Free Hanseatic City of Bremen

1. Market Square (Rathausplatz) with the statue of Roland
2. Mühle am Wall in the Wallanlagen Park
3. Tee-Handels-Kontor
4. Hachez - Bremer Chocolade Manufaktur since 1890, chocolate bonbons with the 'Town Musicians' motif
5. Böttcherstraße
6. Paula Modersohn-Becker Museum

Gudrun Sjödén

Gudrun Sjödén is a Swedish designer and besides the Scandinavian region, she also has concept stores in four German cities. Although I have ordered our bed cover, pillow cases and curtain from her online webshop, I could not wait to personally visit her Hamburg store. I am absolutely fascinated by her work that heavily relies on natural - and in many cases organic - materials and bold, colorful, ethnic inspired patterns. Her home range is so much easier to pull off though than the clothing items that are often not fitted enough or would make a peculiar office wear. Nonetheless, most of her creations are like a fresh breeze in the mass of homogenous, run-of-the-mill high-street looks sported by most women.

Konditorei Niederegger

Theoretically, marzipan is the mixture of ground almonds and sugar. The German version is made of two parts almond to one part sugar, it is cooked, then the paste is partially dried. Established in 1806, Niederegger is regarded as producing the finest quality marzipan in Germany with only 35% sugar content. The Konditorei-Café Niederegger in the centre of Luebeck is a marzipan institution featuring a café, a shop for their own-branded sweets and a marzipan museum on the upper floors. Their Fürst-Pückler-Torte (Neapolitan cake) with a cup of marzipan coffee is a must-have when in Luebeck.

Utre(ch)tro

The Dutch seem to have a sincere appreciation for vintage. And what's more, they have the dare and sense of style to pull it off well. I just adore the little bakery, de Bakkerswinkel, where the hodgepodge of chinaware and the decoration with flea market finds create a delightful 'shabby chic' look that nicely complements the homemade, all-natural goodies sold at the shop.

Besides fashion items, Sussies Vintage also carries furniture, including designer classics (in Utrecht, a vintage office chair by Herman Miller graces their window shop). I love the floral dress they now have on sale. It is a perfect wear for summer parties, especially this year, since you can never know what the weather will bring.

Breathing New Life Into Old Books

It's always worth rummaging through the discount section at used book shops; one can find books with damaged spines or missing inside pages for a song. Every book has a second life in which they are not meant for reading. If the cover is not damaged and has some kind of an appealing quality to it, it can be turned into a journal, sketchbook, recipe organizer, photo album, etc. These two below have been made for my former colleague as a farewell gift.

DIY: How to make a journal from an old book Craftzine
Get it ready: Vintage Book Journals The Fancy Lamb