We all got up early today and had a big German breakfast with fantastic fresh rolls I got from the baker around the corner, and then Judith, Michael, and I took off. The plan was for them to drop us off in the Wandsbek neighborhood of Hamburg at our friends Andrea and Peter, and stop for a half-hour or so for coffee and cake (in lieu of lunch! we are having a lot of cake these days!) before driving on home (another hour or so north). We only had one slow-down, which was unusual, given that the German roads tend to be packed and there is a 30-mile stretch of construction along the way. Nonetheless, I have to say that I really prefer train travel!
After Judith and Michael left, Mark and I went for a little walk while Andrea and Peter took a nap, retracing familiar paths and visiting a little botanical garden in a nearby park that we love. The surprise was that on the soccer field / sports club that we pass on the way there, they were playing American football! For 3 Euro, we could have gone in and watched Germans play football! Peter told us later that it’s become quite popular (there are both German and European football championships, it seems), but it is still very much a niche sport. Then we sat in their freshly-painted and rearranged living room (very nice!) and caught up a little, had pasta and salad for dinner, and jointly went for another walk, about 3 miles to the nearby neighborhood of Barmbek, partly along one of the hallmark canals of Hamburg (called a “Fleet”). We even saw baby swans!
We took advantage of the fact that thanks to Peter and Andrea’s help, we now have 49 Euro “German tickets” that allow us to use unlimited use of public transport and regional trains, and took the subway and bus back home. We chatted a bit longer (lots of catching up to do since last summer; Andrea and Peter have just come off a very stressful few weeks and their renovation projects and look forward to a three weeks’ vacation) and we all agreed that we were very happy that this vacation and our upcoming trip to the Danish island are all very low-key. It will make for somewhat humdrum blog entries but it is what we all need!