Thursday Sept.20 - Hamburg to Bornholm Island, Denmark
“Look! There they are! There’s the flag!”
This morning we arise very early. It is 4:30 a.m. and very dark outside. This is the day we drive to Sassnitz, Germany to catch the 11:45 a.m. ferry to Bornholm Island in Denmark where my cousins Jorgen and Jette Gylsen will be waiting for us. It is so early Al finds Gudrun still asleep on her living room couch. After a light breakfast, Gudrun hands us some sandwiches for our lunch on the road trip. She is so good to us. We hate to say our goodbyes but we quickly get our suitcases into our car and off we go. I feel uneasy as we maneuver the streets of Hamburg in the dark. Sure enough we soon come to a road detour. Making a wrong turn we wind up at a dead end street. Around we turn and phew, we soon find our way out of the city. We are on our way to Sassnitz. Al and I were expecting to just cruise along using our GPS and find Sassnitz without any trouble. Wrong! After about 2 hours of driving we come to a big area of road detours. Our GPS is of no help to us here and we are lost. We have to make a few turn arounds and go through some East German towns wondering if we are going in the right direction. Missing the ferry is a very real possibility in this situation. Road signs for Sassnitz are nonexistent! About ten miles from the ferry terminal a peace comes over us and we just know we are on the right path. With less than an hour before departure we finally see the large ferry terminal. A man helps us get the ferry ticket we need and we follow the lanes to our parking area. We are finally in line for the ferry only 30 minutes before departure. That was close. We are loaded onto the ferry for the three hour ride to Bornholm Island. When we walk up the stairs and into the main rooms of the ferry we are amazed. We look around us and blink.
Are we seeing things? The waiting lounges and cafeteria are gleaming and clean looking. Fresh paint is on the walls, windows are clean, the chair upholstery looks new and the floor carpets as well. We find out that indeed the boat is a new boat. Choosing our seats we look straight out off the bow of the boat. We feel as if we are aboard a luxury cruise liner. What a nice surprise.
Al makes a cell phone call to Jorgen and Jette to let them know we are on the ferry boat. If he had waited much longer we would have been out of cell phone range to make the call. We thoroughly enjoy the crossing. How excited I am to see Bornholm Island loom into view and to see the town of Roenne taking shape on the horizon. The town sits nestled behind the harbor with the red tile roof tops and church steeple gleaming in the afternoon sun. That tall church and steeple we see is St. Nicholai Church and was original built in 1215.
Down the stairs we go and into our car. We are soon in line leaving the ferry. We have no trouble spotting Jorgen and Jette who as planned are holding up and waving a Danish flag! We are still in a line of cars so we jump out of our car and greet each other warmly but briefly. Jorgen and Jette climb inside our car and we are soon driving slowing through the streets of Roenne, the capital of Bornholm Island, with Jorgen give us directions on finding their house.
We park our car in their driveway and climb out admiring the neat and clean looking red brick house in front of us with side flower gardens and leafy trees. Going inside we are surprised at all the rooms and spaciousness of this lovely home. We put our suitcases in the guest room and join Jorgen on the living room couch.
On the coffee table are old family photos and genealogy papers. For the next few hours we pour over the family records and discover anew who we are and how we are related.
I feel like I am meeting a large new family of mine. It is such a good feeling. Jette is listening as she prepares our dinner in the kitchen.
As we find out, Jette loves to cook
and she is an excellent one. She feeds us royally and she feeds us well that night and the next 2 days! A picture is worth a thousand words, they say, dear reader.
I think I'll take a photo of each main meal plus the lunches we eat at various restaurants on the island. Al and I have a good night’s sleep, so thankful to be here among new found family.
Next Day of Journey