside a super little restaurant in the centre of the maze of streets , watching people go by. It was fantastic.

 

I then chose to get away from town and walked around all the magnificent park areas which surround the old town. I quicky realised how very much I had missed trees and flowers over the past 23 days. 

These flowers, belonging to the crocus family, flower  in autumn and with the sun just catching them looked gorgeous

 

Close up, even better! I cannot inagine a life without grass,  trees and flowers.

 

On the way back I stopped at a street bar overlooking the Weser river. There was an area full of pubs and bars, full of young people enjoying the early evening warmth and sun. It was so great to see young people again and hear them laughing and chatting loudly. You can guess the average age on the ship if I say how young I felt there 😄

In the evening Uschi and I returned to the same restaurant where I had lunch and had a great meal outside - such a wonderful, restful atmosphere in those tiny streets, almost deserted at night.

 

Bremen, a fantastic way to return to land!