If I Didn't Know Better, I'd Swear I Was In Rochester

Remember that nice weather and sitting by the pond watching swans?

That was SO yesterday. The next morning we woke up in Duesseldorf with at least a couple inches of snow already on the ground and more falling non-stop. After breakfast we decided to take a taxi to the Bahnhof rather than walk dragging a recalcitrant suitcase.

From our hotel window. Photo courtesy of Nate.

The German railway system was not amused by the snow. Our 11:30 train was 5 minutes late... then 5 more minutes late... then 15 more minutes late... then 30 minutes more late... until, ultimately, it was about 60 minutes total late. If they'd just told us it would be an hour, we'd have gone down to a warmer area to wait. Instead, they kept tantalizing us with imminent arrival while we froze on the platform. Just to keep it interesting, they changed platforms about 10 minutes before the train got there... to one that had no working elevator or escalator. That was fun, hauling our heavy suitcases up those stairs... NOT!

Our original itinerary included some time in Osnabrueck where we intended to change trains. However, due to the lateness and the warning on the ticket machines about the connecting train perhaps not being available, we opted to take the train all the way to Bremen. At least if we were stranded there, our friends would be able to pick us up more easily, being only about 20 minutes (by train) versus an hour.

The plan was to call our friends when we were on the train from Osnabrueck (now Bremen) so that they would know when to drive to the Syke train station to pick us up. However, we were unable to figure out the correct numbers to add or numbers to delete from the phone number to get the call to actually go through. Standing on the platform in Syke (photo here), I asked a woman for help and finally got through... to the answering machine.

There was a warm place to wait and a DB ticket office, so I went in and asked for help getting through to my friends. While the young woman was still trying to find the correct number, my friend arrived... having just gotten home from Syke after picking up her husband to find my message on the machine. All's well that ends well.

On Saturday Dear Daughter and Boyfriend arrived from Berlin. In the afternoon, despite our sore throats progressing to full-blown head colds, we went into Bremen to visit the Christmas Markt.

The main Weihnachts Markt wraps around the Bremen cathedral.

A couple more gratuitous pictures to make up for the lack at the beginning of this post.

I didn't realize that Bremen also had a Middle-Ages Markt which runs along the river. While it doesn't keep quite as true to the theme as the market in Munich, it did have a more rustic feel with rough-hewn stalls and a good number of craft vendors selling goods that were Middle-Ages appropriate.

And a bagpiper for entertainment.

Walking back to the train station, we passed down Bremen's Mall of Fame where famous Germans have their handprints immortalized in stars in the pavement. (Sound familiar, Hollywood?) The decorations in the mall were particularly lovely.

There are no photos to post from Sunday, as most of the day was spent in family time. Sunday evening, directly after Kaffeetrinken we left for Berlin with DD and BF.

It was wonderful seeing our friends again after 2 years and it was bummer being sick the whole time I was there. I sincerely hope I managed to keep my germs to myself (and Nate, as well) so that they don't get sick with our illness.