Hello All! 
As you may have noticed via browsing the T.i.P thread, my last couple of weekends offerings have been rather heavily leaning towards ships, docks & their associated riverine aspects. These symptoms are therefore indicative of a severe & virulent case of visiting father!
Yes folkses, the aged mariner & his harried assistant/ home help/ case worker/ humper & dumper/ note taker/ personal secretary/ carer & missus (Bev) were once again in the land of Beer & Brattys, inflicting himself on yours truly & the Witchitty one. It appears the sins of my youth policy has reached their payout date & I'm reaping the rewards with added bonuses!!! 
Anyways, Pops & Bev were here so it was once more a case of piling into the motor, scuttling off into the direction of big wavy water & enjoying the rather flagrant & piquant delights of ships & harbours, wharves & water. I think I now know Northern Germanys Maritime heritage far more intimately than I'd like & definitely more than your average Herman the German! This great sacrifice did have its uses though, it kept father dear "quiet", relatively speaking & out of various other mischief that is pretty much guaranteed when dealing with a bored Dad! Despite our bestest efforts, there are a few places I won't be visiting for quite some time & even if I do it'll be cringingly & probably to apologise! (mardy kids ain't a patch on disreputable owd fella I can tell you) 
All that aside though, last weekend 6/7 Sept we managed Emden (with an hour long boat trip skulking round the harbour), Leer, Papenburg (Meyer werft & the gans neu sparkly carlos fandango cruise ship "Quantum of the Seas" undergoing her final fitting) & the river Ems. Then this weekend just, 13/14 Sept we excelled ourselves (all to keep the spotterist happy) with a jog out on Saturday to Bremerhaven & the Weser (another boat trip through the harbour environs, one hour twenty this time) my wasn't the old weasel made up! 
He'd not expected much in a mere "Fischerei hafen", but oh how he weaselled, back & forth, up & down. like a dog in a butchers shop were all the sossys & chops are a at snout height & no Butcher! Even the boats Skipper, hearing dulcet English tones passing comments like "Will you pack that in!", "no you can't!" & "Just you wait till I get you off this boat!", brought the childhood memories flooding back in a sweep of sweet nostalgia! Never has the phrase "like Father, like Son" been so apt. 
He was due for a tanned arse when we got back (no naughty step crap in our house, proper old school), but he redeemed himself by taking us out for Tea at one of the pleasant little fish restaurants set up in the old fish halls, warehousing block.
Then Sunday, more of the same except up at Bremen this time around, a river "cruise" along the Weser with a bob into a working harbour (one hour & fifteen that I'll never see again). Once more, a rather surprised Weasel as there was more than he'd expected, these marvellous fortuitous happen stances, weren't just blind luck mind, I'd actually brought myself to garner the information from these rather nefarious spotter sites, ship porn at its most debauched, that marinetraffic.com, absolutely shocking! By the by, It wasn't all ships though, we managed some touristy time on Terra firma in the Hanse Stadt Bremen itself prior to the sailing. Eventually with his little eyes all aglow, a Cheshire cat grin on his chops, his cam corder & camera fit to burst with his shippy shots, added to that him being pretty well banjaxed due to the unaccustomed energy expenditure, it was homeward bound where Marion had stayed & done some proper Sunday fare "fur us tea". A couple of Beers & a tot o' two a Rum finished off a fine evening after a grand day out, smiles & contentment all round. (they're leaving in the morning ) And another parental jolly comes to an end. Mind you, the peace will be rather short lived, as we're going to be back over in UK inflicting ourselves on them in a bit over three weeks! Happy days!
Well there you go peeps, be good to each other & enjoy the flowers ..... Thanks for reading
Piccies :- Alter Fischereihafen Bremerhaven - Converted Fische halle/ warehousing - Oh dear, here we go again - Things to see & do in Bremerhaven- Bremerhaven waterfront - Böttcherstraße - A Dragon, well sort of - Der Stadtmusikanten a brothers Grimm tale - Bremen from the Weser - Schlachte, Hanseat & St.Martini Kirche.
