雲達與不來梅／李明熙
要選最愛的德國城巿，不來梅是我不二之選。
還記得當年選擇學校，決定了學科後，從沒有研究過學府的名氣，只看哪個城巿生活多姿多彩，而我第一個篩選條件是足球隊的排名。
雲達不來梅當年是爭標熱門，歐聯常客。如是者，我報考當地大學，當了兩年留學生，亦成為了雲達不來梅球迷。今次重遊，配合好雲達主場賽事，叫以前的室友球迷訂票，一起進場，重拾當年在球場內狂歡的時光。
不來梅只有 60 萬人口，住在巿中心的只有 14 萬，在香港人眼中，可以用「鎮」來形容。沒有地鐵，只有輕鐵和巴士，但價錢近 3 歐元一程，貴得離譜，所以單車成為了不來梅人的日常代步工具。
雲達不來梅的主場在巿中心，賽事日的門票可以當車票用，但大家都會選擇步行進場。沿著威悉河（Weser）綠油油的草地河畔，一群又一群穿著雲達綠色的球迷，喝著啤酒，高聲歌唱地往 Weser-Stadion 朝聖。
十年前的雲達算是球星滿營，球會賺錢決定擴建球場，工程的最大特點是外牆全是太陽能發電板，自家環保供電。但球星一個又一個被挖走，球隊由爭標淪落到中游，近幾年還要為護級而戰，就連室友球迷亦失去入場的意欲。
大家都是第一次進新建球場，感覺看台跟球場的距離近多了。當然，留學時代買最便宜的 7 歐元學生票，站在龍門後面的自由席，被那群東看台熱血球迷的旗海淹沒，完全看不到對岸的龍門。今次則豪花 50 歐元，坐中央看台，飽覽球場全景。
雲達的德文會歌我還記得怎唱，球隊仍然有前無後踢著進攻足球。對著萊比錫紅牛，上半場全面封殺對手，攻入一球，但下半場早早被扳平，整隊便踢得支離破碎。最後一比一收場，挽回面子。
Falling in Love with Bremen／Kimberlogic
Arriving in Bremen, it was a sunny day and the bus dropped us off near the train station close to downtown. It was neat finally getting to see the town that Ming Hay used to live and study his masters degree. Before hearing him talk about it, I had never heard of Bremen before.
Bremen does have a small claim to fame that I discovered when reading a book to a group of small children in Hong Kong. There is a folk story called “The Town Musicians of Bremen”. It is about a few animals that are on their way to Bremen to live free and become musicians. On the way, they come upon a band of robbers and end up scaring them off by creating noise and standing on each other’s backs. In the center of the old part of town, Ming Hay showed me the musicians’ statue. With that out of the way, I knew nothing else about this small town in Germany.
Ming Hay was a good tour guide, but not having lived there for a number of years now, he was a little out of touch. Luckily, his old roommate still lived in Bremen and invited us to stay with her for a few days. It was great to experience a cool, little city with a local.
I fell in love with Bremen after walking most of it in only a couple of days. Our first activity was of course a football game. Being American, I’m not too in to soccer, but I always like to watch live sport games because its not just about the sport, its the atmosphere that makes it interesting.
Walking along the river to the stadium I got to see everything you miss from watching the game on the TV. There were so many people out and about, cheering and chanting the home team’s song. Vendors were selling beer and sausages, and everyone was wearing the color green of Werder.
The stadium was packed and everyone was in a good mood. The game ended in a draw, which for me is the worst, I like to see someone win and someone lose, but the fans seemed happy with the outcome. After the match we went to a little, neighborhood bar for refreshments and games. It was the perfect end to the night, especially because this was far off of the tourist trail.
Our last night in Bremen we had a German-style barbecue in the backyard. I was introduced to a few different kinds of German sausages and Bremen’s other claim to fame, Beck’s beer, which is brewed here.
With the local experience I had in Bremen, this was the first city in Europe that I felt I could live in and be comfortable. I saw the few touristy spots, but most of my experience was far away from those kinds of places. The city is big enough to not feel trapped, but small enough to know most of what is going on around you. Although I don’t think I will learn to speak German and move to Bremen, I would definitely like to come back to visit this beautiful, little city along the river.
我們的 #Home2HomeTravel
