In keeping with the rhythm of trying to pump out a blog post every few weeks until I’m caught up I’m moving on a few weeks past my family coming to Barcelona to the week of my birthday at the end of October.
Since coming to Germany I’ve been lucky enough to meet a great group of people. My coworkers, primarily Andy, Tina and Mirko have been especially welcoming outside of the work place, including me in their routines and introducing me to their friends and family, without them I’d be pretty bored most weekends.. But, for my birthday they went above and beyond for sure.
For my birthday I had asked them if they wanted to join me in the Schlachte quarter in Bremen which is where, the beer gardens are located along the river Weser. Behind the beer gardens are bars lining the river and they are a great place to go catch a soccer game. On the day of my birthday, Werder Bremen was playing in the DFB Pokal, which is Germany’s single elimination Cup tournament that runs from August to May, it includes the top 2 levels of professional soccer in Germany as well as the best teams beyond that in Germany, and it is a very sought after trophy for all teams involved. The plan was to go to dinner with my friends, and then to the bar to watch the game after.
My co-workers are far too nice to me
On the day of my birthday though they called me down to the lab and they had a few gifts for me which was already too much and more than I expected. They were silly gifts like a can of goulash soup because they know how addicted I am, chocolates, a Werder Bremen cookie, and a hilarious t-shirt with a picture of a Manchester United player named Marouane Fellaini from Belgium, who has a huge afro, on it. Than came Tina and Mirko’s gift, I unwrapped it and out rolled a Werder Bremen scarf, for those of you who aren’t too familiar with me, I collect soccer scarfs and whenever I go to a game I have to get one, so at this point I have a nice little collection, and when I saw the scarf I was super excited! I was a little too caught up in the scarf and I didn’t see until Tina pointed it out that there was an envelope inside the wrapping paper. I opened it, and expecting a card I was surprised when I realized that it was a Werder Bremen ticket! I figured it was to a game later in the season but as I looked at it, I saw that it was actually for the game THAT NIGHT! Instead of going to the bar to watch the game, we were now going to the stadium! And on top of that, we were in the best section of the stadium, the “Ostkurve,” where the loudest Werder Bremen fans stand and sing and wave their flags for all 90 minutes. You could say I was now pretty pumped for the game!
Mirko, Nina, Myself and Tina
Werder Bremen was playing Hoffenheim, a very good team from the southwest of Germany that finished 4th last season, so it was not going to be an easy game. This was made even more difficult considering Bremen had been playing terribly for the first half of the season and could barely score. But luck and history may have been on Bremen’s side as their best player, Max Kruse, was returning from an injury and the game was at home, and Bremen had not lost at home in this tournament since April 13th, 1988!!!! (This year they lost to Bayer Leverkusen in Leverkusen so the record streak continues)
It may not be the biggest, but it’s ours… Weserstadion
Right from the beginning the game was intense, Hoffenheim were clearly the better team but they couldn’t seem to get through Bremen’s defense. Bremen was more physical than Hoffenheim though and a bit taller as a team and they were getting a few chances from corner kicks. After a particularly relentless attack from Hoffenheim, Bremen earned a corner and completely against the flow of the game Bremen scored! Considering most fans imagined their home winning streak to come to an end the entire stadium went nuts! It was pretty cold already for late October but the beer shower that everyone received from the fans in the second deck couldn’t have felt any better! Now Bremen just had to stand their ground for the rest of the game. With the stellar play of the goalkeeper and with their attackers helping out the defenders, Bremen were able to completely shut down Hoffenheim and when the official blew his whistle the celebrations began!
Final whistle celebrations!
I had never been to a game so intense and passionate and you could see how much the upset meant to everyone in the stadium, even though it was only the final 16 teams it was still a huge win for the club and city that quite frankly hasn’t had much to cheer for in a long time. Bremen used to be one of the best clubs in the country and for years competed, and fought toe to toe with Bayern Munich. Now, things aren’t so glamorous, but the games are still incredibly exciting and when the teams pulls off a big win the fans don’t take it for granted and they celebrate as if it would be the last big win they’ll ever have. The players ran over to the Ostkurve and sung with the fans “Wir sind Werder Bremen” (we are Werder Bremen) which is one of the club’s anthems so to speak. It was a great night and I couldn’t stop thanking Tina and Mirko for making it happen, I am really fortunate to have such amazing friends all over the globe.
