From Verden to Bremen

 It's been a while. And we have been doing things, just not writing.  

Anne and Neil were here for a week. The impetus was Ursel's 80th birthday and since Anne and Ursel go waaay back, it was a reason to come. It was lovely having them here - we got to celebrate Ursel's birthday on August 31 and Neil's birthday on September 1! And there was more food and a visit to the Valentin Bunker in Farge and the Overbeck Museum here in Vegesack and lots of eating and talking. A wonderful visit. 

And we are putting the house on the market and that has taken a lot of energy and time. Find an agent, clean up and organize (it's not always organized around here), divide plants, repot plants, change out the window boxes, rake, sweep, weed!  I think we'll have lots of time on our hands when we move into and apartment with a terrace and no dirt except that in pots and no home upkeep. What shall we do??? (LOL - there's always something to do!)

Apartments and homes here don't usually come equipped with a kitchen, so that is a major task - finding someone who can creatively use the small space we have. (We will not be taking our kitchen with us - it's 30 years old we can't modify it for the new space.) Thank goodness for friends and their recommendations, but it doesn't happen overnight. Draft 1, draft 2, and so on. But we're getting there.

So, excuses done.  Yesterday we did yard work, cleaned the gutters, weeded the paths. Today, it was PLAY TIME.  Off on the bikes!

What glorious weather we have at the moment. Mid-Europe has been suffering from unending rain and flooding, but we are not. Recently it's been moderately warm (low to mid 70s), low humidity, and sunny. Really, fall is my favorite season.  And working on a Sunday is a no-no, so off we got.

After a satisfying breakfast (spinach and mushroom omelet with extras) we prepared our picnic and set out for Verden, almost an hour south by train. It's a rather well-to-do area, lots of horses and such. 

We arrived as they were getting ready for a music festival in  in the middle of the town but no time to wait for them to get started. 

First little town was Eissel, hardly a bump in the road, but a few years ago they celebrated the 900th anniversary of their founding. Not sure it's grown much since then, but they are still there.

We went along canals and fields and lovely north German roads that  neither cars nor bikes really want to drive/bike on. 

Closer to town, we biked through an industrial area. Love it that bikers have access to so many ways.

Finally, the city! Yay! We had some afternoon coffee and cake and I took a peek at the artist's showing their wares in the lower Ratshaushalle - lovely things, but I resisted buying. We are getting rid of stuff!!

Not sure how many more little trips we'll take this year before the weather turns too unpleasant, but we'll look for chances.