BREMEN TOUR (part 1)
Hello again everyone! So yesterday (Monday 9th) I came back from Bremen! Now when I look at my "material" I have to work with, I really don't know from where to start. As mentioned in my earlier post, I had a few things I wanted to do in the five days there but yesterday while walking to the bus stop I was pondering how to reasonably put everything I experienced into words without making this post too long. So I came to the decision to cut this summer vacation roughly into two parts i.e.
- Part 1; Bremen/locations/friends
- Part 2; the cocktail/pub culture in Bremen
From both I have much to say and squeezing all of this into one post will simply be too long. Moreover, cutting this in half makes a more structured post for both topics. Let's go, shall we?
Bremen in general
First things first, I didn't take too many pictures of scenery or landmarks, because quite frankly I didn't think it would be interesting, anymore. I've been to Bremen a few times now and I have no reason taking pictures of e.g. the Town Musicians of Bremen. Okay fine, I took one from Schlachte;
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| (and it's not even that great a picture, the other side of this was much more filled with restaurants/people) |
Secondly, this vacation made me understand how exceptionally lucky I really am. Not only is there a direct flight from Tampere to Bremen that lasts practically nothing, last weekend really impressed me wholly; Bremen is my second home. I only needed 27 years to realize that.
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| One of the "artsy" pictures I took. I've been keeping this piece of ear ring (?) around ever since I found it a few months back on a train. It makes excellent travel pictures |
Thirdly, I find Bremen just a beautiful city. The city center is large (enough), everything's at a walking distance and people are friendly to each other ("fun" fact; speaking German really helps, otherwise things & people might feel "stiff"). I feel like having "honeymoon goggles" on every time I visit there but as soon as I take them off, the feeling is still there! Even now with a baby on the way, I don't feel like my days of visiting Bremen have ended. "It'll just take some more time."
Okay I lied, here's a picture I took from a restaurant where we ate more than enough, at the Schlachte #arewestillhungry #yolofoodie #suchdeliciousness #ireallyhatehashtagging.
Our hostel was a stone throw away from the city center. Well, a tad longer but we could easily walk to town, shop/eat/drink and take the tram back. Fun fact, our hostel was located about two blocks away where my brother & family lived some years ago!
We also visited Weserpark, a big shopping center ~30 minutes away from the city by tram. It was big, but I came to the conclusion most of the square meters were used by one big supermarket. Of course they had stores for clothes, shoes and other more or less interesting things as well. Next to the mall was a big cinema; since they dub everything in Germany and didn't have anything with subtitles at the moment (my wife can't understand German per se), we never went to see a movie.
On a side note, unfortunately I never got to see my acquaintances I was talking before; they had to work late and although they suggested us taking a day trip there (as did one other at FB as well), our plans got so tight (explained later) we never could've made it. :(
My brother & his family
One of the single greatest surprise was the meeting of my oldest brother and his family! On the evening of our flight to Bremen, my sister-in-law messaged us via Facebook and told us that they were thinking of taking a weekend trip to Bremen themselves as well! This event actually turned out to be bigger than I initially thought. It got huge. Not only finding out more about my past/history but understanding why it happened. About that a little bit later. We had a big BBQ with my brother's best friend at a community garden and went rowing a boat in a big park on Sunday as seen in the following picture (taken by my brother):
Also, on Saturday evening I went to have a drink with my brother. Of that on my 2nd part of my Bremen blog. You would think that it couldn't get any better than that. It did. I won't say "life-changing-better", but it's a close second. Keep reading.
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| My sister-in-law's turn to row it! |
Also, on Saturday evening I went to have a drink with my brother. Of that on my 2nd part of my Bremen blog. You would think that it couldn't get any better than that. It did. I won't say "life-changing-better", but it's a close second. Keep reading.
My Father
Like I wrote, the last time I saw my father was in 2007. Now before we get any further, there's something you need to know, it helps understanding my life a bit better. (It's still very complicated but hey, at least you get a sense of who/what I am).
Imagine a family tree. Usually it's pretty straightforward, sometimes you have a few quirky branches here and there and sometimes you have something totally whack.
And I am not even kidding you. So I really wanted to know more about my father. As said, in 2007, it lasted ~45 seconds. I still had the address given by my "half-brother". My wife tagged alongside as we took a cab to the address I had. As many could think, seven years is a long time. It was such a long time that no-one answered to the door bell. I asked a person at the street whether "they know if an Italian lives here anymore. (yes, my biological father is Italian (hey you got to inherit the good looks from somewhere, don't you? :D))" I was then told that "yes, but he has moved a long time ago."
So that's it? Closure? I semi-accepted my fate as never talking to my father again as we headed back to town (and I got myself a drink). Who knows where he lives by now? Henna said that there must be officials who know where he lives. At the Bremen main railway station I went to the tourist information where they directed me to the population register which luckily for us was right in the city center! We headed back to town and what do you know? It's Friday, too late for today, the register is closed during the weekend and Monday is the 2nd Pentecost. This means I could ask them by mail, it costs me 6€ and I'll get the answer via post later. At this point I was ready to call it quits.