Wir Sind Werder Bremen! (excuse my singing haha)
A few days later I was going on another adventure of sorts, something I had never tried before. I had a 4 day weekend and I was going to be camping in my car in Switzerland! I found out a week earlier that I could actually fit a single mattress in the back of my Ford hatchback if I put the back seats down. There was plenty of room for the mattress as well as places to store toiletries, a water jug, a small camp stove, camping gear and clothes for the weekend. I had mapped out the trip and I was anxious to get started.
As it was almost a 10 hour drive from Bremen to Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland I knew I had to divide the trip up into two parts. After work on Friday I planned to drive as far as possible and hopefully end up somewhere near Strasbourg, France. Where I would spend Saturday morning and afternoon exploring the city before departing in the evening to arrive in Lauterbrunnen, where I would spend the night and Sunday and Monday before driving the entire way back Tuesday. Should be interesting… let the adventure begin!!
After work ended on Friday I got my car all filled up with gas and headed out. The drive was honestly very smooth, I was able to put about 3 or 4 hours behind me right away without encountering any traffic whatsoever which is really rare on Fridays. I paused just past Frankfurt to get a small bite to eat before continuing on. I passed the Maginot Line on the German/France border that night around 9:00 and found a car park that had wifi and plenty of places to park about 30 minutes outside of Strasbourg. The first night sleeping in my car was a little interesting to say the least but it wasn’t uncomfortable and I never felt unsafe, I had my pepper spray just in case!
Walking through Strasbourg
When I woke up the next morning I drove the rest of the way into Strasbourg. I hadn’t done much research on the city but I planned on just enjoying a nice French lunch before getting on my way. Pretty quickly I realized how beautiful the city was and I really wished I had planned to stay longer! I got lunch right under the cathedral and had a hot chocolate to warm myself up before spending a bit more time wandering through the city. Before I knew it though, I had to get back to my car as the daylight hours were running down and so was my parking meter…
Strasbourg Cathedral
The drive the rest of the way into Switzerland was smooth sailing and stunning. The mountains seemed to just pop up around a corner, one minute they were out of sight and the next they were right on top of me! I was blown away by the scenery and wondered how it could get any better… Then I arrived in Lauterbrunnen around 6:00 and I wasn’t sure what to even do.. I had heard that the town was partly the inspiration behind “Rivendell” the elvish town in Lord of the Rings surrounded by waterfalls and I immediately saw why.. The town is tiny and hidden in a valley between two cliffs with waterfalls cascading on both sides. I was glued to my windshield looking everywhere I could as my car navigated the narrow streets to my camping ground. I almost couldn’t believe what I was seeing.
First views driving into Lauterbrunnen…
After being directed to my camping spot (right next to the river with a pasture of cows and their bells ringing right on the other side) I walked right back into town. I found a small Swiss restaurant and took a seat near a tv showing tennis (Roger Federer was playing of course). I asked the waitress what her favorite Swiss dish was and she told me to get the raclette, so I did! I wasn’t sure what to expect except a bit of cheese. I wasn’t ready for a plate full of cheese.. When it arrived I almost laughed out loud, it was a plate with almost an inch thick of cheese topped with 5 potatoes, some full onions and two small pickles… It was delicious and the start of my cheese binge for the weekend. After the meal I sat out on their heated patio and watched Federer play. I met some college students from the University of Tennessee that had just arrived that day also and we all had a few beers and shared our plans for the weekend.
Swiss dinner… cheese.
