Monday 18 May. Cottbus

Even though my train wasn’t due until about 10.45, I was packed and ready by 9.00 so walked to the station at a very leisurely pace. When I got there I noticed a couple of taxis, so “What the heck!” thinks I, and I ask the driver to take me to the Baumkuchen factory. He said he wouldn’t wait for me there but that they would call him to pick me up.

He didn’t actually take me to the one I’d asked for but it didn’t matter. I went in to the little shop and asked about seeing the cakes being made. (The other factory does tours I believe.) Max, the lovely young man behind the counter said he’d check with his father even though they weren’t baking today. Dad said yes, so in no time I had a paper hair net and gown and he was taking me right through the whole place and telling me all about it.

After thanking Max so much for his kindness I thought I’d better buy a cake, so I got the smallest one they have and shoved it into the top of my backpack. Max had called my taxi and back he came to take me to the station. I still had tons of time waiting on the platform, which was quite pleasant as the weather has been almost warm today.

The first train, a fast intercity, took me to Berlin HBF (main station) and the second was a regional train so much slower and that took me to Cottbus. After failing to get my first Uber, I took a taxi to my accommodation which is quite a long way from the station, in the older part of the town.

Broken glass at the front door didn’t impress me and nor did 3 huge flights of stairs up to my apartment. Fortunately I bought a ham and cheese roll for later while was in Berlin, as I’m certainly not going down and up those stairs again tonight. Once at the door I spent ages trying to unlock it with no luck and contacted the owner to that effect. A few messages back and forth and just when the owner was about to come here and help I got it open. I was deadlocking and undeadlocking instead of just unlocking.

A cup of tea, a piece of Baumkuchen and a good WhatsApp chat to Smith and I was revived. My apartment is huge with a bedroom, kitchen, bathroom and living room. The building must be really old as there’s a kachelofen (tiled stove) in the corner of the living room. 

Sunday 17 May. Salzwedel

You will see from the photos that Sunday in Salzwedel is BIG. You take your life in your hands crossing the street. Nevertheless, after failing to do my washing at the laundromat that was closed, I set out to explore the town sights.

The Steintor, from around 1530, is one of the old town gates and is very close to where I’m staying. There is a very old door built into the inside wall of the gate and I’m sure that’s where they stow the prisoners or stash the gold.

A second gate is called the Neuperver Tor and nearby you can see the old red brick town wall. There are little streams all around and I wonder if they formed a moat as they seem to be right by the walls. Near this gate there is also an old water tower.

I wasn’t very hungry after a huge sort of open sandwich for lunch but decided to go out for dinner as I have a big travel day tomorrow. I ended up at a kebab place because, you guessed it, everything else seemed to be closed. 

Wandering back afterwards I poked my nose through the old coach entrance to the back of my Pension and found quite a large yard. The rear of my building has a white tower attached and there were other buildings in there, as well as a memorial stone to Otto von Bismarck.

Early tomorrow morning I was planning to race down to the factory where they make the Baumkuchen and then race back to collect my luggage and get to the train, but I’ve changed my mind. If it isn’t closed (!), it will have only just opened and they will probably still be setting up so there won’t be much to see. Instead, I’m putting a link to a YouTube clip about Baumkuchen for anyone who is interested. My curiosity was satisfied when I tried the cake yesterday.

https://youtu.be/-TLnvxbZh00?si=6WPgImaDM6327Bbq

It’s been a funny sort of day and a reminder that Sunday really is a day of rest in Germany.

Saturday 16 May. Salzwedel

No rain this morning so I walked to the station and arrived very early. My original ticket was for 10.15 but Deutsche Bahn had notified me that it would now be 9.15 because of a timetable change. Lots of long weekend travellers once again and what I didn’t realize was that when they changed my train time they didn’t keep my seat booking. So when I got on the train there was someone in my seat who was not about to give it up. This meant standing near the door for an hour and a quarter with the other poor sods who didn’t get a seat. 

I then had about another hour and a half waiting on the platform for the next train and, of course, the one seat on the platform was taken. I was very grateful that my seat was waiting for me on train number 2 (Hamburg to Salzwedel). 

The sun was actually out ( but not for long) as I walked to my accommodation, Pension Hansehof. I have a lovely big room on the ground floor. What luck! I knew there was a cafe that had Baumkuchen on the menu so I decided to go straight there as who knows what will be open tomorrow. In Germany most things close on a Sunday.

I ordered coffee and Baumkuchen and was looking forward to trying the cake I had seen being made on YouTube. (It’s worth a look.) What a disappointment - it was dry and uninteresting. Perhaps it’s best as soon as it comes off the pole it’s cooked on.

It doesn’t matter anyway, as Salzwedel looks like a charming little town and I’ll enjoy exploring tomorrow. I also found a laundromat next to the supermarket so might grab the opportunity to do some washing.

I walked under a clock while returning to Pension Hansehof, and suddenly it started  chiming right above me. As I write this there are church bells ringing too (6 o’clock).

Baumkuchen close up

Friday 15 May. Bremen

I’m glad I opted for the coat this morning as it has rained on and off all day and the wind has been bitter. After yesterday’s research I was able to head straight into the centre of the old town and to my delight it was market day. 

