Nina!

Last weekend I visited Nina in Germany. Google maps said it would be about a 3.5 hour drive but ended up taking a bit over 4 hours due to traffic. She actually lives in a little town about an hour away from everything (Autobahn, Bremen). It is a super cute little town though, about 12,000 people live there and they have a great ice cream shop! I arrived on Friday evening and we just spent the evening snacking and catching up.

On Saturday we decided we didn’t want to rush ourselves so we slept in and ate a wonderful breakfast. Nina ran to the local bakery for some fresh rolls and we enjoyed the sunshine and more girl talk. We had so much to catch up on! Then we decided we would head to Bremen for the afternoon/evening. Bremen also had a “Body” exhibit where they display bodies and show how the muscles/veins/nerves/ligaments/organs work. It was really interesting to see. It all looked so fake! They had a normal brain compared to an Alzheimer’s brain and regular lungs compared to smokers lungs. They really did look like they were dropped in tar. We ended up spending about 2 hours in there looking at all of the different things. Another neat exhibit they had was of “The Beginning of Life” and they had all things dealing with pregnancies. They also had example fetuses ranging from about 4 weeks all the way until due. They really do look like a little bean pod. It was so weird to see. We also learned that humans live a long time in relativity to their heart size/function. If it was solely based on our heart size and how often it beats compared to our mass our life expectancy is only 27 years but obviously there are other factors at work here. It was just so neat to see “life” in that way.

After the exhibit we followed the crowd into town. We didn’t get very far before Nina spotted a store that sells the brands of jackets she wants. Well guess who ended up buying a jacket? Not Nina. They ARE really nice jackets and water and wind resistant. I found a nice one that can be used for work or play but it is longer (mid thigh length) which I really wanted. It is also light weight so it will be nice for a variety of seasons. It will be perfect for the trip I’m planning to Stockholm and Copenhagen in May! Here is a picture:

I don't get the joys of showing off my new clothes to friends or family, so this is my substitute :)

Since we went shopping first, I then had a giant bag to carry the rest of the day! We found a beautiful windmill and stopped and had a coffee under it for a little break. We then headed to the city center and to take a look around. We found the bronze statue “The Town Musicians” based on one of the Grimm Brother’s stories. We wondered down the Böttcherstraße and looked at all of the cute shops there. We found Eddie a cute birthday card as well as a shot glass for Mark. There is a candy manufacturer there that makes little Bon Bons (little hard sweet candies) by hand and we got to try some that were fresh off the cooker thing. I’ve never had a warm one before! I ended up getting 2 little jars and bringing them to work since everyone loves candy so much here. In this street is also a little brewery so we stopped for a happy hour drink. You can’t turn down a beer for 1 Euro. It’s just wrong! So he a beer…or two….then asked our super nice waiter where a good place to eat is. He recommended Italian but I wanted German since I was in Germany so we decided to just eat there. We wanted to go walk around a bit more since the weather was FANTASTIC so we figured we would just go back. In Bremen, they have little wharfs where the old harbor used to be. You can walk around along the water on a nice path, close to water level. There are also beer gardens and restaurants that have set up shop along there as well. Since the weather was still so great, we stopped for another beer along the river. After enjoying the sun and watching it set we decided to head back to the brewery where we would have dinner. It was busier by then but sadly not with any young, youthful guys. We ordered and I went for the traditional Bremer Knipp which is what poor people used to eat. Now, apparently it is a specialty. Our waiter didn’t sell it very well with the poor people aspect but I figured I would give it a shot anyways. It was definitely very fatty. I took a picture, but it didn’t look very appetizing so I skipped including it. After hanging out there for awhile, we decided to head home. We were home by about midnight and then went to bed.

Nina and I in front of the windmill and flowers Bremen, Germany style!

The Town Musicians from the Grimm Brother's fairy tale

The town hall and market full of people enjoying the amazing weather

On Sunday we had another wonderful, long breakfast and figured out how nice it was outside. Nina mentioned helping me get some of my tickets booked for my travels so we figured we could sit outside on her balcony and do that. I read a bit of my Kindle while Nina surfed the internet. Although it took 2 of us, I did get my ticket booked to Copenhagen and Stockholm. Now, this darn volcano needs to stop erupting so things can get back to normal around here. I’ve got lots of travel plans in May and they can’t be interrupted by Iceland. After we figured we had been lazy enough for one morning we decided to head out on the bikes for a tour of her town. I didn’t have any major bike accident but we did have a little run in. I would have loved to post pictures from our excursion but we both forgot our phones and cameras so it was good there were no emergencies. After wondering through the little wooded parks and ponds (and watching ducks speed land on the water) we figured we deserved an ice cream.

When I lived in Germany one of my favorite ice creams was spaghetti ice. It is ice cream that is pushed through a mold so it forms spaghetti like noodles on a pile of whip cream covered in a berry sauce. It is still one of my favorites and I haven’t had it in forever so I figured I would get that. The foreign girl slightly insulted my German but since I KNEW she was a foreigner I figured hers had to be just as bad or worse for me to hear it. At least, that’s what I told myself! After ice cream we headed back to Nina’s and enjoyed the last hours on the balcony in the sun. We were discussing all things life and work and degrees and all of the stuff that probably shouldn’t be discussed on a Sunday afternoon sitting in the sun. The exciting part of all of my sun sitting is I now have the beginning of a tan in the form of a light sun burn….but it is only on one half of my body. I ended up leaving her place around 5:30 and got home around 9, true to Google Maps time with limited traffic. It was such an enjoyable weekend and I hope we can do it again before I leave!