Bremen & Blockland

The day began today with Arne’s A1 coffee coming with me in the car! We went to the huge park called Burgerpark ( not a 🍔 in sight). It is Bremen’s pride and joy - run purely on donations. It’s massive - 300 hectares.
This is where Franz’ memorial bench seat is - in a beautiful spot. A bit of a moment visiting here but very glad to have done so.
Following this, we headed to a most interesting place. Just out of Bremen is an intriguing area named Blockland. There are waterways everywhere, it’s tidal and I expect must run in to the Bremen river - eventually reaching the North Sea. Three hundred people live out here including farmers but there are also many little holiday batches. They lease the land from the farmers. It’s fascinating.. There are deer which can be hunted, fish, snakes, cows, frogs, nutria ( introduced from South America with fur trade in mind - big mistake) which are like beavers and they ruin the place, burrowing up the land between waterways. Arne has replaced a derelict and built a place out here. There are a limited number - new ones are not added. Land generally stays in families. One very large area, flatter than the rest, becomes an ice skating rink in winter. The water looks terribly dirty but is apparently clean - it looks this way as there is so much peat about. Some swim there in summer.
There are some lovely country homes on the way there, many cyclists and tree lined roads. What was a massive family farm house originally, is now a function facility.
We walked some gorgeous areas later with Ben, including along the river side which I lack photos of unfortunately. We had dinner down there with the boys, me joining them in a traditional schnitzel (pork). Was great.Read more