After a rather costly crossing from Rødbyhavn to Puttgarden (I think we paid nearly as much as for the Turku-Stockholm crossing – and bear in mind here that the crossing to Germany took about 45 minutes!), we hit the German motorways again. We were again struck by the number of roadworks we had to face – it seemed that we spent half of the time driving 60km/h and the rest of the time 180km/h. We passed the famous Hanseatic city of Lübeck, as well as Hamburg, until we finally arrived at our destination for the day – Bremen.
We picked Bremen, since it was conveniently on the way, and also since it seemed like an interesting place to visit, based on what I’d read in my guidebook. Bremen is the capital of the state bearing the same name. This tiny state is, along with Bavaria, one of the oldest political entities in Germany (apparently Bremen is the oldest city state in the world, after San Marino). After a bit of searching, we found a nice hotel near the train station (much to our disappointments, there were no working girls to be seen this time – just the odd sex shop. Denmark 1 – Germany 0).
Having made ourselves in our room, and found a legal parking space, we headed out to explore Bremen. Bremen is a city with a long and prosperous history – it was founded in 787 (by Charlemagne), and became a member of the Hanseatic league in 1358. Most of the main sights are located around the Marktplatz – so we headed there first. And a most impressive square it is. The highlight here is the Rathaus – or town hall (a UNESCO world heritage site) – and to be sure it’s impressive, with its elaborate decoration. A statue of Roland, the city's protector, stands in the middle of the square, keeping a watchful eye over proceedings. Also to be found at the square are the four Town musicians of Bremen – the donkey, dog, cat, and rooster who feature in the fairy tale by the Grimms brothers.
Having checked out the square, we continued our exploration at Böttcherstraße. It’s a short street, located near the Marktplatz, known for its buildings in the Brick Expressionism style (yep, that came from Wikipedia). Whatever the style, it’s a really cool street – a testament to 20th century architecture (most of the buildings were build between World War I and II). Our next stop was Der Schnoor – a couple of blocks of historic buildings which survived the allied bombings during World War II. It was traditionally inhabited by fishermen, tradesmen and artisans – these days it’s unfortunately turned into a bit of a tourist trap, filled with restaurants, tourist shops and bars. Still, it was a nice place to walk around for a bit… We finished our visit of Bremen with a very filling & tasty dinner at the Kleiner Ratskeller (very much recommended should you ever find yourself in Bremen). Of course, I took the opportunity to sample local beer as well – Beck’s (what I had was a lot better that the bottled stuff they export abroad).
After a good night’s sleep, we hit the road, direction Luxemburg. After yet more frustration on the motorways, we decided to have a lunch break at Münster. We decided to do a bit of sightseeing to wet our appetites, so headed straight for the main sight of Münster; the Dom St-Paul. It’s a typically imposing German cathedral, an interesting mixture of Romanesque and Gothic styles (that came from Lonely Planet, not Wikipedia). There are two rather interesting features in the cathedral: an astronomical clock, and the statue of St Christoffer, which is holding a real tree branch in his hand. Having done our duties as tourists, we decided to have ourselves a real German lunch – a Wurst with some fries. Yummie. After a quick walk to check out the rest of Münster (there ain’t that much to see, really…), we carried on towards Luxemburg.
The rest of our journey was largely eventless – apart from a slight incident with the German Polizei. Nothing major – Mathilde overdid an overtaking somewhat. Once the stern yet polite policeman and –woman managed to explain what she’d actually done – it was off to the cash point to get the 80 euros or however much it was. Well, it added a bit of excitement to an otherwise boring afternoon on the German Autobahns ;-)
We eventually arrived in Luxemburg around 6 PM. We had quite a tight schedule – we were invited for dinner at our friends Jan & Camino’s place, and were then supposed to stay the night at Jani’s and Tepe’s place. So we didn’t have much time to do sightseeing, but did get a bit of an idea about the place. It’s one of those interesting melting pot type places, stuck as it is on the border between France, Germany and Belgium. Architecturally it seemed more French than German, and I believe French is more widely spoken (although from what I’ve been told, the Luxemburgish are one of those lot who speak like four languages fluently). I guess it’s also quite similar as Monaco in many ways, with its high average income, Lilliputian size and numerous banks. Having said that, Luxemburg is actually a proper country, with countryside and stuff, unlike Monaco.
So, after our quick introductory tour, we headed off to Camino’s and Jan’s place, located very close to the city centre. Camino had cooked a great dinner for us, and we spent a very nice evening with them; chatting away over champagne, white wine and great food. Seems that they are set on staying in Luxemburg, and who can blame them? It seems like a very comfy place to live, and it’s pretty centrally located.
After our pleasant dinner date, we headed off to Jani’s and Tepe’s place, located out in the ‘burbs of Luxemburg. Jani and Tepe have three kids – so I guess an apartment in the town centre isn’t the most practical solution (especially as rents in Luxemburg require deep pockets). Three kids – goes to show how time flies – last time I met them they had none. Anyway, we spent a great time catching up – there was a fair bit of that to do. Jani also proudly showed me his fancy Merc (being an ex-taxi driver, I suppose there really wasn’t any other option for him). Quite a long chat later, we hit the sack, exhausted after a looong day…
The next day, we set off early, as we once more had a long drive ahead of us.
