I went to Bremen to speak at the 14th International Film Conference...
...held at an independent cinema, Kino 46.
The surroundings were a bit bleak...
..but the event was really friendly. Christine Ruffert was the organiser of the event...
...and it was Winfried Pauleit who invited me to be one of the speakers.
Peter Ducherny (facing, left) from the University of Pennsylvania was one of the speakers...
...another was Nathalie Bourgeois from the Cinematheque Francaise.
There was a busy bookshop (pity I don't read German).
Most of my photos were taken on a wet Sunday morning when I explored the city.
Bremen has a very impressive railway station...
...there's a huge tram system for such a small city...
...a moat (frozen on that day) and a windmill (the last of many, apparently).
But the big attraction is the old centre.
Well, it probably is a big attraction...
...in better weather.
Everyone goes to see the Bremen Town Musicians statue...
...but I preferred to look at other stuff...
I liked this sculpture of Neptune...
...surrounded by fish...
...and other figures...
...some decorated with newer material.
The Cathedral was shut after the Sunday morning service so I couldn't go inside.
The Town Hall (1405)...
has a richly decorated facade...
...an arcade along the front...
...and statues everywhere.
The "Roland" statue (rebuilt in stone 1404) is a symbol of the town's civic pride.
The whole square is medieval and is a UNESCO Heritage site.
There's lots of beautiful granite paving.
I explored the quarter called Schnoor...
...some of which is modern...
...and painted in bright contrasting colours...
...and some of which is much older...
..as shown by this doorway.
It's all very quaint..
...and some streets are extremely narrow...
...this one was less than shoulder width.
There are intriguing shop windows everywhere...
...especially for models and toys...
...and also for bears.
This shop sold Christmas decorations...
...and had the most amazing window displays...
...for people who like to make elborate cribs...
...and don't mind buying their decorations in January.
I liked this sculpture of two (or possibly more) people in a bath.
I visited the Schnoor Teestubchen...
...to face a tempting choice of cakes.
I had the nut cake with my coffee...
...and peered at yet more sculpture just across the street (ie about 5 feet away).
I bought Orange and Chili tea from their huge collection.
I then went to the Bottcherstrasse, brick-built in the 20s in Art Deco versions of traditional styles.
One house has an array of bells...
..another has complicated brick patterns and ironwork.
It was full of posh shops, though the recession seems to be biting here too.
The Roselius Haus...
contains the Paula Modersohn-Becker Museum.
The street has an extraordinary entrance archway.
Walking back to my hotel...
...I encountered a herd of bronze pigs...
...it looks as though people sit on them in warmer weather.
Then it was time to leave the hotel room...
...snatch a quick snack at the airport...
...and board the plane for home.
