Week 4 - Oldenburg & trip to Bremen

First week of the new year....  I have finally given in and joined Facebook.... finally made it into the social networking scene.... if anyone wants to be my friend....

Monday: The weather is pleasant and Veronika and I go for a walk around Oldenburg town.  And... to do some fun shopping....

Tuesday: We are off to Bremen, to do some window shopping and to visit Jan-Hendrik.  Unfortunately, it is a very cold and windy day and pretty miserable...I have not yet visited Bremen in nice weather.... I only have photos in the rain, even at our last visit many years ago....

We do the Park & Ride thing, you park outside town for free and take the tram into the city centre. 

The City of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area (2.4 million people).

The oldest part of the Altstadt is the southeast half, starting with the Marktplatz and ending at the Schnoor quarter. The district owes its name to the old ship trade. The passages between the houses were often associated with occupations or objects: There was an area in which ropes and cables were produced (string = Schnoor) and a neighboring area.

Die Stadtmusikanten (Town Musicians) which portrays the donkey, dog, cat and rooster of the Grimm Brothers' fairy tale.  Despite the title of the fairy tale, the characters never actually arrive in Bremen.

We have a wonder around town, have a nice tea/coffee in an old house and visit the old parts of Bremen and of course the Bremer Stadtmusikanten.

This is a lollipop shop - where they make the lollies fresh... a lady showed us how... it was very interesting, and the lollies are very yummie.... different fruit flavours...

The Schnoor quarters

Afternoon Tea break...

Bremer Stadtmusikanten...(by Brothers Grimm)

We walk along the river, but totally get blown away by the wind, it is so stormy.

We then walk to the building where  Jan-Hendrik lives, have a look at his flat, which is very nice (he shares it with another student).

 and make him come out in the rain to show us the suburb.....

There is a great shopping street close by with a huge organic health food supermarket Al Natura... what a selection of healthy foods... never seen anything like it.
 And... of course... the compulsory 'bong' shop.....

After some time it rains so hard, we all have enough and take the tram, Jani back home and us to the car. What a day....

Weather wise it's a pretty miserable week... we even had a storm and lightning and some hail.

Finally I make it to the hairdresser's - about time... I try the local one in Wardenburg... the hairdresser is doing a pretty good job... now I can show my face again in public! ... and it's cheaper than in Australia!

Veronika is off work for 3 days, and we spend quality time together, walking, talking, shopping and handcrafting things.

I even catch my friend Sabina in Australia on Skype -finally, we tried for many weeks....

Friday night we go to the movies with friends.... 'Almost best friends' = French movie - worthwhile seeing!!!!
Bycicling is fun and good excersice, but my behind is hurting.... don't have enough padding....and am out of practise. hi hi....

And the Xmas tree is being disposed of....ooohhhh

Other than that.... not much else to report this week....
Oh yes.... my sister presented me with Lionheart the lion... who will now be our travel companion.... now we are Three!!!

S & D & L

Week 3 - Oldenburg / New Years Eve....Happy 2012! // Bremerhafen

Another lazy week.... The boys are both home for the holidays....and Fred has the week off.  Poor Veronika is the only one who has to work... But we are looking after her... cooking, ironing, cleaning, shopping....Fred and I are off on the bycicles, walking and for longer trips by car....

On 27th - for dinner, it's Middle Eastern theme of 'Mezze' (hot and cold starters); Jan-Hendrik is baking bread and making dips - I volunteer to make some salads, hummus and falafel....  Fred and I are off to the local Turkish supermarket to buy all the ingredients we need. We are having yet another feast.....life is good!

My falafels initially disintegrate in the frying pan....  but after adding some flour they come out ok-ish.... they taste yummie.... Jani's bread is delicious  ... everything tastes great!

Friday is Veronika's day off and the three of us drive to Bremerhafen on the North Sea, to visit the Klimamuseum.... around an hours drive by car.