Enter my brother. While I was on my "crusade", he had been txting/calling my "half-brother" (whom I've never met but knew existed) before and what do you know...On Saturday morning I meet my bro, he explains what he's done and said he tried to organize a "face-to-face" meeting with my half-brother so we could talk and he could explain things to me. My half-brother's answer hadn't come yet and we went back to our hostel. My bro met up with my wife and we discussed that day's plan (the BBQ mentioned earlier). My brother leaves and I take a shower. So while we were heading to their place (my brother and his family had a place very close to our hostel), I get a call from my bro; he's panting and says "We might have 30 minutes, where are you now? We'll take a cab straight to your half-brother!"
The next 10 minutes felt like a movie of some sort. We were at a street where little stalls and veggie markets had opened shop. Me & my bro run to the "nearest" taxi stand. My wife can't really run in her condition so she stayed behind. As we get in the taxi, my brother tells the taxi driver "We still need to pick up a pregnant woman from the street!"
The cab picked Henna up and we drove to my "half-brother's". I keep using quotation marks because he hasn't really been part of my conscience life unlike my other siblings.
We get to the place and I meet my half-brother face to face. We stayed there for a good 40 minutes and he explained the situation of our father. He also explained that he had shut the door in front of others as well so I wasn't the only one (explaining 2007). That discussion really opened my eyes and made me understand my life better once again. I can't thank enough my brother for setting this thing up. I really can't!
Those who know me probably have a "bigger picture" of my family relations. To those who haven't...well, this is the tip of the iceberg. So yea, another reason why I wanted to visit Bremen.
Summa summarum. These events were about 50% of my holiday in Bremen. There's so much to talk about more and I hope I got everything (hopefully at least the most) covered regarding part 1. Keep waiting for the next part where I discuss a matter of great interest and not just hobby-wise but work-wise as well; Visit a few cocktail bars and local pubs and how the drink culture is/works in Bremen.
Imagine a family tree. Usually it's pretty straightforward, sometimes you have a few quirky branches here and there and sometimes you have something totally whack.
 |
| A regular family tree |
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| My family tree |
So that's it? Closure? I semi-accepted my fate as never talking to my father again as we headed back to town (and I got myself a drink). Who knows where he lives by now? Henna said that there must be officials who know where he lives. At the Bremen main railway station I went to the tourist information where they directed me to the population register which luckily for us was right in the city center! We headed back to town and what do you know? It's Friday, too late for today, the register is closed during the weekend and Monday is the 2nd Pentecost. This means I could ask them by mail, it costs me 6€ and I'll get the answer via post later. At this point I was ready to call it quits.
Enter my brother. While I was on my "crusade", he had been txting/calling my "half-brother" (whom I've never met but knew existed) before and what do you know...On Saturday morning I meet my bro, he explains what he's done and said he tried to organize a "face-to-face" meeting with my half-brother so we could talk and he could explain things to me. My half-brother's answer hadn't come yet and we went back to our hostel. My bro met up with my wife and we discussed that day's plan (the BBQ mentioned earlier). My brother leaves and I take a shower. So while we were heading to their place (my brother and his family had a place very close to our hostel), I get a call from my bro; he's panting and says "We might have 30 minutes, where are you now? We'll take a cab straight to your half-brother!"
The next 10 minutes felt like a movie of some sort. We were at a street where little stalls and veggie markets had opened shop. Me & my bro run to the "nearest" taxi stand. My wife can't really run in her condition so she stayed behind. As we get in the taxi, my brother tells the taxi driver "We still need to pick up a pregnant woman from the street!"
The cab picked Henna up and we drove to my "half-brother's". I keep using quotation marks because he hasn't really been part of my conscience life unlike my other siblings.
We get to the place and I meet my half-brother face to face. We stayed there for a good 40 minutes and he explained the situation of our father. He also explained that he had shut the door in front of others as well so I wasn't the only one (explaining 2007). That discussion really opened my eyes and made me understand my life better once again. I can't thank enough my brother for setting this thing up. I really can't!
 |
| Me and my brothers. The one on the left set this whole thing up. A big thumbs up! |
Those who know me probably have a "bigger picture" of my family relations. To those who haven't...well, this is the tip of the iceberg. So yea, another reason why I wanted to visit Bremen.
Summa summarum. These events were about 50% of my holiday in Bremen. There's so much to talk about more and I hope I got everything (hopefully at least the most) covered regarding part 1. Keep waiting for the next part where I discuss a matter of great interest and not just hobby-wise but work-wise as well; Visit a few cocktail bars and local pubs and how the drink culture is/works in Bremen.
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