Bremen: Ich komme zurück!

---

---

So, as you should know by now, earlier this month I briefly went back to Bremen for a weekend....with various excuses ranging from 'I need closure' to 'It's for research - Uni work' to quite simply 'Why not?!' the weekend flew by all too quickly, and made me realise once more why I love the city so much!



So, where to begin? Well I had been working endlessly from the moment I got back to Uni in September until early December, before the final pieces of work for 2012 were being submitted, allowing me to finally rediscover what a weekend is. On the Wednesday night I managed to have a final night out at Uni for 2012 before driving back home the next morning to catch my coach and subsequent plane from Stansted to Bremen.



On Thursday 13th, I flew out for my final holiday of the year to the city that I called home for 10 months not too long ago. After waiting for in Luton for 30 minutes in the cold as it was late, the National Express coach eventually turned up only to be full of Espanish! Bringing back 'fond' memories of my Erasmus experience. At Stansted I bought some small prezzies for my German hosts, as well as a Terry's Chocolate Orange to serve as Dinner/Weird English food pressies for the next few days....realising opening on the plane might mean the chocolate was stuck together and could not be eaten, I decided that it would probably be best to try and 'tap' the orange on the concrete of the airport floor - only to find everyone staring at me like a complete weirdo.



I caught the flight to Bremen and upon arriving I decided to see if I could get a nice stamp in my passport - with just 2 stamps after visiting 21 different countries it was looking a little bare...and unlike in Espain, the Germans were happy to oblige and provided me with a sexy stamp - despite the confused reaction when the answer to 'Is this you're first time in Germany?' was 'No. Actually I lived here for a year'.



Meeting me at the airport was one of my German friends, Elena, who had been so kind to let me stay at her place for the weekend. After collecting me, I was driven to the Hochschule where as luck would have it, the Erasmus Christmas Party was taking place that very evening - and so I got to have some free Beer and catch up with a few familiar faces. Afterwards we went back to Anna's place whilst the Germans worked on a presentation for the next day, before finally making it to Elena's apartment, which was located just a few tram stops away from my old house. The next day they had class early, and so I had a lie in before making my way over to the Überseestadt to carry out some filming for my university work at home.



Friday was quite a successful day, it started off with taking lots of videos and pictures for university, as well as my first requirement to speak rusty German again. I then walked through much of the Überseestadt, before making my way to the Waterfront shopping centre, where shopping for CDs unavailable at home became my next priority. I then took the tram back to the city centre, on which I bumped into Manon, a French Erasmus student who was also revisiting the city that weekend. Back in the city centre the lovely Christmas Markets were on, which is such a lovely atmosphere, and after taking a look around them I then made my way to the local supermarket to buy dinner for the week - Schnitzel of cause, as well as stock up on my favourite German sweets.



Arriving back at Elena's place I was unlucky in that the hall light had decided to explode, luckily no real damage occured and after eating dinner some German friends came round for predrinks, where I taught them how to play Irish Snap - afterwhich we made it towards La Viva. Being Friday, students get in for free - however as I was no long studying in Bremen I was quite prepared to pay the €5 entry - but luckily after a mix of blagging, and showing out of date German ID as well as my Hertfordshire ID I managed to get in for free once more. To make my night even better, as I walked in the TV screens were showing a selection of party pictures from weeks gone by - I then noticed on this picture someone I recognised, then as I looked more closely I realised that next to these people I knew, was myself! Ironically wearing the very same shirt I had put on that night. The night was a success, that of cause ended with me doing some dodgy dancing (see pictures for more information).



The next day Elena and co. had class once more, and so I took the opportunity to have a long lie in, which in the end resulted in my sleeping until class ended pretty much. We then all went into the city to see the Christmas markets before making our way back to Elena's house for some drinking and chatting whilst watching the Final of Germany's-Got-No-Talent-Either. Sunday was also very much like Saturday, including Glühwein again, but the evening consisted of me and Ingo going to the cinema to watch The Hobbit, where I also got the opportunity to turn into my dad by telling awful jokes.



My final day in the city was Monday, where I went into the city to do some final Christmas shopping, before packing and going to the airport to make my final way home.



The trip was fantastic, and it was so nice to see my friends and the beautiful city once more.

Thank you so much to Elena, Ingo and Anna, as well as everyone else I met/caught up with again, and I hope to see you all again real soon!



That's it for holidays until April at least, but I have already booked my week to Malta in June - See you soon Daniel and co.!



Viel Spaß

Kevin.

---

Photos

Überseestadt
Regeneration Model - Yes, I did do work