Monday Sept. 17, 2018 Antwerpen, Belgium – Hamburg, Germany
“Where is he lurking?! I can’t see him but I can feel him.”
This morning at the hotel breakfast buffet I again hear this strange haunting sound that makes me turn my head nervously and look around for the dark faced and robed figure we all know so well as Darth Vader! Where is he lurking?! I can’t see him but I can feel him. Straining to locate him I suddenly realize that what I am hearing is actually the groaning sound of the coffee makers in the room. They sound exactly like the masked man. Now that I know where this sound is coming from, I breathe a sigh of relief as I eat my breakfast.
Today is a long day on the road as we travel the German Autobahn to Hamburg, Germany to visit my longtime friend named Gudrun. We will stay with her in her town apartment for three nights and I can hardly wait. I met Gudrun 60 years ago in 1958 while visiting Europe with my sister Kris and mother and father. It was the day dad and I were on a bus trip out of London, England to visit the Ann Hathaway Cottage. Gudrun and her English friend Barbara were on the same bus tour. I might never have met them if it wasn’t for my 5 lb. Polaroid Camera which I was carrying with me. The Polaroid Land Camera was a brand new invention in 1958 and no one had ever seen anything like it. You take a picture with it, stand around waiting one minute, open up the back of the camera and pull out the picture. Presto! You have a finished picture in your hand. I took a picture of Gudrun and showed it to her. She was amazed and we exchanged addresses. We have been pen pals and friends ever since. Gudrun and I have visited each other over the years a few times and it is always a major event in my life.
Today the German Autobahn will bring us together. And very fast! The German Autobahn has a reputation of something to be feared on account of the no posted speed limits and the very fast drivers that speed by in the third lane. We solve the problem by staying in the 2nd lane! Those third lane cars speed by like rocket ships that come out of nowhere.
We make a wrong turn looking for the Autobahn and soon find ourselves on the highway going in the opposite direction that we want. This is a 10 mile mistake but we finally get off and on again going in the right direction. Today’s journey to Hamburg is about a five hour car ride. We pass miles and miles of flat land dotted with cows and sheep, horses and country houses made of red brick with red tile roofs. It is very picturesque countryside. We are also surprised by how shiny and clean the trucks on the highway look! I mean this is not something you see on American highways. In the countries that we travel the highway trucks look like brand new trucks. A pleasure to see. Also the whole countryside looks neat and clean. No litter in sight. We pass a sign for “Maastrict” home of Andre Rieu in the Netherlands! (“Nederland”.) Al gets a kick out of the German word for exit, “Ausfahrt”. Al makes some comments about this which I choose to ignore. Al prefers the Dutch word for exit which is “UIT”.
We arrive in Hamburg about 4:30 p.m. Al makes a right hand turn a block away from Gudrun’s apartment and an oncoming bike rider on the sidewalk doesn’t see him and has to stop suddenly to avoid an accident. We park outside of Gudrun’s building and she comes running out of the house. She has been looking out for us. Such excitement. Gudrun leads the way in and shows us her bedroom where we will be sleeping. Gudrun sleeps on her living room couch the three nights we stay with her. I see big wonderful changes in this apartment since I was last here in 1973.
From her living room, glass doors lead to an outside patio and garden which is absolutely lovely. We sit there awhile chatting away. Then Gudrun leads us to her dining room where she serves us a dinner of pork, rice, peas, pumpkin salad and ice cream for dessert. After dinner we look at the garden again and admire the beautiful flowers and plants. Gudrun works hard in the garden and can be rightly proud of it. We then take a walk around the city block with Gudrun pointing out the supermarket she uses. The store is so close Gudrun can walk from her apt. to the store and back easily. Gudrun calls her apt. the “flat”. We turn in and sleep soundly.
Next Day of Journey