We picked Bremen, since it was conveniently on the way, and also since it seemed like an interesting place to visit, based on what I’d read in my guidebook. Bremen is the capital of the state bearing the same name. This tiny state is, along with Bavaria, one of the oldest political entities in Germany (apparently Bremen is the oldest city state in the world, after San Marino). After a bit of searching, we found a nice hotel near the train station (much to our disappointments, there were no working girls to be seen this time – just the odd sex shop. Denmark 1 – Germany 0).
Having made ourselves in our room, and found a legal parking space, we headed out to explore Bremen. Bremen is a city with a long and prosperous history – it was founded in 787 (by Charlemagne), and became a member of the Hanseatic league in 1358. Most of the main sights are located around the Marktplatz – so we headed there first. And a most impressive square it is. The highlight here is the Rathaus – or town hall (a UNESCO world heritage site) – and to be sure it’s impressive, with its elaborate decoration. A statue of Roland, the city's protector, stands in the middle of the square, keeping a watchful eye over proceedings. Also to be found at the square are the four Town musicians of Bremen – the donkey, dog, cat, and rooster who feature in the fairy tale by the Grimms brothers.
Having checked out the square, we continued our exploration at Böttcherstraße. It’s a short street, located near the Marktplatz, known for its buildings in the Brick Expressionism style (yep, that came from Wikipedia). Whatever the style, it’s a really cool street – a testament to 20th century architecture (most of the buildings were build between World War I and II). Our next stop was Der Schnoor – a couple of blocks of historic buildings which survived the allied bombings during World War II. It was traditionally inhabited by fishermen, tradesmen and artisans – these days it’s unfortunately turned into a bit of a tourist trap, filled with restaurants, tourist shops and bars. Still, it was a nice place to walk around for a bit… We finished our visit of Bremen with a very filling & tasty dinner at the Kleiner Ratskeller (very much recommended should you ever find yourself in Bremen). Of course, I took the opportunity to sample local beer as well – Beck’s (what I had was a lot better that the bottled stuff they export abroad).
After a good night’s sleep, we hit the road, direction Luxemburg. After yet more frustration on the motorways, we decided to have a lunch break at Münster. We decided to do a bit of sightseeing to wet our appetites, so headed straight for the main sight of Münster; the Dom St-Paul. It’s a typically imposing German cathedral, an interesting mixture of Romanesque and Gothic styles (that came from Lonely Planet, not Wikipedia). There are two rather interesting features in the cathedral: an astronomical clock, and the statue of St Christoffer, which is holding a real tree branch in his hand. Having done our duties as tourists, we decided to have ourselves a real German lunch – a Wurst with some fries. Yummie. After a quick walk to check out the rest of Münster (there ain’t that much to see, really…), we carried on towards Luxemburg.
The rest of our journey was largely eventless – apart from a slight incident with the German Polizei. Nothing major – Mathilde overdid an overtaking somewhat. Once the stern yet polite policeman and –woman managed to explain what she’d actually done – it was off to the cash point to get the 80 euros or however much it was. Well, it added a bit of excitement to an otherwise boring afternoon on the German Autobahns ;-)
We eventually arrived in Luxemburg around 6 PM. We had quite a tight schedule – we were invited for dinner at our friends Jan & Camino’s place, and were then supposed to stay the night at Jani’s and Tepe’s place. So we didn’t have much time to do sightseeing, but did get a bit of an idea about the place. It’s one of those interesting melting pot type places, stuck as it is on the border between France, Germany and Belgium. Architecturally it seemed more French than German, and I believe French is more widely spoken (although from what I’ve been told, the Luxemburgish are one of those lot who speak like four languages fluently). I guess it’s also quite similar as Monaco in many ways, with its high average income, Lilliputian size and numerous banks. Having said that, Luxemburg is actually a proper country, with countryside and stuff, unlike Monaco.
So, after our quick introductory tour, we headed off to Camino’s and Jan’s place, located very close to the city centre. Camino had cooked a great dinner for us, and we spent a very nice evening with them; chatting away over champagne, white wine and great food. Seems that they are set on staying in Luxemburg, and who can blame them? It seems like a very comfy place to live, and it’s pretty centrally located.
After our pleasant dinner date, we headed off to Jani’s and Tepe’s place, located out in the ‘burbs of Luxemburg. Jani and Tepe have three kids – so I guess an apartment in the town centre isn’t the most practical solution (especially as rents in Luxemburg require deep pockets). Three kids – goes to show how time flies – last time I met them they had none. Anyway, we spent a great time catching up – there was a fair bit of that to do. Jani also proudly showed me his fancy Merc (being an ex-taxi driver, I suppose there really wasn’t any other option for him). Quite a long chat later, we hit the sack, exhausted after a looong day…
The next day, we set off early, as we once more had a long drive ahead of us.
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