In the Summer of 1990, I went to Spieka-Neufeld with my Dad. Spieka-Neufeld is nestled between Cuxhaven and Bremerhaven in Lower Saxony. We rented a whole house as a vacation home for three weeks. Some days, we just walked on the dam and watched the Fischkutter (fishing boats) coming in with their fresh catch in tow. It is a small, quiet place where we can see the tides change, and walk around the waddensea when the tides are low. Yeah, it can be a bit boring for a 16-year-old teenager.

However, we also spent time in Cuxhaven to eat fresh fish dinners. We also went to the pool there. And one time, we went on a boat ride to see seals on the sandbank along the coast of the North Sea. These seals were so adorable. I fell in love with their pups. Dad went to the store and got me a plush seal. I don’t know if tourist boat companies have the seal attraction. But it is so worth it.

In Bremerhaven is the Deutsches Schifffahrtsmuseum (German Maritime Museum), where the German submarine U-2540 “Wilhelm Bauer” is moored in the Old Port. The submarine was originally designed for the Kriegsmarine (Nazi German Navy) and was completed shortly before the end of WWII. Since the submarine was never on patrol, it was scuttled at the end of the war. In 1957, it was raised from the seabed near the Flensburg Fjord and recommissioned for the West German Bundesmarine in 1960. On August 28, 1968, “Wilhelm Bauer” was decommissioned. In April 1984, it became a museum ship for tourists to visit and explore the submarine. It can get a little claustrophobic on the ship, especially when there are a lot of people and it is warm.

We had a lot of fun by the North Sea. But as every vacation does, it had to come to an end.