"A" for Adventure - Germany Part 2

Andrea, Kilian, Kester and I spent a Sunday taking a tour of the Altes Land, Glückstadt and Stade.  As I mentioned in my "pre-journaling" I had hoped that we'd go to Stade.  I really like this place, it's old world charm and history fascinate me.  It has been 10 years since I was last in Stade and it did not disappoint, not a lot has changed, thank goodness! who would want to ruin its charm?  We had a fantastic day, the weather wasn't amazing, but that didn't stop us from heading out with our picnic basket and having a fun day!

Kester - he's all grown up now!

Andrea and Kilian

Soul Sisters

It's a bit windy on the boat!

What's a picnic without Sekt? (Sekt = Champagne)

One of my favorite buildings in Stade

Stade - the old world charm is still there!

This is what amazes me about Stade - can you imagine, this place has been around since 994.... that's not a typo people! 994!

Hökerstraße is the main street of the old town. You stroll along the street past the town hall, admiring the amazing half-timbered houses and then end up strolling into the entrance to the churchyard of St Cosmae. 
 

"Höker" in German is the word for "merchant".  The name refers to the merchants who built their houses along this street. It is now Stade's shopping area and has some nice little shops, which by the way are closed on Sundays.  *That's the nice thing about small towns in Germany - none of the 24/7 shopping that you find in the large cities.  Sunday is really a day of rest! and the shops are closed.  Cafes and restaurants remain open though.

 
The half-timbered houses have amazing facades. This house in particular, you can see the date above the door, 1650, is a medieval house. Amazingly it survived a fire in 1659 and is one of the older houses in town. It is now the Altstadt Cafe.

Can you see why I like Stade?  Madly clicking away with my camera.... yes again! I think it will be great fun to look at the photos I took 10 years ago and compare them.  I don't imagine I'll see much change.  And you never know.... I may have captured something this time, that I missed on my first visit. Actually, I know I did!  I was thrilled to explore a couple of nooks and crannies that I don't recall seeing before :)  and as a "tourist" I poked my nose into all sorts of places!