Day Last

Good grief.  We woke up today and it was summer!  Breakfast on the deck!

There was a traditional German breakfast for me and Werner and lots of Frosted Flakes and fresh strawberries and blueberries for Dylan.  What a treat.  She even gets to wear her favorite today - the romper.

After cleaning up and organizing and packing a picnic, it was off to the Schloss.  What happened, I do not know, but all but one of the pictures we took are not there.  Nevertheless, we hunted for the answers to all of the questions on the questionnaire for the kids, found lots of whale-related things, looked at the creepy shrunken head and then had our second picnic.  Somehow, I thought we'd have a picnic every day, but the weather just did not cooperate.

Then Werner and Dylan made a last trip to the Spielschiff so Dylan could run around and play and throw sand. Then she helped with our last dinner and again we ate outside.  Soooooo nice!

And suddenly we're done!  Shower, pack, read, Skype, try to get to sleep while it is still light outside even though it is already 10 pm.  But we have to get up at 6:30.

It's been fun!! But now it's done and I know one little girl who will be so happy to see Mommy and Daddy tomorrow.

Market, Maritime, Mealtime

A bit slow this morning getting up and going, but we got to the market in time for what we needed, and more. We got everything on the list and then at the flower stand they offered three bunches of long-stemmed lilies for 5 euros.  Can't pass that up!  And then she threw in an extra bunch for 5 cents!  Dylan asked, What's going on here??  My answer was, end of market.  Sometimes you get lucky at the end of the day.

Then lunch.  We so often have a Wiener Würstchen (hot dog) and potato salad on Saturdays.  It's an easy lunch and we just like it.  Dylan, not so much.  So she had some blueberries and strawberries and the ubiquitous tuna sandwich.  We were all happy.

Off to the Schulschiff!!  This old training ship for the merchant marine lies where the Lesum and Weser Rivers come together.  It's a cool ship, now open for bikers who want to overnight, folks who want to wed, other folks who have a celebration to make, and us tourists.

A quick trip to the supermarket where we got, among other things, more Überraschungseier for Hayden.  Dylan helped get them ready for the customs inspection!

Then it was time to get ready for our dinner with Ilsemarie and Ulli, Klaus and Johanna.  Spargel!

Dylan was happy to have some other company besides Meemaw and Werner and Ilsemarie loves to talk English, so that worked well.

She made a special appetizer for Dylan. Cute!!

And Dylan ate a lot of the soup - an asparagus cream soup.  I'm not really sure she knew what she was eating, but she enjoyed it!

Then it was pizza for Dylan and our wonderful traditional asparagus meal with shaved ham and potatoes.  Delicious, as always.

We old folks sat and talked politics and burial places and upcoming vacations and aches and pains. Dylan was happy to sit with the iPad and be entertained until dessert time.

Strawberries and ice cream.  We all ate our share!

On the way home, she snuggled in the car and when we arrived home at 10:45 I didn't have to say a word.  She was up and in bed before I got myself settled.

Tomorrow:  Last day!  We'll have a nice breakfast, a visit to the Schloss and pack up.

Crêpes, Culture, Circus

Alliteration day.

First, crêpes,  After all these days, we're kinda on a normal schedule, wake up at 8 or so.  Get the day going.  So, she wandered downstairs, wandered to the couch, wandered back to the kitchen.  What's for breakfast?  How about crêpes, I say. Again?, says she.  You don't want them?  Oh. OK.

So we did.  With strawberries and Nutella.  Werner indulged himself with some cane syrup, me a bit of powdered sugar.  It was good.

Then it was Culture -- to the city, to the Übersee Museum.  It's always fun there.  The basis of the collection is stuff that Bremen traders brought back from their overseas trips last century plus.  Things from the far east, from the Pacific islands, from South America.  These folks were everywhere and bought everything they could buy and brought it back. So there are masks from Africa and China and Nepal and Brazil.  There are costumes and stuffed animals and dioramas and interactive exhibits of all sorts.  We'd planned two hours, usually enough in a museum, but we could have stayed longer!

