BREMEN, GERMANY
Our destination in the north of Germany was Bremen, which is 317 miles from the North Sea. That distance doesn't keep the cold north wind from blowing in though. My husband had to meet some of the shipping people as soon as we arrived so I was left to fend for myself in this huge city. It was a Saturday and I went to the marktplatz but not only were they closing their stalls, but it started to rain.
This was not a nice South Texas shower...no! This was an icy downpour blowing in from the North Sea! I was wearing a powder blue polyester pantsuit which didn't protect me from the elements at all. I managed to find a department store that was open and I ducked in there determined to buy a raincoat. Ha! That's not so easy when you don't sprechen ze deutsche, so I managed with hand signals and found a nice helpful saleslady who showed me just about the most expensive raincoats I have ever seen. Realizing that I didn't have enough deutsche marcs with me, I asked her where the nearest bank was. She pointed and ran her finger across her throat while holding up two fingers. Thus I was given to understand that it was nearby but closed at 2:00!
I dashed back out in the rain, found the bank and got my money;dashed back to the store and bought the cheapest raincoat I could find. Then I ventured out again and called my husband from a phone box on the square. He told me to meet him in the rathskeller so I located that and learned that it was a huge room in the basement of a government building. Upon entering I made a beeline for the ladies room to see if I could dry off a bit. My hair was plastered to my head and I was still shaking from the cold. I had to manage with paper towels while the ladies all stared at me.
After doing the best that I could, I entered the large serving area and started looking for a table. It became obvious that I didn't have much choice. It was arranged with long tables full of either all men or couples and there were no tables where this single woman could sit. I stood there surveying this and saw the one black man in the whole place sitting alone. I decided that he either spoke Swahili or English and I was going to give it a shot. I walked over to him and asked if he spoke English to which he replied, "Oh indubitably. Please sit down." He ordered a glass of beer for me and I finally warmed up a bit when in walked my husband with three German shipping agents. It didn't take him long to find his wife sitting having a beer with the only black man in Bremen! He didn't mind much but his companions looked rather shocked. I bade goodbye to my new friend and joined the others.
The rest of our stay there was rather uneventful and we left after three days (I think) driving back down through Luxembourgh where we spent the night, going on in to the eastern side of France and on in to lovely Switzerland where we returned the car and flew back home.
One little side note re eastern France: I needed a restroom (or "toilet" as all of Europe says) but couldn't find one on the road back. We stopped in several places but they wouldn't let me use the facilities, so later we pulled over on the side of the road and I dedicated my activities to the French.
This was not a nice South Texas shower...no! This was an icy downpour blowing in from the North Sea! I was wearing a powder blue polyester pantsuit which didn't protect me from the elements at all. I managed to find a department store that was open and I ducked in there determined to buy a raincoat. Ha! That's not so easy when you don't sprechen ze deutsche, so I managed with hand signals and found a nice helpful saleslady who showed me just about the most expensive raincoats I have ever seen. Realizing that I didn't have enough deutsche marcs with me, I asked her where the nearest bank was. She pointed and ran her finger across her throat while holding up two fingers. Thus I was given to understand that it was nearby but closed at 2:00!
I dashed back out in the rain, found the bank and got my money;dashed back to the store and bought the cheapest raincoat I could find. Then I ventured out again and called my husband from a phone box on the square. He told me to meet him in the rathskeller so I located that and learned that it was a huge room in the basement of a government building. Upon entering I made a beeline for the ladies room to see if I could dry off a bit. My hair was plastered to my head and I was still shaking from the cold. I had to manage with paper towels while the ladies all stared at me.
After doing the best that I could, I entered the large serving area and started looking for a table. It became obvious that I didn't have much choice. It was arranged with long tables full of either all men or couples and there were no tables where this single woman could sit. I stood there surveying this and saw the one black man in the whole place sitting alone. I decided that he either spoke Swahili or English and I was going to give it a shot. I walked over to him and asked if he spoke English to which he replied, "Oh indubitably. Please sit down." He ordered a glass of beer for me and I finally warmed up a bit when in walked my husband with three German shipping agents. It didn't take him long to find his wife sitting having a beer with the only black man in Bremen! He didn't mind much but his companions looked rather shocked. I bade goodbye to my new friend and joined the others.
The rest of our stay there was rather uneventful and we left after three days (I think) driving back down through Luxembourgh where we spent the night, going on in to the eastern side of France and on in to lovely Switzerland where we returned the car and flew back home.
One little side note re eastern France: I needed a restroom (or "toilet" as all of Europe says) but couldn't find one on the road back. We stopped in several places but they wouldn't let me use the facilities, so later we pulled over on the side of the road and I dedicated my activities to the French.
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