Weird Weekend Without Happy End: Eggebek, Flensburg, Denmark, Bremen
Published on FebĀ 18, 2007 (updated JunĀ 12, 2021), filed under misc (feed). (Share this on Mastodon orĀ Bluesky?)
To be a bit more transparent to my valued readers: a brief account of a not quite optimal weekend of mine.
Having taken a day off on Friday, I spontaneously decided to take my car and visit a region where I lived around 16 years ago: Schleswig-Holstein, Northern Germany. First station was supposed to be Eggebek, a village with about five residents. At least this was my impression when I arrived there after driving four hours and simply rode right through that very village. (Itās so small that I passed the second city sign after ten seconds, and had to turn around.)
It had already turned dark when I arrived, which added to the strange atmosphere. I took a walk to indulge in reminiscences, noticed how nothing appeared to have changed since I was a little boy (except that the village seemed to be smaller now), and felt happy not to live there anymore. It was a little āpsycho.ā Okay, next.
Only a few kilometers to the north or north-east of Eggebek lies Flensburg, a beautiful city with about 80,000 residents. There I checked into a hotel and took another walk in order to relax and reflect. Flensburgās midtown is really nice, but itās been weird as wellāthere were very few people out that were 20 years old or older (from 9 pm on). This is weird, isnāt it, or are these just impressions of a man not turning younger? Yet in comparison, I feel confirmed: Itās my experience from Hamburg, Munich, and of course Berlin that also (or especially) the āmore matureā people enjoy the nightlife of their respective cities.
However, I was tired and went to bed swiftly.
I got up early on Saturday, had a terrible breakfast in the hotel, and checked out accordingly. New mission: Refresh Denmark impressions, and buy some Danish stuff. Denmark is always cool, I enjoy that country.
Accordingly it was nice to drive around, yet then it soon proved difficult to find a supermarket close to the border. At first, I tried to find one in Krusa, the one where my family had ran errands up until a few years ago. I didnāt find it, I asked for help, but Krusa seemed not to have a supermarket anymore. I found the former store nonetheless, by accident.
To accomplish my goal I continued to drive through Denmark and finally ended up in Padborg. There I could buy all the stuff I urgently needed: Danish hot dog sausages, Danish butter, and Danish licorice. Must-have.
Next, derby time! Werder Bremen vs. Hamburger SV. In case you didnāt know: Thatās the match for both Bremen and Hamburg, and this season, itās been particularly attractiveāwhile Bremen aims for the German championship, Hamburg needs to avoid the relegation. To watch this game I drove from Padborg to Bremen, about 250ā300 kilometers, managed to buy a ticket (the matchās usually sold out early, and the ticket wasnāt cheap), ran into some people I knew and entered the arena.
Unfortunately, the misadventure started now. The match began promisingly, not only due to our fans and the great choreography, but rather due to Bremenās offense that brought some good scoring chances. Alas, Hamburg scored the first goal by Rafael van der Vaart (penalty resulting from a foul). Since wins against Hamburg are twice as nice, losses are twice as painful so I wonāt continue to describe the match⦠After all, Bremen did not win. Uh, Iām starting to get upset again. I tend to find almost every club more likeable than this club from Hamburg.
Defeated, itās been the first time I left any stadium before the final whistle, and made my way back to my car that I got to park quite closely at the Weserstadion. Surprise: I opened the driverās door and wondered about the CD etui on my seat. Where was that from? Next I noticed the empty center consoleāMP3 CD radio gone. Moving around the car, I noticed the broken lock on the passenger door. Who steals a radio worth 100 euros, in front of about 500 police officers!?
That was it. Definitely having had better days, I dropped my plans to visit my adoptive home, Friesland, in the evening, and deciced to return to Berlin immediately. On my way back, I stopped at a police station near the highway (since a policeman in Bremen told me that I could file a complaint at any police station), had an interesting dialog for one to two hours (including a breath test, ājust to make sureā), and prepared for the talk with my insurance.
At 11Ā pm, I was home.
The best is, itās Sunday, so the weekendās not over yetāprobably my car is now to be stolen, since the lockās still broken. (Meh, but Iām just disappointed and frustrated, not pessimistic.)
One final note to drivers out there though: Use the right lane! Whenever I drive around Germany, people are so [expletive] and use the left or middle lane even when the right oneās free. (Remember youāre required to use the right lane?) Not only is this stupid and arrogant since these people block two lanes, itās really dangerous. Stay in the right lane whenever possible. No one wants to die just because you are too dumb to drive on a freeway. Thank you.
About Me
Iām Jens (long: Jens Oliver Meiert), and Iām a web developer, manager, and author. Iāve been working as a technical lead and engineering manager for companies youāve never heard of and companies you use every day, Iām an occasional contributor to web standards (like HTML, CSS, WCAG), and I write and review books for OāReilly and Frontend Dogma.
I love trying things, not only in web development and engineering management, but also in other areas like philosophy. Here on meiert.com I share some of my experiences and views. (I value you being critical, interpreting charitably, and giving feedback.)