Here's Dylan in an ancient transport for Chinese or Japanese royalty.  She wasn't comfortable - and I imagine the original folks weren't either.  

The Emperor in the Opera - with Dylan.

 Sorry that there weren't more pictures.  The exhibit was so varied and wonderful and we looked at so much - even things about climate change and how your diet choices matter. The end.  It was time to go to the circus!

We had a quick lunch at home - tuna and chips - and then off.

 It was hard to take pictures, and besides, I was distracted!!  There were horses (stinky) and ponies and llamas and goats and dogs and camels who did tricks.

 There were kids, from 7 months to about 8 years old, who did acrobatic tricks with their dad.  Wow!

 Flame swallowers and flame throwers!!!!

 There were acrobatic acts in between - on a bar, on a ring, on a tight wire, on all these chairs!  It was fun...

But boy was it a cold day here in the middle of June!! On the way out, we ran into Nicolette, our friend from Jacobs University who's back working on her PhD.

Dinner:  Leftovers.  That's good enough after all the treats today.  Then a bit of a movie, Skype with dad, and the usual night time read.  Meemaw is done. 

Watt Day

It's a relatively early day for us - up about 9:30, out the door about 10:30 to arrive in Wremen about 11:30 or 12:00 so we can walk the Watt - the Mud Flats. 

Wremen is such a low-tech place.  There's the little harbor, the few stands that sell stand-stuff - fries and brats and fish and little souvenirs -  the little light house and, most important, the Watt.  There's a big water park there, too, but not open yet.

So, we had told Dylan about walking in the mud and she was up for doing it, but frankly, she took to it like a duck to water!  Take off the shoes, go out and run and splash and dig with your hands and get muddy!  I'm kinda surprised she didn't just get down and roll around in it!!

 There are the rivulets that are a bit deeper and the mud around them a bit softer.  UP TO OUR KNEES (almost)!

 How do they do this?

 She even dug with her hands in the mud... really!

 After a while, we wandered back and found a place in the beach chair to have a drink and a sandwich and some fries.  Unfortunately, they put Curry Ketchup on the fries, so that was a bummer. 

 After Wremen, we drove into Bremerhaven and went up the Radio Tower, played at the park in the sand,

 and then visited the 1945 submarine in the Museum Harbor.

 Let's drive the sub!

 And let's climb on top of the tug boat.  Kids under 12 are not allowed without an adult, so I went along, but so sorry Mom and Dad, I could NOT go to the top deck with her!! That ladder was just not big enough for me. So I stood watch with my heart in my throat.  She, of course, was supremely confident. 

At home, I insisted she shower.  Why????  Because!!!!  Because mud and sand.  After dinner, a little movie time and of course story time. 

Tomorrow- Circus!!

Failing, Flayling, Kiting, and Picnic

7:30 AM came early.  Dylan stuck her face in the bedroom door and needed a little snuggle which we are happy to provide!!  Are you ready to get up? Yes.  Then, quiet, quiet, and before you know it, it's 10:30 and she has to be drug from bed.

We had early visitors who stayed till 11:00 and then, finally, it was time for breakfast!!  I was hungry for eggs, so Werner and I had eggs and bacon, Dylan her usual cereal and fruit and for the only time was allowed to eat in pajamas since there was no sense in dressing then undressing to shower!

Then it was time for the day's adventure.

Here is Dylan's account of our day:

After breakfast, we got the bikes out of the garage and packed for our picnic. There were lots of food I loved! Such as tuna fish, Bel Vita (breakfast bars) and a lot more! We set off on our trip at around 11:40.

 I was so excited to go on the ferry! But, it was not what I was expecting. Anyways, after the ferry ride we rode our bikes around the shipyard because we couldn't go through. After the shipyard was this massive field that was perfect for kite flying... Almost.