The following day I woke up bright and early with plans to travel to a series of waterfalls that lay inside of the cliffs, called Trümmelbachfälle. I had heard it was a good activity when the weather wasn’t so nice as it was all completely inside the rock face anyway. As I pulled up to the waterfalls, all I could see was what looked like the entrance to a mine shaft, just a cave in the cliff face with metal doors and an old rickety lift inside. The lift took us up about halfway and we had to hike the rest. Once inside, it reminded me of the “Mines of Moria” from Lord of the Rings.. It was almost a little poetic, the walkway for the humans, carved by the humans side by side with the pathway for the water, carved by the water. It was a great way to spend the afternoon but before long I was craving more cheese and headed back to the village where I had another amazing dinner and my first taste of fondue!
Trümmelbachfälle
The final day in Switzerland I wanted to see the mountains.. “I want to see mountains Gandalf… mountains..” I bought a gondola ticket and soon enough, I was weaving my way out of the valley on a series of gondolas. The first, from Lauterbrunnen to Gimmelwald, than Gimmelwald to Mürren, Mürren to Birg, and Birg to Piz Gloria on the Schilthorn summit at almost 10,000 ft.
The final gondola, Birg to Piz Gloria
Piz Gloria is located directly on the Schilthorn peak in the Bernese Alps region, and it’s jokingly referred to as “the skyline of Switzerland.” It’s only accessible by gondola and houses a rotating restaurant, observation platform, and James Bond museum. James Bond museum? Yes, a James Bond museum. The Schilthorn peak was actually the filming location of the evil lair in the James Bond film “On her Majesty’s Secret Service” that came out in 1969. The name “Piz Gloria” comes from the movie, and it was the name of the mountain top lair of Ernst Stavro Blofeld. In the movie, the location is set near St. Moritz where Romansh is spoken and the word “Piz” is a Romansh term for mountain peak. But, in real life, the actually mountain peak is in the Bernese Oberland, where Romansh is not spoken, so the name is somewhat meaningless.
Bond… James Bond
In fact, the producers helped pay for the construction of the structure, as it had stalled, so that in return they could use it in their film. Because of this they even paid for a helicopter pad to be built on the peak as well. The museum is interesting in itself also. Plenty of film props, fun facts, film clips and information about the filming locations of all of the James Bond movies throughout the years.
“Skyline of Switzerland”
But besides that nifty little tidbit, Piz Gloria was stunning, and while below the clouds the weather was miserable, above them, the views were otherworldly. I was also able to snag a seat next to the window in the rotating restaurant and had a slightly overpriced meal, but it was tough to argue with the views available. I ate something called Schwingerhörnli or Alpine Wrestler’s pasta. Schwingen is a national sport of Switzerland and it is a sport created by farmers in the mountains and it’s essentially wrestling in lederhosen… apparently. Anyway, the pasta was delicious and the beer was cold so I enjoyed my lunch completely.
Birg from Piz
On the gondola to Birg
Following this, I grudgingly headed for the gondola back down, I stopped at Birg to do what they called the “thrill walk,” which was a walkway bolted to the side of the steep peak. It wasn’t so terrible, as the walkway was firm and stable, but there were a few “fun spots” where you could walk a tightrope over a net, through a chainlink tunnel or across a glass floor. All of these were terrifying as the ground below you was so far away you lost it in the clouds… I sucked it up because I couldn’t imagine ever coming back and my fomo (Fear Of Missing Out) kicked in. I smiled for a few pictures before jumping back on the sturdy walkway.
First steps out on the “Thrill walk”
Not looking down…
Terrifying but what a view..
And with that completed, I headed all the way back down into the valley. I had another dinner of straight cheese and a few Swiss beers, before buying some chocolate and a small cowbell as a souvenir so that I could always remember the gentle “tinging” that filled up the valley as the cows moved around their pastures. It’s a beautiful sound and almost impossible to describe… What a place.. I am considering returning to Lauterbrunnen in the summer as there are a few more things I wanted to try there but didn’t get a chance too, but we will see where the road takes me!
Bye for now Switzerland!
It’s really special to me to have such amazing friends and to be able to take these incredible adventures, even if they are a little bit silly or goofy at times or that I have to sleep in my car next to a field of cows haha. It’s all about the little things and those little things mean the world to me. But on that note Auf Wiedersehen and I will talk to you again soon!
My “home” for the weekend 🙂
My new life in northern Germany 