Hamburg was a real mix of experiences. We toured an old Russian Submarine that was commissioned a few years after we were married, we think it looks much more worn down than we do. Squeezing our way through this pipe we couldn’t imagine living under these tight conditions for months at a time, makes our motorhome feel like the Ritz. On the flip side of the U-434 sub, we toured the 1896 full-rigged 3 masted steel sailing vessel the “Rickmer Rickmers” and were captivated by the notion of sailing throughout the “Far East” aboard this beautiful ship. This would be a great boat for your next ocean crossing Jim. Walking about Hamberg can be quite interesting, entertaining and even surprising. For example, on the slightly bazar side, we couldn’t help but note the irony of strolling through a large fairground crowded with happy and care free people in the shadow of a MASSIVE “Third Reich” Bunker (bomb shelter) and gun tower. Adding some irony-on-top-of-irony (if that’s possible) we then discovered that inside the 15 foot thick concrete walls of the infamous bunker is a collection of music related businesses.  Further down the road I’m sure we discovered the location (as you can see from the picture) where Ronald McDonald so suddenly disappeared from North America too. I’m not sure however if his new business venture will have the same general success as the original one but it does make you wonder what the new “happy meal” includes.
As we left Germany and drove through the Danish countryside on our way to Copenhagen we were surprised at the geographical resemblance to certain areas of Alberta. Crossing the impressive “Oresund Link” into southern Sweden we made the same comparison. I now understand my Grampa Beyerstein’s desire to settle in the Camrose area. Copenhagen is not the most economical of destinations but it has many impressive qualities including it’s delicious Danish pastry. Besides some very impressive architecture we were really caught off guard by the “far-out” and “groovy” district of Christiania. This community of about 850 hippies have been squatting on a large parcel of prime central development land that was a military post before it was abandoned due to it’s old age and disrepair. Today, this authentic hippy leftover from 1971 is still going strong despite causing much public controversy and political unrest. It seems sex, drugs, and rock & role are still causing trouble. It is fascinating however to see the consequences of a “make love not war” communal society experiment some 40+ years later. Somehow all those 60 and 70 year old long haired hippies don’t quite seem as cool now as they did in 1969, but each to his own… Peace Baby! Speaking of time passing, we got a good look at the famous “World Clock” at the Copenhagen’s City Hall. Completed in 1955 after 27 years of work it’s the most accurate mechanical clock in the world with a 570,000 year calendar. One specific gear in this clock will take over 27,000 years to make one revolution. I loved the fine workmanship and mechanics of this beautiful timepiece and as the only person I know that could manufacture parts as fine as these, you would have been very impressed Rhys. We decided to take a quick walk through the Arsenal Museum at the well preserved 1604 armoury attached to the old Palace and after 3 hours they turned the lights out on us about half way through this fascinating display of Scandinavian military history. No visit to Sweden is complete without a mandatory stop at a local IKEA store so before boarding the ferry to Sassnitz, Germany we paid our respects to one just outside the nice little city of Malmo.

One of the best things about travelling in a motorhome is the discoveries along the way. Every day we experience something of significant interest like the historic Dutch village of “Zaanse Schans” that Aad told us to visit. It really was a great place to stroll around and get the feeling of old Holland. My favourite stop was the reconstructed windmill (sawmill) that was fully operational and cutting lumber for restoring all the old buildings. Sharon, you would have loved the original windmill that was used for making artist’s paint from ground limestone. You can actually buy their manufactured paint, we bought some peanut oil made from the “oil” windmill and are now planning a wok night soon. Another unadvertised discovery was the fishing village of Harlingen This picture perfect town, with it’s two harbours, many canals and tall ships looked as if it hadn’t changed since the 1500’s. Our Stelplatz was a five minute walk from town and overlooking a busy lock. We were so impressed we stayed an extra day. At one point we thought we’d drive around Hamburg on our way to Denmark thinking that it was mostly an industrial centre but changed our minds as we got closer and became more curious (this is were the Beatles got their start), we’re glad we did.  Hamburg is the second biggest port in Europe and it is a very industrial shipping area but that’s part of the fascination. It also has a very modern and lively city centre with beautiful parks and waterfront. Anyone interested in shopping would not be disappointed and we even found a “colourful” new Easter jacket for Margot… I wonder how long it will take to find a matching scarf? We stayed at a Stelplatz just one easy train stop from the central station and from there we had a great time exploring this city of surprises. Tomorrow we’re off to Denmark.  Wishing everyone a wonderful Easter.

We had the most wonderful time with Anneke and Els who received us with open arms and made us feel so completely welcome as they dropped everything and focused their energy on taking care of us. We had a wonderful afternoon sipping wine in the sunshine on the garden patio of Wim’s amazing estate home. Walking through the streets of Hillegom we experienced Oma’s old neighbourhood and even visited their childhood family home. We had a great day exploring “The Hague” with Add providing the expert driving and tour guide services. The Hague is a very sophisticated and fascinating international city that really did impress us. We had a quick visit to the new King’s (Willem-Alexander) palace and even saw the Prime Minister (Mark Rutte) give an official send-off to a German dignitary at the Binnenhof Castle (Home of the Dutch Parliament). We ate “bitter ballen” and “salted herring” on this day, but not at the same time; both were new and tasty experiences. The next day we had tea and treats with Hedy and her son Jan in their beautiful family home near The Hague. Once again we were received as family and treated with such warm hospitality that we felt immediately at home. We had such a wonderful experience these last few days, we only wish that we could have shared this special time in Holland with Oma, Bob, Katie, Lia and Cam. It has been such a privilege getting to know this side of our new family in Holland, I hope that someday soon we get the opportunity to reciprocate their kindness in Victoria.

