Bremen!

I had a wonderful time in Bremen. Another lovely Couchsurfing experience with lots of yummy food.

I also visited the Emigration Center in Bremerhaven - a port from which over 7 million people departed for the New World, most of them German or Eastern European. It was very interesting, I provide a more thorough review on my genealogy blog.

Bremen is quite lovely - and, it appears, very few English-speaking tourists, since many people I encountered, even those working in tourist-oriented establishments, did not speak much, if any, English. Compared to most of the rest of the cities I've visited thus far, it was very calm.

The highlight of my day exploring Bremen was an old warehouse in the Schnoor district of Bremen that back in the day belonged to a Saint James charitable organization, and now houses a live-action museum of sorts - people dressed in period costumes that tell you about the economic and social life in the city (or, in the case of me and the two Lithuanian girls I was going on the tour with, hear the intrepretation from our English-speaking guide). One of the people was even dressed as Saint James, scallop shells and all. I made sure to get a picture of myself with him.

Today I made my way to Hamburg, and as seems typical at this point, immediately stumbled upon the Jakobikirche (Saint James church). After exploring the outside of it (one set of doors even detailed the life of Saint James), I made my way towards the Rathaus (town hall), then intending to visit some of the smaller museums along the river.

When I made it to the Rathaus, however, this plan was aborted in favour of a new one, for when I reached the corner of the square and happened to look up to the street signs standing there, on a sticker on the pole I saw a stylized yellow shell on a blue background with the caption "Pilgerweg" - I had had once again managed to inadvertently find the Camino! As a result, I started following it. Lost it by the Saint Michael church for a bit - as is typical, the Camino tends to take unpredictable paths when it approaches churches of note - but found it again, and followed it until it approached the neighbourhood of my hostel, at which point I veered off to pass through the Old Elbe Tunnel and then wander back towards the centre of town along the harbour. I will pick up the Camino again in the following days. I'm curious to see how far it goes!

Tomorrow, however, on the menu is the BallinStadt, the emigration museum here in Hamburg. Good night!