Bremer Freimarkt

17 days in the last 2 weeks of October, Bremen celebrates its traditional Bremer Freimarkt. It was first held in 1035 and is the oldest fair in Germany. I went with friends about a week ago, but last night I went again with my host parents. It was so much fun! I learned some new German vocabulary, drank new kinds of beer, ate new foods, and even went on some of the rides with my host dad (we both love roller coasters). Essentially, Freimarkt has given me a couple fun nights. Here are some of the pictures from my celebrations:

 

 One of the traditional German festival goodies is Lebkuchen (gingerbread). You can buy these heart shaped cookies with different messages on them, so I bought an "Ich liebe Dich" one for my boyfriend, and my host mother bought me one that says "Darling." They really aren't good to eat, more for admiring how pretty and traditionally German they look!

My host father and I went on that looping roller coaster as well. It was well worth the 6,50 euros per person. I had so much fun- I have no idea how safe those carnival rides actually are, but I love rides and definitely took a chance! So worth it!

This is my friend Fiona and me a week ago after buying Lebkuchen and chocolate covered fruit!

When my friends Fiona, Quinn, Jeff, and I had gone to Freimarkt together, we drank the traditional Glühwein, which literally translates to "glow-wine." To be clear, I am not drinking two- one is Jeff's because he was so kind to take this picture. Quinn and I also went on that ride over there called "Airwolf" which was fun- it was such a long ride though- I feel like festivals in the U.S. never let you stay on the best rides for too long. This was certainly a different experience!

 

That sign in the first picture says "Rossbratwürstchen." That means horse-meat. My host parents really liked it when they tried it, so of course, wanting to experience a new German-something, I tried it last night too. It actually wasn't bad. It tasted like a hot-dog (or from what I can remember of a hot-dog, considering I haven't eaten pork or beef in almost 8 years).

 

 I also tried a new kind of beer: I don't remember what the name of it was, but it was very good. It was a light beer with strawberries at the bottom. It even came with a spoon so you can scoop them out. My host parents and I also went on the ferris wheel together and saw all of the Freimarkt from the very top. It was so beautiful, but a little terrifying considering there were 8 people total crammed into a very small ferris wheel seat that did go quite high up. Oh, and I learned that ferris wheel in German is Reisenrad! The swings were also cool- they go a lot higher than they look- about 100 m up into the sky.

The best part was getting into the Bavarian House. THAT was an experience. The tent was huge. There were two bands, one on each side of the tent that would take turns playing songs. They sang traditional German songs, as well as American songs (they played "Sweet Caroline!"). It was tons of fun- people kept coming up to me clinking my beer mug and singing and giving hugs. There was also a lot of dancing. My host parents were having a blast as well singing the songs and talking to all the people coming up to us. The German guys who were coming up to me were fascinated when they learned I come from NY. I had to reject a few dance offers though ;)

The guy with the red bandana was named Matthias. He had me cracking up for most of the time I was there because he did this bizarre pogo-dance for every song. My host parents and I couldn't stop laughing. The guy in the last picture---yeah, I haven't any idea who that was. He just grabbed me and insisted on us taking a picture. Okay!

After the Bavarian House, my host parents and I went to the Maus Haus. This is literally a small bedroom-sized room with a giant glass tank in the center that houses 300 mice. It was really very cute watching them run on wheels, sleep on each other, and climb little structures like fake trees and castles. One of the mice kept running in a circle. The animal care-taker in the room said that particular mouse only runs in the evening, and will only run in the left direction. Very strange. I was disappointed I wasn't allowed to take pictures though. It was a bizarre sight.

I finally got back to Jacobs after midnight. I had originally believed I would be back at 10 pm or so. I was really tired, but as usual, I had a great night with my host parents. I look forward to seeing them again!!

Ischa Freimarkt! <3