I love looking at all the stalls. Two things featured at the fruit and veg stalls - strawberries and asparagus. It is definitely Spargelzeit (asparagus time). Apparently Germans consume about 1.3 kg of asparagus a year and the meal I had last night was the classic way it’s served, with hollandaise sauce, potatoes and ham.

The bread stall had an amazing variety of breads and I went back there to buy a Laugenbagel mit Käse for lunch. The man with the little coffee van was an artist in his trade and I visited him twice to warm up with a hot chocolate. Bremen has a special history with coffee. In 1673 the Bremen City Council allowed a Dutchman to establish the first coffee house in Germany and Bremen is a still a major importer of coffee.

Having had a good look at the market I set off to find the Bremen Town Musicians. They were surrounded by a crowd and later in the day they were still surrounded by a crowd. I think that most of the first crowd was waiting to set off on a walking tour, but people were taking turns to have their photos taken with the animals. Most people posed touching the donkey’s legs or nose and these were worn to a bright shine.

Böttcherstrasse was an interesting pedestrian arcade that had a decidedly Art Deco feel with a gilt relief called “Bringer of Light” and a carillon made from Meissen Porcelain. I arrived just in time to hear the carillon. From there it was a short walk to the River Weser. This was an important maritime connection as it goes all the way to the North Sea and is why Bremen became part of the Hanseatic League.

The Schnoor Quarter is Bremen’s oldest district. It has alleys of 15th and 16th century houses which are now mostly cafes and shops, packed with people but very pretty.

There is no HOHO bus in Bremen but there is a little sort of train with a couple of carriages. I decided not to be embarrassed about going on a city tour in something that looked like it was for children. The tour was very popular but I had booked a seat earlier in the day so off I went and listened to a German commentary of which I got very little. There was a bit about the war, a bit about Kelloggs cornflakes(?) and a lot of on your right and on your left.

I don’t know who Roland was but his large statue has UNESCO World Heritage status. … And that’s Bremen.

Thursday 14 May. Bremen

Managed to catch two trains to the right places today, an improvement on a previous trip. However I did cause an obstruction trying to find my seat on the second train. The seat numbers jumped from13 to 33 on the left side, where I was looking, but my number 24 was on the right hand side. Anyway the party ladies helped me get organised and everyone else just thought I was stupid - which was not far wrong. 

The party ladies were a group of 11 women coming to Bremen for a long weekend. They were all about the same age so I’m guessing school or university friends.

The weather is cold and drizzly so at least in the trains I wasn’t bothered by the rain. When I arrived in Bremen I nearly went looking for an umbrella to buy but opted for a taxi instead of a longish, wet walk. More rain likely so I still might have to buy one.

After a while the sky cleared and I went for a bit of a walk to check the route into town for tomorrow. There is a beautiful lake which forms a sort of zig zag shape around part of the old town. Lovely walking/riding paths and a couple of cute duck houses in the water. There were still bluebells here and the water Iris on the edge of the water are just about to bloom. I now know how to get to the centre of town through this beautiful parkland.

Had dinner in my hotel and it was delicious. Recently, when I was doing Duolingo, the exercises went on and on about asparagus season and what a big deal it was. Lo and behold, asparagus was on the menu here. Big, fat spears of tender asparagus with a hollandaise sauce. Yum!

And tonight I have a proper sized bed with a mattress that I’m pretty confident will not slide off the bed and try to tip me out. I’m also hopeful that I’ll be able to turn all the lights off, unlike Amsterdam where there was a mirror light, with no switch, which wouldn’t even go off if you took the key card out of its slot.

Wednesday 13 May. Amsterdam

The weather was not very promising today but in the end it only drizzled on and off, so was not a bother. 

A canal boat tour is a must in Amsterdam and I think I got the best views of the city from the boat. As in Delft, there are canals crisscrossing the city and it was very enjoyable to sit in the boat and look at the sights as well as people going about their lives. I saw that people really do park their cars right on the edge of the canals, with only a few centimeters to sidle along to the driver’s door.

The average person has at least three bikes so they are parked all over the place, or else threatening to run you over if you put a toe into a bike lane. The riders are fast and aggressive. The everyday bike is for going to work and parking in a public place where it could be stolen, so it’s a cheap one. The cargo bike is for shopping (I think) and carrying kids. People can carry 3 or 4 kids in them. Then there’s the good bike for longer trips, picnics etc.

My ticket was for the canal boat and also the hop on hop off bus so I set off in the direction of stop number one. Fortunately I was under cover along the back of the station as it started to rain. What a good time to stop for a coffee in one of the cafes there. By the time I’d had my cuppa the rain had stopped and I could continue on to the HOHO stop.

I stayed on the bus and did the whole journey round so that I could get a feel for the city, then remained on again until stop 3, Gasson Diamonds. A free tour was included in my ticket so I joined that. We saw diamonds being cut and were given a talk about how diamonds are valued - carat, clarity, colour and cut. The guide took out a number of examples leading up to a top quality diamond worth somewhere around A$80,000. He also brought out trays of rings for people to try on. I just looked and fortunately didn’t feel at all tempted. 

After Gassons I had a little wander around that area before returning and joining another bus. I had been to the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum years ago so I didn’t bother to revisit them and time was passing anyway. So back to stop number one and a return walk behind the station. Every time I’ve been near here there have been huge barges going by, bikes zooming on and off ferries and huge activity at the station.

I’ll aim to get there early in the morning as the station is enormous and I have to find my platform.

Rembrandt’s house