We spent the first part of Fall Break bringing the kids to Bremen, Germany, the city where I lived the summer after college. Back then, Pete was planning an epic backpacking around Europe trip with his friends and I didn't want to spend a summer apart from him. Sweet Pete is many things, but good long-distance partner is not one of them. So when I learned of a fellowship opportunity at the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, I jumped on it and was accepted, spending the summer researching what happens in the environment around decomposing whales at the bottom of the ocean (
click to learn more ;)). Meanwhile, Pete's plans fell through so instead he came to stay and travel around with me (Bremen, Berlin, Paris and Venice). This was my first time in continental Europe and I fell hard for the train-traveling, super charming, laid back, cafe lifestyle. So it was very fun to return to the place where my love affair with Europe began, and to have our kids in tow!
We had an easy 3 1/2 hour drive from Amstelveen, made memorable by thinking we'd lost Jude when we stopped at McDonalds. He was easily found after some panic and we learned a lesson in parental communication in public places!
The day was grey and overcast, but we didn't let that stop us from exploring. We stayed just outside the city moat, close to a great, though wet, playground. After letting the kids run off their energy for a while, we made our way into town.
A college friend recently married a man from Bremen so we asked them for recommendations for the area since it had been so many years since I'd been. The biggest tip was that the Freimarkt Bremen, a big carnival/fair/beer fest was going on. It made the visit extra special and fun for the kids with rides and vendors all over the city.
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| The neighborhood near our rental |
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| Playground fun |
Bremen's architectural masterpieces were mercifully spared in the bombings of WWII.
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| St. Petri Dom Bremen |
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| Market Square with the small Freimarkt fest |
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| Town Hall |
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| I'd been dreaming of a German soft pretzel for so long! And it did not disappoint! |
The stars of Bremen are the Bremen Town Musicians: a donkey, dog, cat and rooster who thwart robbers in the classic children's story by the same name. We have a copy of the book we'd been reading to the kids in anticipation of the trip. The iconic image of them on each other's backs are all over the city:
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| Town Statue |
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| Mondrian Style. #Dutch! |
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| In place of the green walk man |
After letting the kids ride some rides, we walked down to the river, through the historic center. Here there is a charming lane which has an impressive glockenspiel/carillon, which we watched chime at 3pm. Adding to the excitement of the day, Bremen's soccer team was playing a home game in the stadium just outside the city center. I'd been to one very raucous game way back when and was content this time to watch the game from an outside bar along the river Weser.
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| Our very own donkey at the visitor's center |
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| Jamming to some live music |
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| Bremen is also home to Beck's Brewery. That tour and subsequent bike ride home 14 years ago was very fun! |
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| Happy Hubby on vacation! |
The kids were really well behaved while we sat for 2 hours watching the soccer game and enjoying beers. Jude and Pete had some epic tic tac toe games while Maeve and I colored. Then the kids played a game of throwing all 12 of their colored pencils into the pedestrian street and racing to pick them all up!
And then at their usual screen time hour at home, we let them watch the Lion King on my phone, which they did under the umbrella when it started to rain.
A walk back through the city center, another ferris wheel ride with Jude and then pizza night back at the rental apartment. It was a busy day!
