Hansetour Day 2 | 25 April 2023
Today, we had a full day to explore Bremen. Naturally, we started by seeking out a highly reviewed fish delicatessen our residential area. There, the surprisingly genial fishmonger (this is Germany, after all) explained the various sauces adorning the whole, filleted, and chopped and herring display. We ended up with several goodies for a planned picnic/smorgasbord supper.
After wandering into town, we breakfasted the northern German way: on a cheap and cheerful Fischbrötchen. The fish shops here all sell these delights, which involve a fillet of one of various types of herring (salt-cured Matjes, vinegar-cured Bismarckhering, etc), a spoonful of a seafood salad, or a slice of one of various types of smoked fish being slapped into a sliced-open white bread roll. If you’re lucky, you might be offered some raw onions on top. Alfie went for standard Matjes (the closest to the even more unctuous and fishy Matjes they serve in ‘broodjes’ the Netherlands), while I chose a smoked version. We stuck to one roll each—although one was not enough.
Next stop: cathedral. The east crypt’s romanesque columns were especially interesting, and the free (yay!) cathedral museum yielded some fascinating tidbits too, including some 15th-century wall paintings on a low vault. On a side note, the incredible town hall (sadly closed during our visit) and cathedral are probably some of the few buildings in Bremen not sporting some form of graffiti—from scrawled tags to full-blown murals, it’s ever-present here.
For something completely different, we then sought out the Beck’s factory. Yes, we didn’t realise Beck’s was headquartered in Bremen, either—their red crest with the big key on it is the city’s, too. The factory itself is a high, impenetrable fortress of bland block work and dark glass. What are they making in there, nuclear weapons?
Watching the forklifts in the massive Beck’s loading yard could only keep us entertained for so long, and it was time to find some lunch. It transpired that Alfie had never had a German Döner kebab. (Yes, I know it’s really Turkish, but it’s also German because it was invented in Berlin—and because it’s better here than any other non-Turkish country I’ve had it.) Well, that was lunch sorted.
Google Maps reviews, a bit of a crutch for us on our travels, was not helpful in selecting a Döner place: all of the options in the area were scored about the same. Of course, this was not actually surprising—one of the great things about Döner is that it’s available everywhere and usually pretty good everywhere. I analogised its ubiquitousness to fish and chips in the UK, but judging by Alfie’s ecstatic reaction to the crusty triangle of bread filled with salty, savoury meat, crisp cabbage and onion salads, and garlicky, spicy sauces—procured within minutes from the closest Dönerbude for less than 5€—this was no average chippy fare.
To summarise, lunch was followed by more walking around (over 30,000 steps!). Our fish smorgasbord dinner in the Airbnb was accompanied by pumpernickel from REWE and a delightfully spritzy Hochgewächs Riesling from the Bremen state wine cellars. (Does your local authority possess its own cellars? Don’t you just love countries that have this kind of thing?) We were already feeling very much at home in our little flat in the relaxed, pretty, multicultural area of Bremen rather bizarrely known as Viertel (‘quarter’).