Bremen

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Bremen is an interesting city. We spent the day walking around the city center, the altstadt. We looked in a lot of shops, but neither of us found anything that we really wanted. There was a nice pair of shoes, with a rainforest motif, but they had quite a bit of a heel and so it was unlikely that I would wear them on this trip. We are still too early in our trip to be buying a lot of things that we will just have to drag around with us.

We also stopped at St. Peter's Cathedral. It is a beautiful church with a lot of vibrant colors and beautiful roofs, at least on the main level. We went down to the basement and it is much darker and there is no color down there, just faded etchings on the walls and pillars.

We went down the Sögestraße, a Low German word meaning the "street of sows". This is where the backers and brewers lived in the Middle Ages. Next to it is Knochenhauerstraße, (Bonebreaker Street), this is where the butchers lived.

We also found the statue of the four musicians. It is a rooster standing on a cat, standing on a dog, standing on a donkey. It is said that anyone harbouring a secret wish gets a hold of the donkey's legs and stands silently for a moment, then if they are lucky their wish may come true.

In the late afternoon Sydony and I went for a walk along the riverside. We got an eis and sat on a bench watching the bustle and flow of people. We stopped at a Penny Mart to pick up dinner and some buns for breakfast tomorrow before heading back to our Hostel.

I got an email from our place in Vienna, they were wondering when we were going to come meet them. I emailed back to say we had not get gotten our tickets but we were planning to be there between 2 and 4pm on July 13th. The email I got back said that we were supposed to be there for 4 nights starting tonight. I was worried that our reservations had been screwed up again. Luckily after a few more emails it turns out that they do have our reservation on the 13th but they had forgotten to cancel our original booking!

Tomorrow we are of to Hamburg for a day!

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Photos

St. Peter's Cathedral 2
A view of the church, which shows some of the medieval style roof.

St. Peter's Cathedral 4
The alter in the Cathedral.

St. Peter's Cathedral 5
Stain glass window found in the church.

St. Peter's Cathedral 6
An example of how the basement is much less vibrant.

Market Place
There was a farmers market in the city centre.

Roland
Roland was one of Charles the Great's knights, he fell in battle in France. For 600 years he has stood on the market place as a symbol of freedom and Bremen's independence.

The Town Musicians
A saying in Bremen
"Wer Steuern bezahlt, ist ein alter Esel.
Er kommt sowieso auf den Hund.
Es ist alles für die Katz,
und es kräht kein Hahn danach."
Which means
He who pays taxes is an ass. It's going to the dogs. It is all for the cat (it is in vain), and the cock doesn't crow about it. (nobody cares).

Sows
This statue is by the street where the butchers used to live. The pigs would be driven to the common pasture in the mornings and when they returned in the afternoon the kitchen refuse would be thrown onto the streets for them. This constituted a good cheap meal for the pigs and they took on the job of refuse collectors.

River
Our view as we walked along the river.

River 2
The brown building that is peeking over the trees is Bremen's water tower, built in 1873. It is fondly called the "upturned chest of drawers" by the people of Bremen.