As you may have noticed via browsing the T.i.P thread, my last couple of weekends offerings have been rather heavily leaning towards ships, docks & their associated riverine aspects. These symptoms are therefore indicative of a severe & virulent case of visiting father!
Yes folkses, the aged mariner & his harried assistant/ home help/ case worker/ humper & dumper/ note taker/ personal secretary/ carer & missus (Bev) were once again in the land of Beer & Brattys, inflicting himself on yours truly & the Witchitty one. It appears the sins of my youth policy has reached their payout date & I'm reaping the rewards with added bonuses!!! Anyways, Pops & Bev were here so it was once more a case of piling into the motor, scuttling off into the direction of big wavy water & enjoying the rather flagrant & piquant delights of ships & harbours, wharves & water. I think I now know Northern Germanys Maritime heritage far more intimately than I'd like & definitely more than your average Herman the German!
This great sacrifice did have its uses though, it kept father dear "quiet", relatively speaking & out of various other mischief that is pretty much guaranteed when dealing with a bored Dad! Despite our bestest efforts, there are a few places I won't be visiting for quite some time & even if I do it'll be cringingly & probably to apologise! (mardy kids ain't a patch on disreputable owd fella I can tell you) All that aside though, last weekend 6/7 Sept we managed Emden (with an hour long boat trip skulking round the harbour), Leer, Papenburg (Meyer werft & the gans neu sparkly carlos fandango cruise ship "Quantum of the Seas" undergoing her final fitting) & the river Ems. Then this weekend just, 13/14 Sept we excelled ourselves (all to keep the spotterist happy
) with a jog out on Saturday to Bremerhaven & the Weser (another boat trip through the harbour environs, one hour twenty this time) my wasn't the old weasel made up! He'd not expected much in a mere "Fischerei hafen", but oh how he weaselled, back & forth, up & down. like a dog in a butchers shop were all the sossys & chops are a at snout height & no Butcher! Even the boats Skipper, hearing dulcet English tones passing comments like "Will you pack that in!", "no you can't!" & "Just you wait till I get you off this boat!", brought the childhood memories flooding back in a sweep of sweet nostalgia! Never has the phrase "like Father, like Son" been so apt. He was due for a tanned arse when we got back (no naughty step crap in our house, proper old school), but he redeemed himself by taking us out for Tea at one of the pleasant little fish restaurants set up in the old fish halls, warehousing block.Then Sunday, more of the same except up at Bremen this time around, a river "cruise" along the Weser with a bob into a working harbour (one hour & fifteen that I'll never see again
). Once more, a rather surprised Weasel as there was more than he'd expected, these marvellous fortuitous happen stances, weren't just blind luck mind, I'd actually brought myself to garner the information from these rather nefarious spotter sites, ship porn at its most debauched, that marinetraffic.com, absolutely shocking! By the by, It wasn't all ships though, we managed some touristy time on Terra firma in the Hanse Stadt Bremen itself prior to the sailing. Eventually with his little eyes all aglow, a Cheshire cat grin on his chops, his cam corder & camera fit to burst with his shippy shots, added to that him being pretty well banjaxed due to the unaccustomed energy expenditure, it was homeward bound where Marion had stayed & done some proper Sunday fare "fur us tea". A couple of Beers & a tot o' two a Rum finished off a fine evening after a grand day out, smiles & contentment all round. (they're leaving in the morning ) And another parental jolly comes to an end. Mind you, the peace will be rather short lived, as we're going to be back over in UK inflicting ourselves on them in a bit over three weeks! Happy days!Well there you go peeps, be good to each other & enjoy the flowers ..... Thanks for reading
Piccies :- Alter Fischereihafen Bremerhaven - Converted Fische halle/ warehousing - Oh dear, here we go again - Things to see & do in Bremerhaven- Bremerhaven waterfront - Böttcherstraße - A Dragon, well sort of - Der Stadtmusikanten a brothers Grimm tale - Bremen from the Weser - Schlachte, Hanseat & St.Martini Kirche.
