It’s going to be hard to keep up with the blog at this rate, as one day seems to be only a slight variation on previous ones, as the pictures demonstrate.
I think, though, that we need a special shout out for our favourite restaurant, in Almyrida.
It does appear to be genuinely (extended) family run, including the fish of the day caught by one of the brothers. In many ways a throwback to what we both remember from Crete from 50 years ago, including a gorgeous view from dinner.
Very little to say, apart from some lovely pictures.
Back to the villa for a relaxing afternoon
Evening in Almyrida
And home again – what’s not to like???
We’re staying somewhere near the bottom left hand corner, and so decided to have a lazy day exploring the peninsula.
It’s as nice as it looks, and soooooo relaxing.
Eileen has decided that this might be her favourite place ever! We both reckon we were here the best part of 50 years ago, so memories are a bit faded to put it mildly.
But we drifted from coffee to beer to ice-cream to dinner soaking it all up.
Hmmm
Lovely view from dinner
And back to our wonderful villa
Last minute, as usual. Eileen has been scanning weather forecasts across Europe and eventually settled on Crete as the best bet for the next 10 days. We’d been before, and the blog was very useful in reminding us that it’s almost 10 years to the day since we were last here.
Arriving was easy – 40 minutes from landing we were through security, collected the bags and were driving off in the hire car (not electric thankfully).
Noted Greek supermarkets (like German ones) are closed on Sunday, so had to stop and stock up before they closed on Saturday night.
We think we’ve found a great place to stay. A few initial pictures, and I suspect more to follow over the week.
Well that was a funny old 10 days. We both said that in a strange way a small part of us was sad to be leaving, and yet at the same time we didn’t want to stay any longer. Perhaps it’s the Groundhog Day effect of getting into the same routine every day.
Anyway, it was a successful trip, and we did have a small celebration in the (aptly named) New York Bar.
A last morning commute to work before leaving at lunchtime
A couple of reminders of Bremerhaven
And even a decent early dinner at Greta’s in Bremen
And lovely to be back in Chipperfield Woods ..
We’ve been here a week, and the time has flown by. Jo is working extremely hard on a paper which is nearing the submission deadline, and I’m walking. And to prove the latter, here’s my average daily step count for the past week!
Bremerhaven itself is a total mystery. There is literally nothing to do. It’s a bit busier at weekends, but there seems to be a total dearth of bars, coffee shops and restaurants around the marina and along the seafront. We have one very good coffee shop near the apartment, which opens from 12-5. So useless for the morning commute.
And yet the views are stunning.
My knowledge of German cities is virtually non-existent, including their location. It’s about 2/hours on the train.
Reason for going was for Jo to see Francois – an old friend from Aarhus. They had a great time catching up.
So with my usual pre-planning without Eileen (i.e. nothing at all!) I made my way to the tourist information to ask for their advice on how to spend a few hours.
The main (only?) attraction is the enormous town hall
with the main attraction being that you can take a lift up to the top of the dome for the princely sum of €5. So I did.
This is looking directly up through the top of the lift which has to curve 17 degrees around the dome.
And quite a poignant model display of how we flattened Hannover in the war.
Pre bombing
Post – not sure if it shows, but basically flattened.
And a few other pictures of the old town
So is it worth it? I would say that if you happen to be in Hannover it is well worth a few hours exploring. Not sure, though, that it’s worth a special visit.
We’ve been lucky with the weather, and to my surprise the town has been incredibly photogenic. I think it’s a combination of
So here are some photos that I’m pleased with.
We’ve been here for about 5 days, and so it’s about time to introduce Bremerhaven.
And here it is. The apartment is just to the top left of 2. Jo’s office/lab (the AWI Institute) is the building in between 14 and 18.
It’s fair to say that her walking commute to work, along the seafront, is by far the best bit of the town.
The rest of the town is a bit reminiscent of Hemel Hempstead, and not in the least bit photogenic. So we stick to the marina and the seafront which are fantastic.
There is, though, a real life WWII U Boat moored up.
