Tuesday, October 2nd - Memories in Altona
Bob: After breakfast Monika rode a bike with Heinke over to a bank to attend to the necessary finances of our trip (the dollar was sinking like a stone against the Euro at that point) while I wrote in the journal for an hour or so. Then we took the S-Bahn to Altona to visit Detlef in his new office. That turned out to be a corner office with floor-to-ceiling glass walls at the top of a bank building in downtown Altona. The view out over the city was superb, and we wondered how he ever got any work done with a view like that. Detlef gave us a spare cell phone that he was paying for and took the time to explain its use to us in detail. We finally let him get back to work and wandered back to the Altona train station for lunch, after which we browsed some of the shops and bought a good street map of Hamburg to supplement our map of Germany for the upcoming driving tour. |
Monika: I decided, our biggest need was the colorful stuff they have here in the EU called Euros. So Heinke and I hopped on the bikes to head over to the branch of the Dresdner Bank where my account is being handled. Biking in Germany is different. There are bike paths everywhere and cars really watch for you. I was going straight on a bike path crossing with a green light, when the car that wanted to take a right turn actually stopped at the bike path let Heinke pass then looked around and saw me coming and also let me pass. However, bikes have to give way to or circle any pedestrians. With other bikes it is the bluffing game, she who goes faster or more authoritatively wins. We got to the branch and when the manager himself saw us, he immediately took 15 minutes of time to look at my accounts and counsel on some better investments although he was on the verge of leaving. Meanwhile one of the clerks got some cash for me. That all taken care of Bob and I had decided to spend today in my old haunting grounds in Altona. Detlefs newest company had offices at the top floor of an office building right next to the Altonaer Bahnhof. So that was our first stop. His office was all windows and had a great view. Being as distractible as I know I am I would have a hard time getting anything done! Detlef explained the product they are working on and even showed us how it works. They actually have version 1 out and are working on version 2. I hope it is a big hit! |
Bob: From downtown Altona we leisurely walked the short distance to the cemetery were Monika's parents are buried. Although the "common" areas of a German cemetery are cared for by custodians, the gravesites themselves cared for by the relatives of the deceased. That helps explain the huge variety of different flowers and plants lovingly placed on each of the graves in the cemetery. Somehow this variety is not disturbing but merely makes the somewhat somber setting more cheerful. The gravesites are, however, leased for 25 year periods by the relatives, and once the relatives let the leases expire the gravesite can be re-used for a new burial, which is to me a strange practice. The lease on Tante Size and Onkel Hans-Henning's gravesite, for example, expired this year and ultimately their gravesite will be cleared and reused. The headstone is returned to the relatives, of course, so they still can have that memorial if they wish to keep it. From the cemetery we walked past the Kreuzkirche to Monika's old home in Friedrich-Ebert-Hof. There we were happy to find that the red and yellow rose bushes that had been planted by Monika's mother over 25 years ago were still growing and, in fact, blooming. I'm sure her mother would have been pleased to know that. |
Monika: After we left Detlef, our next stop was of course lunch in a nice little trainstation restaurant, where the food was not too bad. After that we meandered along the main street. Going through what used to be Hertie, a department store I used to frequent and now is a mall. Interesting place. At a little toy store we even found a cute little wooden toy for Rowan made in Denmark and not China, hurrah! We kept meandering to the cemetery where my parents are buried. Heinke and Gustl keep the grave in immaculate shape. In Germany, graves can be little gardens, and here there was a rose, an azalea, and several flowers blooming. From the cemetery we went past the Kreuzkirche to Friedrich-Ebert-Hof 18. The roses, Mammie had planted, were still blooming. We took pictures and a boy looked out of "my" dining room window, probably wandering what those strangers were looking at. |
Bob: . We walked back to Altona to visit Monika's niece Kimi and her "Little Gallerie" where she displays her artwork. We were fortunate to also meet Kim's partner and see how Kim was renovating the gallerie to get it ready for an exhibition later in the fall. We of course chatted with Kim about what she had been up to and how her sisters and parents were getting along, after which we took the S-Bahn back to Heinke and Gustl's place for the evening. There I was surprised to find that the CD with detailed German maps had arrived, so I spent the evening installing the software and making my first map, a detailed city street and topographic map of the greater Hamburg area. Then I played around with copying it to the SD chip in the GPS unit itself (A Magellan Explorist 500 model) and turning it on to see if everything at least seemed to work OK. Since it did, I could go to bed not so much with a clear conscience as with a mind clear of problems to be resolved before our upcoming driving tour. |
Monika: For the afternoon, we had arranged with Kimi to take a look at her Little Gallery. The walk went along the way i used to take when I walked to high school instead of taking the train, so again everything looked familiar. Kimi's gallery was in something of a mess since she was changing it for the Christmas exhibition season to come. But we did see a few of her pictures and caskets (i.e. she also paints caskets as works of art), met her current friend and also the woman with whom she shared the space. We also chatted about family and friends and a good time was had by all. Finally we left so Kimi could get some work done and we took the train back to Heinke and Gustls. |
| Prolog | Germany Map | Cruise Map | Epilog |
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