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30th May 2008
Bremen is great, I could live here.
The weather is fine and hot (30C) which surprised me as I expected it to be low 20's.
At first I thought it was a small, very compact city but it is actually quite large. It is split into different areas and what I was told was the "City Centre" was not really the city centre at all.
I went on a tour of the Beck's Brewery (As You Do) which was OK (and the beer was great).
Did a lot of walking and saw lots of things I could have taken photos of (especially as the weather was perfect) but I don't have a camera - I have bought a new camera but it is taking a very long trip to get to me. Coming from Hong Kong it has so far been to - Paris, Casablanca (?), Paris, London, Paris and is now in Malta but with paperwork dramas (I am not surprised considering where it has been).
I will be back in Malta tomorrow and hopefully will be able to sort it out quickly.
I am coming back to Bremen in a few weeks and hopefully I will have a camera and the weather will again be fine.
I stayed in two different hotels on this trip and they were "Chalk and Cheese" - The first hotel was the Hotel Stadt Bremen, it was wonderful, I ordered a single room (the cheapest on offer) 58 Euro. What I got was a two bedroom suite, the largest hotel room I have ever had. A large main bedroom with a lounge area, a second bedroom, and an enormous bathroom. The hotel is also within easy walking distance to the centre of Bremen. In room wireless internet and a hot and cold buffet breakfast.
The second hotel, The Cruise Cafe Hotel (also 58Euro), was ordinary. It was well out of town (20 minutes bus ride) and looks to be past its use by date. The room is just a room, the internet access was non standard and took more than 30 minutes to get set up. Breakfast was not included (not a problem for me as I am leaving before breakfast)
Bremen negatives - Only one so far, it costs 0.50 Euro to use the public toilets (about 80 cents Aus) a bit excessive. Food and accommodation are about the same as Australia.
Petrol costs: Malta 1.06 Euro per Litre - Bremen 1.45 Euro
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28th May 2008
I leave for Bremen (Germany) tomorrow morning for three days. I won't be able to take any photos as I am selling my Sony A100
I have bought a new camera, a Panasonic Lumix DMC TZ15, but have not received it yet. I decided that I will not be printing any photos in the future so decided a smaller, lighter camera would be better. I did some research on what I thought I needed and the Lumix DMC TZ15 kept showing up. Time will tell if it is as good as it sounds.
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18th May 2008
I had a good trip to Pisa and Florence although the weather was not the best, overcast and raining lightly.
I was horrified by the amount of graffiti that was everywhere (Pisa and Florence) including the downtown areas.
My overall opinion of Pisa and Florence is that other than the "Leaning Tower of Pisa" and "The Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore" in Florence is that they add nothing to Rome. If you visit Rome I believe you have "Done Italy" at least as far as the cities go.
It was my first flight with Ryanair and the service overall was fine although the flight leaving Malta was 45 minutes late.
More Photos of Florence and Pisa
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15th May 2008
I leave for Pisa & Florence today for a couple of days. I will post any photos on my return.
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7th May 2008
I am now also booked to go to Barcelona and Paris 12th June for a couple of days.
I am going to concentrate on work for the next week so I don't get tempted to book any more trips for a while.
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6th May 2008
I did it again - I got bored (it happens a lot) and went to the Ryanair website to see if they had any more super deals.
I ended up booking a flight to Bremen and then on to Budapest (Hungary).
The flights cost a bit more than the ones I booked the other day - The total cost for the four flights (Malta/Bremen - Bremen/Budapest - Budapest/Bremen - Bremen/Malta) was about $160AUD - Which is expensive compared to the previous flights but still very cheap.
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5th May 2008
Walked down to St. George's Bay today to see if it was as popular as Golden Bay (keeping in mind it is Monday today). It was bout 50% full which I thought was surprising considering it is still only early Spring and it was Monday. I think the beaches here are going to get very crowded when Summer arrives.
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4th May 2008
Got the bus to Golden Bay today to have a closer look. It appears to be very popular as the beach was crowded and several people were in swimming (the forecast I saw said 17C sea temp). I did not take my camera but I will get some more photos soon.
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1st May 2008
Happened to come across cheap airfares with Ryanair from Malta. So I decided to take advantage of what I found (plus other flights I then discovered). I have now booked three trips over the next two months:
Trip One - 15th May-17th May - Malta to Pisa (Italy) with a side trip to Florence - Airfare = $50AUD each way (two hour flight each way).
Trip Two - 29th May-31st May - Malta to Bremen (Germany) - Airfare = $38AUD each way!!! (it is a three hour flight each way).
Trip Three - 19th June-24th June - Malta to Bremen and then on to Stockholm (Sweden) - Airfare = $29 each way!!! (The Bremen to Stockholm flight cost just over $4AUD each way) (total flying time is around five and a half hours each way) .
Total flying time for he three trips is around twenty one hours with a total cost of about $234AUD (That is about $11AUD per flying hour - such as Sydney to Brisbane for $11).
It pays to be in the right place and the right time - and also be flexible - but there are bargains about.