A Beautiful Day in Vegesack and Downtown Bremen

Yesterday was a whirlwind of activity. I began my day with a group of students exploring the nearby city of Vegesack, near Jacobs University. We took the bus (with our student semester ticket- transportation is free!!) into Vegesack, and I was immediately struck with the simple beauty of the town. There were outdoor markets, cobblestone streets, a bakery on every corner...there were also quaint little shops and houses painted blue, yellow, and pink. Here is a picture:

The city of Vegesack is also home to a giant mall where I had my first German ice cream! It was delicious and properly portioned (one small scoop is the usual), which made me realize how much ice cream I must be over-consuming in the U.S.

As the group of students and I strolled around the city, we came across a small port. Vegesack is home to many small shipping boats, and we even passed a large sea vessel on which a beautiful wedding was taking place. Appropriately, there are also a number of gardens and small playgrounds lining the water. Everything was stunning.

I ended up talking to two of the girls in my group for quite a bit, so we decided to head to downtown Bremen together to explore and get some sushi! German sushi tastes just like the sushi you would find in the U.S., except less salty and more fresh (then again, we are right on the water). We took the train from Jacobs to downtown Bremen and immediately found a great sushi restaurant. Afterwards, we had another ice cream! Then it was time to walk around the streets and get our picture with the famous Bremen town musicians!

 

A funny thing happened as we approached the Bremen town musician statue (yes, the musicians are indeed a donkey, dog, cat, and rooster). As I was walking past a white market tent, leftover rain water from the top of the tent spilled all over me and I was DRENCHED! So in the picture you see above...my hair is completely matted and my pink shirt under my sweater was sopping. Thank God it was warm and sunny and I dried pretty quickly. We then spent a great deal of time in the Marktplatz admiring the churches and the city's main buildings. Here are some pictures I took of how beautiful they are:

I also took a picture with Bremen's great protector, Roland! He was constructed in 1404 as a paladin of the First Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne.

After we were being typical tourists, the girls and I found a great department store and did some last minute shopping for bedroom items, bath needs, and school supplies. We were getting pretty exhausted by this point and decided to head back home to Jacobs. It was a long day, and if I learned one thing, it's this: there is so much more of the city to explore....I hope I have the time to see as much as I can in this backyard city of mine. :)