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

Tuesday. 12 May. Amsterdam

It’s been a terrific day today, on a small group tour (8) to Rotterdam, Delft and The Hague. Rotterdam is considered the modern city in Holland because it was pretty much totally destroyed in the war. It is also the main port and centre of business. We loved seeing the cube houses, designed to be like an urban roof with space on the ground. The Markethall is an office and residential building with a market hall underneath. Really interesting architecture but I wouldn’t fancy living in those cubes.

Our second stop was the Delft factory. It displayed the history of Delft as well as the manufacturing process. I had time for a cup of coffee out of a lovely Delft cup and saucer, but I had to give them back.

We then went to the centre of the city of Delft and had a good long stop with time for lunch. William of Orange was assassinated in Delft during the war with the Spanish. He is buried in the New Church (old though), which is the second tallest church in Holland. Delft was also the home of Johannes Vermeer. It is such a pretty place with canals around every corner. I took a lot of photos!

Last city was The Hague, where we saw the parliament building, which is being renovated at the moment. We also saw the Peace Palace, which houses the International Court of Justice, the principal judicial body of the United Nations. Andrew Carnegie, one of the richest Americans in history, donated the money for the building. He was a philanthropist who gave away 90% of his fortune to charities, foundations and universities.

We were dropped off by the waterfront, just behind the central station so I had a little look at the activity there.

 

Sunday 10 May. Manchester

A fine day for a drive and I was up and out early. My sleep was disturbed by an alarm going off somewhere in the area and the birds started at 4.30, as they did yesterday. However I’m not complaining about them because they’re lovely. They’d be lovelier still if they woke up at 7.00.

As I was leaving my room I found a little bag of snacks outside the door. The hotel keeper had said she would do this as I wasn’t staying for breakfast. The hotel is without  a chef and so can’t do meals at the moment and she is short of other staff too, poor thing. An hour do so down the road I stopped to sample the goodies and tried a chocolate croissant, from a packet, that bore no resemblance to a croissant. There was also a can and I was amazed to discover that it was a can of still water. The label said they use aluminium cans because they’re totally recyclable.

Most of my journey south was on the M6 as I had to return the car by 2.00 and couldn’t dilly dally on the slow, scenic roads. I called in to a “Services” stop expecting a dirty, unpleasant, Greasy Joe’s sort of place and was very pleased to find a clean, bright venue with all sorts of real food and even a “farm” shop. Had a good cup of coffee and a nice piece of rhubarb cake.

As I’d made good time on the road I was able to detour to Stockport before returning the car. Fortunately Stockport is very close to the airport. I wanted to see the mural that is made of plastic bottle caps. It was fantastic and I was able to go right up and have a good look at it. There are quite a few of these murals now but this was the first.

Am now tucked up in the Ibis Hotel, just across the road from the airport. It only took me 5 minutes to walk here from the terminal where the shuttle dropped me off. And what luxury, a lift instead of stairs. The downside is absolutely no atmosphere or coziness.