Trip #5 Bremen

For my final trip in Germany, I decided to head to Bremen. Its only about a two hour train ride from Lüneburg. So that's not too bad. It was in the 50*F for weather which was pretty good for the time of the year.



The city of Bremen has a long and complex history. The area around Bremen has been settled since 12,000 BC but it was closer to a full town by 787. In 1260, Bremen joined the Hanseatic League and by 1350 there were 20,000 people living in the town. It was also known for its Hansekogge or cog ship. In 1666, Bremen was laid attacked by Sweden but after a treaty was signed and there was no other attacks. Bremen was bombed during WWII. Bremen is now the 13th largest city in Germany. So after that long and complex history, that my brief summary does by no means do justice to all the history but is some facts I found interesting.



My first stop was the Rathaus which is one of the oldest and finest in Europe. Construction was started in 1410 and then it was remodeled in the 17th century. You can take tours of it till this day of this historic building! It is also the only European town hall built in the late middle ages that hasn't been destroyed or altered. The guided tour costs 5 Euros and it is about a hour. Its a really cool tour and allows you to really get a sense of the history of this town.



My second stop was the Focke Museum, which covers all of Bremen's history throughout the years, all 1,200 years of it. It has a main building and then additional 4 historical homes that are all in the park for the property. It has temporary exhibits that come through but it really covers all history. It has everything from cars to statues to weapons from the original inhabitants of the area. The fee is 6 Euros for adults and 3.50 for children. It just has a little bit of everything! And with my passion for history it gives me a chance to nerd out.



The next stop was something to eat and i decided to eat at Bremen Ratskeller Restaurant which is a restaurant in the cellar of the Rathaus where is/used to be a wine cellar. They even have dinner musicals or Pasta Opera and das Krimdinner, It all sounds super exciting! There are two different types of Krimidinner and they are: Der Spuk von Darkwood Castle, Die Nacht des Schreckens. They are a little costly and are 89-98 Euros for tickets but it seemed worth it because how often do you get to see someone shot by a arrow over dinner? That price also includes wine and 4 course dinner so not bad at all!



Of course I had to see the Die Bremer Stadtmuskikanten or the town musicians of Bremen who are known from the Brothers Grimm fairy tale. It it what the town is know for and is something you have to see!



Overall my trip to Bremen was really great with all the history and just the great people in the town! I headed back to Lüneburg after a wonderful day walking around this historic city!

Sources for more information:
http://www.ratskeller-bremen.de/epages/61918905.sf/de_DE/?ObjectPath=/Shops/61918905/Categories
http://www.bremen-tourism.de
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bremen

Trip #4 Kassel

For my fourth trip in Germany, I decided to go to Kassel. I remembered our book in German 102 and thought why not go see the sights that we read about while I'm here? Plus its only a 2 hours on the ICE train to get there from Lüneburg or 5 hours on a slower train. I just took the slower train because why not admire the view (and it was cheaper, thanks to my school)!

Kassel is a really old town that has been passed around to many different countries. The name is actually from a tribe of German that used to live there since Roman times! It was first mentioned in 913 AD so there is plenty of history in the area. If you want to learn more I'll put a couple links at the bottom otherwise I will be talking about the history forever!

Löwenburg ^

Kassel has tons and tons of museums and thanks to the Documenta the whole town is like a art museum. The Documenta is a international exhibition of modern and contemporary art that happens every 5 years. The last one was in 2012 so 2017 is the next time. The art that is placed around the city for the Documenta is not normally taken down so especially outdoor pieces can still be seen as you walk around the city. This is a huge event and is very popoular when it happens. People from all around the world come and they even brag about having Brad Pitt there on their website! Here is some past fixtures.




There are some interesting ones and some are now permanent parts of the city which is really cool. So its almost like a Easter egg hunt around the city to see all of these art pieces everywhere.

Of course I had to go to the Grimm Brothers Museum. The entrance fee is 3 euros and if you want to go make sure to not plan it for Mondays because they are closed! They have exhibits on the brother's travels and lives but also some exhibits on their other brothers art which is cool to see. The link for the site is below and they have pictures of a lot of the exhibits online to look at which is awesome.

Besides having tons of stuff to do the town is just simply gorgeous. Honestly most of my trip was just walking around admiring the view of this historic city. Kassel during WWII was bombed pretty badly and after the war they elected to not rebuild a lot of historic towns so it has a lot of new buildings for such a old city site. I walked through the two big parks in the city, Karlsaue Park and Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe. I know we looked at Google earth and images of these parks in class but nothing can compare to them in real life. I also visited Löwenburg which is a really cool late 18th century castle that's also called Lion Castle and the picture from that is up above. I picked the perfect time because it was 50-60* F which is 11-20*C. That's pretty nice for this time of year!


Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe ^


Karlsaue Park ^

Check the museum-kassel site for times for the tours of all the castles, parks and scenic places in the area. They have the prices for all the tours and entry to museums which is nice to have in one place and ranges from 2-6 euros.
After wandering around for a while and visiting the Grimm Brothers Museum, I decided it was time for a meal. And I decided to try out a restaurant called Duck Dich for dinner.

 Not gonna lie I totally chose it for the name but then when you look on the menu and you can get crocodile filet in the middle of Germany you know you are in for a experience. It was pretty expensive at 37.50 but sometimes you just gotta splurge a little bit. A lot of the meat is only cooked on hot stones at your table which is also really cool. You just get a plate full of veggies, meat and potatoes and a hot stone to cook it on, so it was worth the price for a fun experience. The link to the website is down below. I would definitely check it out because they have a video of how you make your dinner if you are curious.



After a day of walking and a delicious meal, it was time for me to head home so I hopped on the train and headed back to Lüneburg.  Thanks Kassel for the wonderful day!

Next up I'm thinking its time to visit Bremen!

Links so you can learn more if interested: (my computer isn't wanting to add links for some reason but here are the websites)
http://www.museum-kassel.de/en/index_navi.php?parent=8603
http://www.kassel.de/englisch/
http://www.germany.travel/en/towns-cities-culture/towns-cities/kassel.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kassel
http://duckdich-kassel.de/
http://www.grimms.de/index.php