 Migrating geese... they have been flying west for the past few weeks.... flocks and flocks of geese - it's a great sight....

Bremerhaven is a city at the seaport of the free city-state of Bremen. Though a relatively new city, it has a long history as a trade port and today is one of the most important German ports, playing a crucial role in Germany's trade.

Bremerhaven has only a few historical buildings, and the high street and city centre are almost exclusively post-war. The main attractions for tourists are found at the Hafenwelten and include the German Emigration Center (since August 8, 2005) and the German Maritime Museum from 1975, and the historical harbour with a number of museum ships, such as the Type XXI U-boat Wilhelm Bauer. The zoo reopened in 2004, after a lengthy renovation. The latest addition is the Klimahaus from 2009, simulating travel adventure along the 8th line of longitude and dealing with climate issues.

It is another cold and rainy day, but when we get to the waterfront (Hafenwelten) the sun is out, so we decide to go for a walk before we visit the museum.  It's a great area - freezing cold and windy.... 

And the hotel at the waterfront is a miniature copy of the Burj Al Arab in Dubai....do they know????

As in most places around Europe - one has to pay for public toilet use....

Klimamuseum It has four main exhibitions: Travel, Elements, Perspectives and Chances.

Climate has an elemental influence on life. The Climate Museum 8° East sends its visitors on an unforgetable journey around the world along the 8th longtitude East 34'.  One encounters different climate zones and meets local people, whose lifes are influenced by the different climates.

Of course we have to queue up... it's a popular museum and extremely interesting and very well presented.  We spend about 3-4 hours in the exhibit: Travel....  it's fascinating to see the different climates and how people and nature have adjusted themselves.... We have to come back for the other exhibits another time I think....

On the way home we stop at a nice restaurant for dinner and treat ourselves to a traditional North German Flammkuchen. 
Tarte flambée is an Alsatian dish composed of bread dough rolled out very thin in the shape of a rectangle (traditionally) or circle, which is covered with fromage blanc or crème fraîche, thinly sliced onions and lardons. Depending on the region, this dish can be called in Alsatian flammekueche, in German Flammkuchen, which means "Flame cake" or in French tarte flambée, which translates as "Pie baked in the flames." Contrary to what the direct translation would suggest tarte flambée is not usually flambéed, but cooked in a wood-fire oven.

New Year's EveIt is Saturday 31st December and New Years Eve.  We get together for a Chinese dinner with a group of Heinen's friends.  We are a nice group of nine people... I am having Peking duck as my meal - love it!....  It is strange for me to have a casual New Years Eve (compared to Dubai parties - all black tie affairs....)  and mostly I miss Hisham!  Bless his soul!

 Archive: Hisham & Sabine - last New Years Eve together 2009/2010...

After dinner we go to friend's home for the Countdown....and as is custom in Germany... for fireworks.  People here have their own fireworks (one can buy rockets and stuff in the supermarkets just before NY eve).  It is cold and foggy - at midnight we all wrap up and go outside for the fireworks and a cigarillo....lots of smoke, smell, and the boys need a manual to figure out how to fire the rockets.... very funny....

For the rest of the night we sit and watch the 'Hitparade' it's a music show from the 70s and 80s.  We are all in stitches, laughing and rolling on the floor (not literally)... it is sooo very funny to watch the stars, what they wear, the hairdoos and the songs (no proper text or words to the songs....).... I guess you had to be there... in the 70s and now!  Showing my age....

At 3.00p.m. - where did the time go.... - we have to leave as poor Veronika has to work again on New Years Day..... a nurse's job is never done! The others still soldier on til 5.00am we find out later...

It's New Years Day - I sleep in and don't move all day....can't do late nights anymore.. no stamina....

2012 - a new year - new beginnings - supposedly the end of time according to the Mayan calendar....
Inshallah - it will be a good year for all of us!
Hamdullilah - for everything we have and everyone in our lives!

God Bless!

S & D