Ringhotel Munte am Stadtwald Bremen

... and the main market area. After looking at about 10 places to eat we finally decided on a restaurant. We walked in and waited to be seated only to find out that it was the type of restaurant (like most in Germany) where you seat yourselves, we looked silly. The meal was really good. I had Bremer Knipp, which is a speciality in the area. It was basically a patty of ground meat and onions and stuff overtop of amazing potatoes with tons of spices. We couldn’t figure out ...

... to my surprise it was 2 blocks away from the train station. You can actually see the train station from the entrance to the building. Yet anyways, I called Norbert and he was already at the office so he came down and took me up to the office. It was really cool to see, it had a lot of the same feeling that we have in San Diego. Then Norbert showed me around and we talked a little business and then headed out to tour the city. Again much to my Surprise ...

... cute. The centre has lots of old buildings that are pretty. It also has a area that has all little windy streets which is pretty cool. Oh yeah, Becks beer is also from this area and they have a brewery here,

I really have just wandered around the town and rested up as I needed a bit if a break before heading up to Scandinavia in the next few days. This was a nice little town to do that in - aside from the excessive rain today it has been pretty good.

... is the same, we can all come together on common ground.

interesting to think about when just today our cross cultural mgt professor was talking about divisions in Europe. take for instance the conflict along the Serbian-Croatian border takes it roots from when Christian crusaders sacked Constantinople... nights like tonight serve as proof that with understanding, compassion and a little booze, the world might know peace.

... around for 2 hrs we stumbled upon an Irish pub and paid 4.10 euro for a perfect 42 degree Guinness.

it was worth every penny...

after the beverage. we caught the second to last bus back to the hotel. all is well and the weekend plans to Dublin a shaping up. St James Gate here i come.

I visited my new University today!

I was due on campus at 11 A.M to meet the coordinator of my summer program, but I ended up leaving my apartment slightly behind schedule. It's an easy commute though, I basically walked across the street and down a few blocks to the University. Although, map in hand, somehow I still managed to get lost once I got to campus, overshooting where I was supposed to go, and needing to backtrack a little. The extra walking was unfortunate because it was ...

... la the Beatles!) for the one-hour flight to Bremen. I had a window seat on this flight, and since I also had a prime view of the landing gear, I made sure to watch the wheels at *the exact moment* they hit the runway in Germany. I swear, I saw that moment actually happen, but I STILL can't believe I'm here :) One of the postdoc's from my new research group picked me up at the airport, gave me a brief introduction to Bremen, and dropped me off at my "accomodation ...

... It was getting quite dark and with the mist had that eerie, ghost like setting. We had way more fun in the cemetery than most people think you should. We had a lot of amazing conversation as we have very similar thoughts about life. I have to move on to a different couch tonight as Kirsten had already promised her couch to someone else for tonight. I'm off to see downtown Bremen. Life is Amazing! I live a Charmed Life! Think It! Feel It! Live It!

... people on a train in my life, it was worse than OC Transpo in the morning!! haha! When we arrived in Bonn, we went to the tourist information centre and got a map of the city. We then found out that Beethoven was born in Bonn and that there was his house that we could visit and a couple other things dedicated to him! So of course, we started to get cracking because there was quite a lot of things to see! We first went to the Dom, and also saw the Beethoven statue ...

... speaks English (and not begrudgingly) and the beer is relatively cheap compared to many other european cities. So come to Bremen and let the musicians entertain while you colour your cheeks with some Weser-wasser, the internationally reknowned Beck's beer. A big THANK YOU to everyone at Heggarty's Irish pub and the proprietors of my favourite steak house in Syke. Looks like I'll be staying the weekend aferall as the Frei Markt is in town from tonight. It's the ...