From Bremen to Berlin

Saturday October 18th
I woke up early this morning. My internal clock has adjusted to Europe so I may stop setting the alarm on the cell phone. I made sure I was packed up, took my bags down to reception and took off downtown to see the square in the daylight. When I turned into the street that leads to the town square there was a Saturday market. Wonderful flowers, food, and craft booths open. I bought breakfast in the square. Waffles with icing sugar, cherries and whipped cream. I posted a picture on Facebook.  I wandered down the narrow streets of Shnoor, the oldest area of Bremen and of course visited the musicians again.
I went back and picked up my luggage and stopped at the post office to buy stamps. When I got to the station I was early so I fought with the Internet hoping to get on. No luck. I went up on the platform for the train only to find out it was cancelled and I had to get my ticket stamped and take a different train. They emailed me around the time I was fighting with the Internet. Luckily I caught the train and connected but I was an hour late getting to Berlin.
Two buses and I arrived at Kastanallee. The apartment is one floor up but the room is large and I love it. Picture on Facebook. Ana from Postcrossing left me an email and said to phone as soon as I arrived. I called and she and Paulo took me to a Korean restaurant for dinner. The gps took us on around about route but on the way back it was one turn and we were on the right street. Ana gave me a book of Berlin postcards and told me about the Sunday flea market in Mauer Park.
Here are some random thoughts I had while trying to write this blog.
Why is there a 6" bronze leg in front of a commercial building in Amsfoort, Netherlands?
Why do I always seem to find the train car with the seats backwards? Do people want to see where they have been, not where they are going?
 Why do bikes and trams have the right of way in Netherlands? Shouldn't people count? Why does a tram always seem to cross in front of you when you have a walk signal?
In Germany people put decorations on historic staues like Roland in Bremen and people say that he is just having fun. We put bows on geese in the Eaton Centre and it is a National outrage.
Bikes in the Netherlands are too tall. I don't think I could pedal from that high. They say you don't put your feet down you put it on the curb instead. I fall off little bikes I wasn't willing to try big bikes.
It is really hard to notice the difference between the sidewalk the bike lane and the street. They are just different patterns of brick or cobblestone.

Bremen

Hello everyone.
I took the train to Bremen today. People along the way helped me with my bag on the stairs. I found the hotel without much difficulty and got directions to downtown.
Today was the first day of a festival in Bremen. There are rides and carnival games and lots of artisans down by the city hall. People dressed up in medieval costumes, musicians and food vendors lined the streets.
I had a late breakfast and missed lunch as there. Was no food on the train. I made up for it tonight. I had pome frites from a street vendor, beer, and littl donuts hot and drenched in icing sugar. Oh, did I mention the great chocolate and vanilla cream ice cream. The vanilla wasn't ice cream but the Chocolate was. I had a wonderful time but since I didn't know where the fireworks were I headed back to the hotel early. I will post pictures on Facebook.

I can hear the fireworks now. It is 10:00 so I am not going down stairs to find them.

Windmills and the Ann Frank house.

When I woke up this morning it was pouring rain. I decided to go to janse Shans anyway. This like pioneer village but with windmills.

By the time I got to central station the rain had stopped. On the bus I met two American women - my age who were going out there too. We talked, compared notes and decided to walk around together. We went out to the last windmill and then started back. There was a sawmill, a spice mill a cacao shop where you could make your own chocolate and lots of others. We went in one and up to the second floor and out on the deck. That one was a paint grinder. He mixed and ground colors.
We grazed on chocolate, cheese and specula cookies. I watched an artisan make pewter spoons with hot pewter and hand moulds. One of his moulds for a plate was 300 years old.
Time to eat. Dutch pancakes with bacon and cheese and for dessert we shared one with strawberries and whipped cream.

Back to Amsterdam and I went back to the cheese museum to show the young man my Mammoth cheese postcard from Ingersoll cheese museum. I had promised to return and show it to him. I gave him the card and he gave me a cheese museum key chain.

The lineup for the Anne Frank huis was 45 minutes long but I stayed (they had free wifi outside.)

It is a moving exhibit

I'm now down the street eating vegetable and meat ball soup, having a beer an staring at the decorations. I will try to take a picture of the legs lamp and post it on Facebook.

second day in Amsterdam

If you read facebookyou know I got lost already and the police drove me to the boat.
After I got settled I took the bus back to central station and meet two ladies who send postcards the same as I do. We went postcard hunting. We had Chinese food for supper and. Walked around the red light district. Not all the windows had girls in them but enough to get the point.

This morning I had a typical European breakfast bread, ham, cheese and strong coffee. I have been out wandering the city since then. Before I left I wrote down the name of the bus stop so the bus driver won't let me off at the wrong stop.
I am sitting at a cafe near the Anne Frank house eating a Dutch meatball sandwich.
Will write more tomorrow.
Here is everything I forgot to say earlier. I went throu St Nicholas church. Very beautiful. I found the Magna Shopping centre -very high class. I explored Dam square and the area around it. Found the condomerie and bought some condom postcards. Had treat called ijs half ice cream and half whipped cream. Visited the cheese museum and the tulip museum.  Went to the blommenmarket- flower market.visited the church beside the Anne Frank huis but the lineup was too long at the Ann Frank huis.

And it is only 4:00 o'clock I am off to take a canal boat ride.

I'm off to Europe this afternoon

Well here I am eating lunch and trying to decide if I have packed everything I need and not too much stuff that I don't need.

I think I have made every arrangement I could for the house, the truck, the mail etc. I've cleaned out the truck and the refrigerator. I have packed and repacked several times.

I have Percy the aventura penguin with me so you will see him in the pictures.

I will be spending the evening in Toronto Airport and then I am off to Amsterdam for 3 days.  I am staying on a sailboat while I am there. I figure that is something I get a chance to do only once in a lifetime.

These are pictures of the sailboat

First week of the rest of my life.

I'm getting older. I admit it. I had planned on retiring near the end of 2014. Plans do not always go the way we want them to. Last Friday I was laid off. Winter can be a bad time for construction and the job in London is at a point where the furnishings have been approved and there are few changes expected. So my workload was down quite far so if someone had to go it was going to be me.
     So I started looking for a new job, but last time I was out of work it took six months to find a new one. I will keep applying until maybe August or September of next year, but I don't expect a great result.
     In the meantime, I am organizing my house, learning to do some backup co-ordination on Kiva and of course Postcrossing. These were my three favorite postcards from last week.



Nuns Having Fun is always a favorite topic.

Riga Latvia wants to protect the beavers that have taken up residence near the Opera House.

The caption says "Being the owner of a cock makes him so proud"

 

 

This hobby is so much fun!

 

   

I am posting a picture of my mailbox so I can show it on another web page.