July 14-16: Bremen
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July 14: Arrival, check-in, and first night’s dinner
When I arrived at the Hauptbahnhof (main train station) at 7:45 pm, I was surprised to see that it was fairly busy. I walked out of the train station and saw Aldi (the German discount supermarket) and was happy one was nearby. But the area didn’t look the way I imagined from the city map or the directions given by the hostel. I saw a police officer and asked him where An der Weide street was. He directed me back through the station to the other side; I had gone out the wrong exit. Once I realized that, I was fine.
I was staying at Hostel Posty, where I got a private room with a shared bath for 28 Euros a night. It was on the 4th floor, but they use the British system so by American counts it was on the 5th floor. There is no elevator, and no air circulation in the stairwell. It reminded me of the 5-floor walkup (plus stoop) the newlyweds in New York in Neil Simon’s play “Barefoot in the Park” lived in. Like the mother in that play, by the time I got to the entrance of Hostel Posty I felt ready to pass out.
On the bright side, the hostel is super clean with all the Ikea furniture comforts of home. It has a great outdoor patio to get some fresh air and eat or drink. The man who checked me in was very nice, giving me a map marked with all the important places in town—a bakery, an Irish bar, Aldi, and the shortest walking route to the Altstadt (Old Town).
I refreshed myself in the shower—a sandblaster with Navy-style timing–and walked downstairs. I walked on the street past the punks, the casinos, the adult shops, and kebab houses until I saw the first signs of Old Town. I was tired and hungry, so I stopped at the first outdoor cafe I saw. I sat for several minutes but no server acknowledged me, even after I said “Entschuldigung” (excuse me). I felt invisible. I realize I am in a different country with different approaches to service. In fact, I read recently that some countries feel good service is defined by leaving the customer alone to eat in peace. But in that moment I had no desire to be culturally sensitive; I just wanted to eat.
I left the table and walked onto another street with outdoor cafes. The street seemed almost deserted; the two pasta places I saw had only a few diners each, and no one seemed to be walking around. I saw a sushi place and realized 1) I’d never eaten sushi outside the U.S. or Asia and 2) it might make a nice light snack. I walked in and sat on a stool as small plates of sushi whooshed by. I wanted to order one of the combo plates on the menu I’d seen outside, but again it seemed no one could see or hear me. I thought about leaving again, but I was starting to see a pattern and besides, I was determined to eat sushi at that point. Thankfully, a man next to me called out in English and got someone who also spoke English to help me order. It turned out he and his friend were pilots from California who fly a businessman around the world. The sushi I got wasn’t the best in the world, but it didn’t kill me, either. And the dinner conversation I ended up having was nice.
July 15: Touring Bremen
I slept in until 10:30. I was too tired to walk to Aldi for yogurt to go with the muesli I had bought in Mainz (read: I was too lazy to walk up those stairs again). Instead I had two cups of instant coffee (free from the hostel) and decided to get ready to head out to the waterfront to have a nice big fish platter for lunch.
On the way I ended up running into the pilots again; this time they were looking for Thai food. I started to help them but we didn’t find anything good, and I decided I should continue on my way. I saw the Notre Dame (Unsere Liebe Fraue) church and the market square. Then I saw a sausage place (Martin Kiefert) that seemed to be pretty popular. I had a currywurst (sausage topped with ketchup and curry powder) and an apfelschorle (apple juice diluted with water). After lunch I visited the St. Peter cathedral and then walked down the incredibly narrow, red-bricked, and cute Boettcherstrasse. I saw restaurants with special “Matjessaison” menus, and made a mental note to try whatever it was for dinner later.
When I got to the Schlachte (waterfront), there was a boat tour leaving in 20 minutes. It seemed like the thing to do in Bremen, so I forked over 9.80 Euros and climbed on board. It was in the 70s and sunny so it was good weather for sitting outside. I was surprised how little we saw in 75 minutes for that money. We went up and down the Weser river, and the highlights seemed to be one old church, the Beck’s and Kellogg’s factories, a place where U-Boats were constructed, and pipes for the Gazprom (Russian) pipeline to Greece. If there was more about Bremen sights and history, I didn’t know it because the German used to explain it was over my head.
As soon as I got off the boat, I walked over to the Beck’s Brewery to take a tour. When I got there, I was disappointed to find out you need to make reservations in advance; the tour for the day was already full. 🙁 If I had known that, I may have pushed myself to go to the Auswanderhaus Museum (Emigration Museum) in Bremerhaven. But I didn’t want to spend all my time on a train, and at least I got to enjoy the smell of beer brewing. Unlike Miller which smells like sweet potatoes, Beck’s smells more like corn. Still, I was reminded of my California home.
I walked away from Beck’s and the nearby Dallmyr coffee factory (which also smelled good) and past two modern art museums towards the Schnoor neighborhood, the oldest neighborhood in the city. Though my first thought at hearing the word “Schnoor” is the Yiddish word “Schnorrer” (beggar), this neighborhood seemed so charming and well-kept I almost couldn’t stand it. I sat at a cafe and enjoyed a strong latte macchiato and a slice of Apfelquarktorte—a cake with baked apples and soft cheese.
From Schnoor I walked into the Ostertor-Viertel, which was supposed to have some nice bars. But it seemed very sketchy so I started following bike path signs to the train station until I knew where I was again and could find my way back.
After dropping off some groceries, checking email, freshening up, and changing clothes, I headed out again for dinner. Again too lazy to walk all the way to Boettcherstrasse or the waterfront, I ended up at John Benton, a restaurant on the market square. I had their special of Matjes with a baked potato, mainly because there was a third item mentioned I didn’t know in German and I wanted to know what it was. I was extremely disappointed to find out that Matjes is herring, and the third word was a garnish consisting of a small tomato slice and a small sprig of lettuce. The herring itself was tasty, but the whole meal was not worth over 8 Euros. I also had a Beck’s which was just okay.
I walked from there to the waterfront one more time, and this time I understood why the other streets were empty. Everyone was here, enjoying their meal in a cafe or a beer in a beer garden with a view of the river. I had one more beer, a Haake Beck (basically, Beck’s) and a small pretzel while I sat at a bench surrounded by people eating, drinking, chatting.
July 16: Departure
In the morning I had a full breakfast (muesli plus yogurt and coffee). After checking out and dropping of my bags at with the owners, I went to buy my train ticket and lunch. I had seen a Bagel Brothers shop on my walk back home Thursday night, and had decided to treat myself to a sesame-bagel-lox-cream cheese-onion-tomato sandwich for the paltry price of 3.80 Euros. After all, I don’t know how long it will be before I see one of those again!
After lunch I walked back to the hostel. As I got close, I realized I didn’t want to sit for an hour indoors. I wandered and found a lovely residential neighborhood, and an elephant statue that was an anti-colonial memorial. Finally, I came back to the train station to say goodbye. The desk clerk (possibly a co-owner) asked if I was going to the train or the airport. I said train. She led me through a hallway to an elevator that took me directly onto Platform 1! It was one of the nicest sendoffs I’ve ever had by a hostel.
Tags: Bremen, Europe, Germany, seafood
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