Bremerhaven, Germany – Day 5

It was another early start to the day in order to get on the road heading to Bremerhaven. We were fortunate this week that the annual boat festival was on so there would be plenty of boats to see, music and general festive activity.

First stop however was to the docks for some fish. I have never seen such wonderful displays, types and such amazing prices for fish. There was one container that held 6 smoked fish for only 9 Euro. We generally don’t eat a lot of fish at home due to expense, lack of knowledge regarding cooking and general lack of inspiration when it comes to knowing what to do with it. However, we do love smoked fish and they do this wonderfully in Bremerhaven. One shop had huge smoking ovens which I just couldn’t resist taking a photo of. The smell of the fresh chopped wood, smokey ovens and smoking fish was marvellous. Needless to say Ulla purchased some fish to take home for dinner that night.

We had to stop for some “pre-lunch” lunch of course so we each chose our fish with bread. I was going to have smoked salmon but thought I would try something completely foreign to me so went for a “raw” fish. I can’t remember what type but it was fabulous. Steve had a crumbed, cooked fish. He has never been a fan of raw fish. Wise man.

Then we were back in the car, off to the Bremerhaven ship festival. What a sight to see as we got nearer. Construction is heavily underway here. A new hotel has been built that is quite reminiscent of the Burj Al Arab Hotel in Dubai. Some of the architecture out this way is fantastic. I especially enjoyed a new centre that was being built which was a long, curved, glass encased structure.

The real surprise of the day were the number of ships in the harbour for the festival. All the tall ships with an incredible amount of rigging was just an amazing sight. It almost felt like we were being invaded by a fleet of ships. I think the ominous weather also helped to provide this feeling.

After adding a german sausage to our earlier meal of fish , listening to some of the Police Band orchestra and generally taking it all in, we then visited a submarine museum. Having never been on a sub before I was up for a look. I can’t believe the cramped conditions they lived in onboard this sub let alone having to deal with all the valves, pipes, wires and everything else that is right in your face. I didn’t feel claustrophobic at all but I would imagine cabin fever would kick in pretty quickly after a very short time on board.

After taking a drive around the docks to view the huge car parking buildings stacked with brand new vehicles just off the ships, acres of tractors, boats, tyres, trucks etc, we headed back to Bremen very weary after a long and exciting day. Hope the photos manage to do it some justice.