“Fsck Off, I’m Saving the World!” is a t-shirt slogan I thought of while riding yesterday. Maybe when I settle down I can print all the stupid slogans I’ve thought up during this trip. You get lots of thinking time cycle touring. Pity my brain is such a scary place to be left alone..

Tee used up the last of my phone credit thanks to the bullshit rule Vodaphone has where I get charged to receive calls if I’m not in NL with an NL SIM card. This sucks! I wasn’t even told about their charging structure this time! Conclusion: Phone companies suck, worldwide.

The map I got from servo guy was great, until I tried to get to Bremen. See, Bremen is not Bremen at all. Bremen is Bremen-Nord and Bremen City is 30k away! Even Bremen-Nord wasn’t Bremen-Nord, it was Blumenthal or something. No signs on their bike paths. This is where my bitterness starts getting out of hand. Paths are horrible, rutted things. I want to throw my bike under a train and use PT for the rest of the trip. (This is just what I wrote in my diary. I was a little unhappy I think 😛 Actually, I’m toning it DOWN from what I wrote in my diary..)

The DJH hostel in Bremen was super-sexy modern plus! Apparently it had only been renovated and reopened in May-June this year. 20euro per night.

Into town I argued with a Vodaphone salesperson until I got the answers I wanted and then bought a German Vodaphone SIM.

My German mobile number is: 0173 / 4152279

At least, I think it is. It was the number the guy pointed to on the box.

Also bought a box of cycling-specific maps (North Germany, there’s also a South Germany pack, strangely enough) for 10euro figuring they would eliminate my navigation woes.. little did I know..

Bremen is VERY nice. It appeared to be much older than Oldenburg and Leer. Had much more impressive buildings! Also had at least 4 Vodaphone stores – WTF?!

Found out why “Alster” beer is so sweet with a taste I just couldn’t put my finger on. It’s Beck’s.. MIXED WITH SPRITE!! No wonder it tasted funny!

Speaking of Beck’s – Bremen is where batches of Beck’s beers are brewed, basically. All the bars are loaded to the rafters with every different Beck’s variant.

I had dinner at “Beck’s Bistro”, a tourist trap bar in the main square. For some reason the guy brought me out TWO Beck’s Green Lemon bottles when I clearly* asked for just one (*clearly to me is often not clearly to anyone else). Stuff it, rather than argue, I drank both. Turns out that they are only 50% beer anyway! What’s with all these beer and soft drink combinations?! I remember(ish) getting shit-faced in Munich drinking real beer from 1L glasses..

Had a “Jagerschnitzel” for dinner. It was kinda small but had a nice mushroom gravy on it. Came with those skinny frickin fries I hate (spiced for something different). Washed it down with a (guess..) Beck’s Gold. Yay, a real beer. Nothing special but at least it wasn’t watered down. Back to the hostel for a coffee and read up on Hamburg.

Oldenburg to Bremen Stats:

69.72k (73k at day’s end), 3h 28m, 20.2kph