Bremen
Monday, September 22nd, 2008It’s been a while since my last post. I’m still without internet in my apartment, and I’ve been out on daytrips for the last couple days with limited time on the internet. It’s been a long weekend, so I decided to break this up into two posts.
I realized that because I’m auditing my first class, I don’t really need to show up for exams on Fridays, so this last Friday I decided to hit up Bremen. After the surprisingly quick train ride through Hamburg, I left the Hauptbahnhof to head towards the reason for my little excursion, the Beck’s Brewery.
I arrived a little early, so I signed up for the English speaking tour, paid my 7 Euro, and waited. For anyone who is worrying about what InBev’s take over of Anheiseur Busch is going to do, I wouldn’t worry. Granted, the AB tour is free, but the Beck’s tour is well worth the 7 Euros. After an in-depth look at the beer making process, a tour of the grounds, and the Beck’s museum, we enjoyed four glasses of Beck’s brew along with fresh baked pretzels to clear our palette before the next rounds.
After the equivalent of a liter of beer, I headed out towards the Altstadt. From what I’d seen up to this point, Bremen was a little undeserving of it’s nickname, which I can’t remember right now, but means “Good things come in small packages.” But, apparently they were referring to Bremen’s old city. Or it could be all the beer that changed my perception… From it’s ornate Rathaus, to Roland (the town’s protector), to the St. Peter’s Cathedral, Bremen’s Altstadt was unexpectedly beautiful and impressive. I also made my way around the square to check out Bremen’s town musicians. Curious, I checked out the story, and although it never mentions Bremen, it’s been credited as the city they were going to. Interesting.
Unfortunately, it was getting late. I didn’t expect the tour to go on for 2+ hours, so I headed back to the Hauptbahnhof to catch my train to Munich for the opening day of Oktoberfest.
mrnational
