Bremen, Germany

 It seemed awful fast to leave Amsterdam, but the expensive hotels drove us out. 3 and a half hours away we knew there was a nice hotel on the outside of Bremen, Germany, complete with a 4 star restaurant. Unfortunately, things weren't that simple. Road construction, crazy GPS directions (operator error- we forgot to set preferences to fastest route!), and total exhaustion led to more of a 5 hour drive.... AND we wanted to overshoot our hotel in order to see Jasmine, the foreign exchange student who studied in Kodiak a few years back. However, all was well as the route the GPS took us on turned out to be the monkey puzzle one, and we were able to find 22! All in all, things worked out. It was wonderful to see Jasmine, she was able to show us some amazing sights, such as the world's smallest hotel (one room), tiny little winding streets, and what Bella had been waiting for: the statue of The Musicians of Bremen, from the story about the animals who scared off a robbery piling on top of each other to make a crazy monster-like shadow. This stop was actually Bella's idea, but an auspicious choice... Not so long ago we also had the realization that Bremen was where Jasmine's family lives and that there was an Alutiiq three-man kayak in the Bremen museum. So... Day two (after a lovely, welcome 2nd sleep in Europe in a fantastic little hotel) Fish went off to the museum while the girls walked around, shopped, giggled a lot, and took a break from doing anything that involved planning.. Some highlights: Going to a painted pig art gallery Escaping the rain at a little pub The girls collecting bottle caps at the river Huge ice cream in the central square Little windy streets Climbing the 267 steps of the cathedral steeple.

A good luck foot rub.

Strange sculpture....

The benefit of being in Bremen with Jasmine:  She was able to explain that this man in the tiger suit sweeping up bottle caps was more than just a nutter: he was following the Bremen tradition that befalls men here.  If unmarried by age 30, they must sweep up bottle caps from the church steps until they receive a kiss.  For women, it is polishing the doorknobs.