I am now on my German leg of this tour, and I started in Bremen which is in the north west. The centre of the town is fantastic, a huge open cobbled square and standing within it is Bremen's oldest parish church, the town hall and the cathedral which are all massive and really quite imposing.
The church, dedicated to the Virgin, is built on the original site of a church from the 11th century, but this one only dates back to the 14th century. It is built of brick, with a brick vaulted roof, but a new nave built in the 16th century seems to be have a plaster roof. When I entered, I was accosted by an elderly lady speaking to me in nothing but German. When she finally asked Sprechen sie Deutsch? I was confidently able to answer Nein.
The cathedral is a lot more ornate, and painted in colours of green, yellow and red, but apparantly this was only done at the beginning of the 20th century. Just shows that you can't believe everything you see these days, even in a cathedral. It also has some lovely carvings and paintings, but I didn't know what of as everything is written in German.
Bremen is also famous for the town musicians, as mentioned in the title which come from a Grimm brothers fairy tale which you'll have to look up to find out more, but there is a statue of them outside the town hall. There are some lovely areas to walk in Bremen, both along the Weser river which runs south of the old city and was in constant use when Bremen was a port, despite being so far inland. You can also walk along the old moat which runs north of the old city, along the old route of the city walls. There is a path either side and some lovely parkland in which to sit and watch.
There are also some old medieval style streets, very narrow and a bit like Shambles in York, with cobbled streets and houses close together. But they mostly contain gift shops and eateries, although one does house a Glockenspiel at the top, a triangular arrangement of bells which ring a tune for about ten minutes three times a day. Lots of people come to watch.
But the heart of the place is the huge square and there are plenty of cafes and bistros where people can drink Beck's (which is brewed in Bremen). I got chatting to a Japanese guy at the hostel who is studying photography in Maidstone and we sat there one evening. I had some Schitzel and beer and have to say that it went down very well indeed.
There also appear to be plenty of other things to see in Bremen and around, and you could quite easily base yourself there for a week without getting bored. On the way there on the train I got chatting to a girl from Bremerhaven (other photography student - this time in Essen) who recommended that I come to Leipzig. So here I am and it is also lovely.
It has a great chilled out feel to it, with some more old and imposing buildings. It is also the first time that I have been in the old 'East' and today visited the former HQ of the Stasi, the GDR secret police, in this area. It has been kept just as it was in 1989 with the same cream walls and yellow linoleum on the floor and odd musty but pungent smell. Here they have a collection of badges, medals, clothing, letter opening machines, copiers, phone tappers and tape recorders and cameras along with loads of other stuff which was being used day to day by the Stasi, Almost hard to comprehend that it was still going on only 18 years ago. They also had a drawing which I have seen in the history books, of the profiles of Stalin, Lenin, Marx and Engels all together.
However Leipzig is also known for music, and was the home of Bach for twenty years before he died as leader of the Church of St Thomas Choir School. The museum is very nice, all in German of course, but for the price of entry you get a free audio guide which also plays you bits and pieces of music along the way, as well as a comparison between a Clavichord, a Harpsichord and a Hammer Piano. It is located right opposite where Bach lived and worked with his family, and outside the church there is a statue of him.
Weather is still bright, but it has turned very cold again here but I suppose it is still only April. I am in Leipzig for a couple more days so will have further reports shortly