Only the slightest bit of wind. Uh oh. We tried and tried, but no luck whatsoever. After our HUGE failure, I said, "Let's take a break from this and have our picnic." I snooped around in the picnic basket and found some of the cake we baked. We didn't eat it though. I had my tuna fish sandwich, along with my Bel Vita bar. Don't forget about the Pringles!

We tried the kite again, but no luck. While we were trying the kite, dogs with their owners approached. I ran to save the food, luckily I did. There were 6! 4 of them running around in the field, and 2 in a baby buggy. I thought it was hilarious!

After the dog incident, we put the kite up, packed the food away, and got back on our bikes, and we were heading somewhere. 5 minutes later, I found out. An ice cream parlor! Sadly, it closed. So, we went to a different place. It had ice cream. I thought this one was the best out of all 3 I have had so far.-Dilly

Dylan forgot to mention about 30 minutes or more of just lying on the ground, looking at the clouds, resting a bit and playing "I'm thinking of a word ...."  That was oh so nice.

After we crossed the river again, we took a picture under the giant blue whale jawbone. Then Dylan eyed the Spielschiff, the play ship, the playground near the harbor.  She's 9 - playgrounds are fun.  There was one little girl who tried to make friends, but the language was a barrier.  Regardless, running around in the sand, going down the slide, climbing the ladders and the ropes was fun.

Dinner:  the local taco place.  It's been there at least 10 years and Werner and I have never been.  It was not bad, but frankly, I can wait for my US visits or do it myself at home.

After a long detoured walk home, it was a quick talk with mommy and the night-time read and to sleep.  Since she worked so hard on the blog (!!!) we'll have to play cards again tomorrow.

The Hamburg Zoo

We're off to the zoo in Hamburg today.  In German, it's a Tierpark, an animal park, but it's a zoo.  It's called the Hagenbeck Tierpark after the man who started the zoo based on his collection of exotic animals. There's a bronze statue of him there, stroking a lion.  They say he was attached to the lion and they were great friends and when Herr Hagenbeck fell in one of the animal enclosures one day and was threatened by the tigers and such, the lion came and protected him and saved his life.  Yes.  Well.

But it seems it was the first park without cages, rather places with moats and such to keep the animals and the viewers safe from each other.

I am walking like an old decrepit person today because walking up the 265 stairs of the Bremer Dom (the cathedral) and s l o w l y wandering around the city yesterday did me in, but good!  Oh well, better to keep moving!

To the train, and then an hour's ride to Hamburg.  We pass the time playing cards - 31, Crazy 8's, and the time flies.

Tierpark!

First the elephants, who we could feed - lettuce, carrots, cucumber and such.  They never stopped begging!  It was sad to see them stepped over the barrier and stretching out their trunks for the bits of lettuce and carrot, but so it is at a zoo.

 And of course we had rain!!  Bad luck on the weather this trip, but it didn't last long.  Gray clouds, though, they stayed... 

We saw white pelicans, giant bears,
Orangutans, bison, goats, donkeys, parrots, zebras, lions (lazy), a leopard (sleeping), otters (swimming) and so many others!

 And then there was cotton candy!!

And a Buddah, just for Hayden.

 Dylan really liked the peacock, though he refused to show off.

 And the playground!  That was cool - big slides, big swings.  That was a nice break.

 Weather aside, it was a nice visit, but exhausting. 

 The swinging bridge to the Orangutan exhibit.

 On the way back, there was some sleep to be had....Wish I could do that!!

Dinner: keeping it easy.  The first Mac and Cheese for Dylan, leftover pasta with roasted eggplant and fresh tomatoes for me and Werner.  Fruit salad for the kid, tabbouleh for us.

What now??  She wants to play hide-and-seek.  OK - one turn each.  Funnier than I thought, especially the last round where Werner has put himself behind the couch!  He can hardly get out!

Old Maid, a round of Uno and some chapters in the book and to bed. 

Hoping for better weather tomorrow, a picnic and some kite flying.  We have so much wind!