I don’t think we wasted a moment of our time in Amsterdam. Our Hotel was in the most central location possible and when we weren’t chasing down an activity we were wandering through the lively streets, alleys and cannel’s of old Amsterdam. Just walking about is great entertainment in this city and absorbing all the activity and beauty becomes a challenge in itself. We did take-in a few choice activities that all turned out to be well worth the time commitment. We spent the better part of a day going through the famous “Rijks Museum” and actually coming close to doing justice to about sixty percent of it. We took a trip to the “Keukenhof” gardens that’s open only during the tulip season and it truly is a large and magnificent display of tulip flowers. Our cannel boat trip was fun, educational, and a great way to spend some time on a rainy day. Anne Frank’s house turned out to be a surprise for me. First, just getting in was a challenge, unless you really like standing in long lines. We went during the dinner hour and the lineup was somewhat reduced. It truly is a remarkable story of courage and strength and it does take on a stronger sense of reality when standing in the secret rooms where Anne wrote her diary and this family hid from the Nazi’s for two years. One of my favourite activities was the early morning trip we took to the amazing 100 year old “FloraHolland” flower market. This is the largest flower auction on earth and it supplies much of the world with fresh flowers 365 days a year. It’s massive and looking down on the huge and efficient shipping and receiving operation reminded me of watching worker ants with important missions scurrying about on an ant hill. If the buyer and seller are at opposite ends of the complex, a 15 kilometre overhead conveyer delivers the large flower wagons for them. Can’t imagine what the day before Mother’s Day would look like in this place. The red light district was also impressive and entertaining in a different kind of way, but I’ll leave that one to your imagination. Bicycles, bicycles and more bicycles. Bicycle parades! Everyone seems to ride bikes and use public transportation which gets you anywhere quickly and efficiently. Unless you mess-up. When returning to our campground we got off the train with our big bags and asked a very nice bus driver for instructions. Trying to be helpful, he dropped us off at a golf course that we tried to describe to him. The problem was, there were two golf courses in the area. Of course it was the wrong one and now we found ourselves quite a distance away from “home” without any further bus services for the night. Not many people were still around the club but two young golfers spotted us and when they realized our predicament, without hesitation, they offered us a ride. With golf clubs and travel bags packed to the roof we all squeezed into their small car and they drove us all the way to our campground where they wouldn’t even consider compensation for their efforts, Real gentlemen, and for some reason, they made us think of Cam.

Everything  went according to plan as we met-up with Bert and Camilla at the friendly “Amsterdam Hotel” just a stone’s through from Dam Square and a short walk from the main central train station. This hotel is just across the street from the park where Bert and I bought our old VW van in 1972. In that van we traveled all over Europe together with me at the wheel and Bert expertly navigating an impossible road network long before the days of GPS. Here in Amsterdam we forged many great memories and now 42 years later we get the opportunity to share some of them with Margot and Camilla while adding even more to that collection. Thank you Bert and Camilla for flying all the way from Edmonton to make this reunion happen.

We’ve left Germany (for now) and entered beautiful Holland where we’ll be meeting up with our dear friends Bert & Camilla who will be flying over from Edmonton. In 1972 Bert and I bought a VW van in Amsterdam and travelled 18 European countries together. Now, 42 years later, this will indeed be a very special reunion for us. It will be a wonderful opportunity for the four of us to have some quality time together creating new memories and sharing a few more glasses of smooth Heineken beer without having to worry about the bar tab this time.
We are also really looking forward to touching base with more of our new Dutch family members via Anneke and Els whom we got to know at Cam and Lia’s wedding last summer. Having an opportunity to explore some of the local area where dear Oma spent her early years will be a fun experience too. We do plan on being in Holland for some time but over the next week or so our focus will be on exploring Amsterdam with Bert and Camilla and therefore my blog will be put on hold for a bit. Hope to have some good pictures and stories when we’re back on-line.

On the “blogging” road for two months now and I’m already running out of adjectives to describe the incredible beauty of what we’ve experienced. I read that the Heidelberg Castle ruins were worth seeing… what an understatement. We were taken by surprise and completely blown away with the impressive remains of this 13th century gothic castle. It’s picturesque setting is perched above the old town which happens to be the location of Germany’s first University.  We usually try and limit our photo taking but Heidelberg is so impressive we completely lost our shutter control. We had a traditional meal in the village before settling down for the night beside the beautiful  and busy river Neckar. The next day we hooked up with the Rhine river and stopped for the night in a place called Andernach. Again, our travel books didn’t even mention this medieval gem with it’s high stone walls. Kathy, you and Blaine need to drop everything and bring your bicycles here. You can ride this fascinating river valley on designated bike paths and at the end of your day have a great choice of food and lodging. You may want to consider this trip for the Fall when every little Rhine town celebrates with a local wine festival. Driving into Cologne we once again scored a great camping spot right on the Rhine river. This area has roots that date as far back as the Roman occupation. We boarded a small river ferry to the city centre and there visited the famous Cologne Cathedral. We actually managed to climb all 509 steps to the observation deck of the right tower, just as surprising, we paid for the privilege. Personally speaking, I think the rooftop view of the Cathedral itself was more fascinating than the city scape vista.
We’re still having SIM card and campground WiFi issues. Discovering that 1GB of data disappears very quickly when blogging and using FaceTime.  Download speeds are usually terrible and data caps are very common so I’m really missing my high speed cable connection at home.