August 31st: Hamburg, Germany
Bob: Fully refreshed after our 12-hour dreamless sleep and being blessed with a clear, blue sky, a gentle breeze, and a warm sun when we awakened, we decided to take a walk in on the moor area. I hoped to see the heath while it was still in bloom as I had heard stories about how pretty that fields of small pink flowers were. Gustl drove us north just beyond the ring of suburbs that surrounds Hamburg to a Naturschutzgebiet (protected natural area) that offered a nice 8 or 9 kilometer loop trail.
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Monika: We woke up a little late but still in time for breakfast. After breakfast we decided it was time for a nice walk. Heinke had told me about the Wittmoor Nature Preserve that is not too far from her place. It has several ecozones, marsh and heather. When we reached the moor area we could see where POW dug peat during WWII. There was also a memorial for these poor people. |
Bob: The moor also had standing small ponds and pools of water that look like tiny, picturesque lakes scattered among the fields and trees. The trees were mainly birches, and many of those had the sharply-contrasting white and black bark, which created a very pretty pattern in the dappled sunlight streaming down through the brilliant green summer leaves. I did however, see a copse of the ubiquitous tall, dark fir tree that is so typical of the German forests from the North to the Black Forest in the South.
We were not the only people out enjoying the good weather. We met several groups of bicyclists and hikers on the trail, and also some livestock, mainly horses and cows, on the farms adjacent to the nature preserve. The cows, in particular, were coal black and had an extremely shaggy coat that reminded me of an old German breed that we had seen down in the Lueneberger Heath a few years back. We also saw a Habicht, a type of German hawk, sitting on the roof of an old farm building, looking keenly around for some kind of breakfast.
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Monika: We have been walking with Bob in the heather areas for a long time, but never at the time when the heather was actually in bloom, in the spring we are too early and last year in the fall it was too late. But this year we hit it on the nose, and Bob could finally see a purple field of heather with white barked birches in the middle. Of course, everyone took lots of pictures, except Gustl who does not have a digital camera yet with an emphasis on yet. |
Bob: So we climbed in and returned to Heinke and Gustl's place for Mittagessen, a really fancy affair with a specialty of rolled, sliced beef of a type that we just don't seem to have in the U.S. After that really nice meal, Monika and I had enough energy to take the S-Bahn back into downtown Hamburg to see what the "Alstervergnuegen" festival was all about. It seemed to be like the "Taste of Washington" festival in our area that features a tremendous variety of places to eat along with a few games, rides, or small stages where musical groups, singers, or dancers perform.
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Monika: After a nice two hour walk we headed home for Mittagessen. Heinke had told us that around the Binnenalster was "Alstervergnuegen" and it might be fun. So we caught bus and train and headed downtown. "Alstervergnuegen" were small huts that sold mainly all kinds of food surrounded the Binnenalster. The huts were decorated according to what they sold. There was a corncob selling corn, a Chinese selling Asian food, a coffee grinder selling coffee. Of course, there was ice-cream, crepes, and hot dogs to be had. And this was Germany, so there was everything you wanted to drink: beer, champagne, wine, etc. They also had a table were you could pick and choose different kinds of licorice sold per 100 grams. There even was a table with some handcrafts where Bob bought a nice leather coin purse. |
Bob: As any mother will tell you, however, candy is not really food and that proved to be our downfall. The Haribo people had a booth where you could select any mixture of all their candies and just pay one flat rate by weight for the mixture. Well, we couldn't really resist that, so Monika and I scooped up some of our favorite Haribo licorice and sweets into a bag which we munched on during the rest of our turn around the Inner Alster. We also couldn't resist sharing a small custard cone. It certainly was a good thing we weren't really hungry! |
Monika: On the four corners were stages for music, some already going strong others setting up for the evening. The weather was glorious - particularly if you remember this is Hamburg we are talking about! So there was quite a crowd both on the sidewalk and on the Alster. At this time of the afternoon there were many families with small children. They even had a couple of rides for kids. We walked once around everything, stopping at the Hauptbahnhof to buy a Hamburg Card for the coming 5 days. The Hamburg Card for 1, 3, or 5 days gives up to 5 people free transportation within the transportation net of Hamburg and reduced entrance for many museums and other attractions. Since we planned to spend the next 5 days "doing" Hamburg, it seemed to be a great investment. |
Bob: What with a side excursion to Hauptbahnhof to get some 5-day Hamburg passes for buss and train travel over the next week and another to watch an old Dutch coastal ship passing through the locks on the Fleet next to the Rathaus, we spent the rest of the afternoon downtown. So we didn't return to Heinke and Gustl's place until well after 6 p.m.. We were starting to think about dinner when Detlef, their son, called and invited us to dinner. What a pleasant surprise! |
Monika: After our slight detour, we came back to the Alster and continued around until we came to the Alsterarkaden leading to the townhall. There we saw two of the old schooners that are now part of the Museumshafen. One was packing up to motor back to the Elbe. We saw it passing through the first lock on the fleet that connects the Alster to the Elbe. After that, we decided to call it an afternoon and headed back to Heinke and Gustl. |
Bob: We readily agreed to his invitation and all tumbled into their Volkswagen for the half-hour drive over to Detlef and Susanna's nice townhouse. Detlef grilled chicken and baby shrimp while Susanna prepared potatoes, corn, salad, bread, and beverages. So we had another great meal, but I certainly did not feel guilty because we had also been walking the better part of the day, even if quite slowly during most of the afternoon. It was good to see Detlef and Susanna again and catch up on what was happening with their lives and jobs, but after dark we finally ran out of gas and all returned home for the night. |
Monika: Back at Heinkes, we found out that Detlef had called and wondered what we were doing in the evening. We called him back and he invited us for grilling at his house. So we piled into the car with Heinke and Gustl and had a wonderful evening with Detlef and Susanne and Heinke and Gustl. I am always interested in Detlef's work project since he oversees the creation of a new software product that will coordinate having many people work on one project. Since I know of the problems that could be associated with something like this, he is happy to explain to me what they are doing and what the problems are that they have been running into. Afterwards, Heinke said, "Gee, I have never heard this much about your project, Detlef." and Susanne chimed in "don't feel bad, me neither". It probably is a matter of knowing the right questions to ask. I also have problems communicating with my sons about their professional work.
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