Ostfriesland

Little villages filled with magic and good food.

The well kept farm land, incredible food, outstanding hospitality, quaint villages, and breathtaking views are just a small part of what makes Ostfriesland special. 

 

I am consistently impressed by the craftsmanship and remarkable details in everything I see here. You can really tell that the people care here, they value their work and understand it’s importance. 

I just spent a week in North-Western Germany with my grandma and 12 other seniors on a bus tour to go visit the places that our ancestors were from. We had an excellent time, I visited more churches in the span of that week than maybe I ever had in my life. We managed to visit at least 2 or 3 a day. 

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We did an awesome bike tour one of the days, which is super popular in this region because everything is FLAT! 

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Ostfriesland is quaint and scenic. Wind turbines fill the skylines along with windmills, grain fields, and picturesque skies! 

Bremen & Bremerhaven

To Do:
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Schnoor- This is the quaint "old town" area of Bremen. It's walkable in maybe 20 minutes and has lots of small shops and even had a waffle and a pretzel place to visit! YUM! 
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St. Petri Dom Bremen- This is a gorgeous church. It has a museum inside with hundreds of old artifacts found in the church when they did some renovation work on it. The woodwork on the pulpit is unreal, along with all of the other paintings and marvelous details! Stop in for sure! 
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Town Musicians of Bremen- These are right outside of the church and are from the Grimms brothers fairy tale about four animal musicians who set out to get rich performing in the town of Bremen, to read the full story, you can buy one of the 100 books about it in Bremen or read about it here. 
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The only other few things to do are a walk around the main shopping area which you will find once you continue past the old town hall on your right after the church, and find the glockenspiel too! 
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In Bremerhaven, you have the incredible German Emigration/Immigration Museum. It was incredibly well done and ended up being one of the highlights of my trip. They do such an incredible job of showing life before, during and after people came to and left Germany. They also have a zoo and a really incredible Climate Museum there too!
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To Eat:
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Ständige Vertretung Rheinland Bremen- this restaurant is sort of tucked away, but very worth it! First off, you get to sit under the Glockenspiel that plays every hour and second, its a very nice walk with cute shops to arrive and the food was great so that's a win-win-win as far as I'm concerned. 
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Bremer Ratskeller- this is a wine cellar and restaurant that lives underneath a chunk of the old town hall! Very cozy with an awesome wine selection! 
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or go to this awesome article by The Culture Trip to find other options! 

Greetsiel & Surrounding

In Greetsiel:
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Hohes House: Simultaneously a restaurant and hotel, this building is placed in one of the most perfect spots in Greetsiel overlooking the harbor. We had the nicest meal here of fish, fried potatoes, and of course BEER! Would recommend for sure! 
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Grand Cafe: There is a string of a few cafes here that I found to be much less crowded than the ones near the harbor! For a short walk, you get good service and no lines! 
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Fischrestaurant & Biergarten: This seemed like the place to be! We did not end up going here because we were in such a large group, but everything looked awesome and it had fun energy! One of the afternoons I was there they were singing live folk songs and it was a spectacle. 
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FeWo/Air BnB Info: Not exactly sure how to get you in contact with her, but IF you need an awesome guest house to stay in, I can put you in touch with a hilarious German gal that will make sure you're incredibly taken care of the entire time, either that or use my AirBnB link to get $40 off of your next booking! WHAT A DEAL!  
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Around Greetsiel:
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Rysum​- This village is one of the cutest, and most well laid out in all of Ostfriesland. It is also home to the oldest playable organ in the WORLD! Serious stuff here people. 
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Pewsum- Here there is a castle called Manningaburg, it was once home to a lot of the royalty that has spread throughout Europe. Even the bloodlines of Queen Elizabeth root to this very castle! 
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Osterburg Burgcafe & Bistro- We had a phenomenal Ostfriesan Tea Ceremony here along with a hearty veggie spaghetti lunch! Would recommend for sure, it is set in a building next to an old palace! You can read more about it on their website, here!
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Lighthouse #1- B on the map! The yellow and red one in my pictures! Cute, great views. You will have to walk a little to get there, plus there are some stairs to get the views from the top! 
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Upleward- There really isn't much to see here. However, my great great grandma used to live here so it was special for me. Also, a famous gate maker from Canada, Guiseppe Lund, made them, as commissioned by a wealthy member of the city. 
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Bike Tour: !! 
 
We biked from where we were staying in Greetsiel all the way to Rysum and back. On our way back, it started raining sadly, but we endured and pushed on.
It was such a great way to experience the land, cover some
territory and get up close and personal with a lot of sheep on
the dike. I would do this again if given the opportunity even
though I was wet and cold and a little tired when I was done! 
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