Tuesday August 27, 2024 - On our way
We fly from Charleston to Amsterdam via Washington, DC. Its an overnight flight so we arrive on Wednesday. These days we are spoiling ourselves by traveling in "Premium Economy". We get bigger seats, can sit together in a pair of seats, have more space AND steel cutlery. The food and "service" are the same as economy.
As well as our bags we are taking the "Todd Silver House" to Germany. This is a 10" by 7" model house made from silver plate. Family lore indicates that Grandfather Todt brought it with him when he immigrated from Germany (Altona?) to Australia (Adelaide ?) in 1875. We have packed it very carefully in a reinforced wine bottle box and we hope it arrives OK! Our aim is to find out its real history. We have shown it to in Charleston and they have found its markings and verified its silver and German heritage.
After a short week in Germany, we plan to drive to the region of the World War Western Front and visit the Australian memorials and military grave sights. Deidre has brought photos of her grand father, an uncle and a friend of the family that served in WW1.
On Saturday September 7, Bob swaps Deidre for his mate Bryce. Deidre flies home and the two boys ride trains to Slovenia where they will join a hiking group.
Wednesday August 28, 2024 - Amsterdam to Altona (Hamburg)
The flight arrives about 7AM. By the time we get thru immigration, customs and find the rental agency its about 9 AM. Our car for two weeks is an almost new, full sized hybrid Hyundai. So far I like it.
It was easy to get on the freeway and very shortly we are on our way to Altona. I had not slept on the flight and soon started to feel very sleepy, so we found a rest area and both of us immediately fell asleep in our seats. After about an hour we got going again, but the drive dragged out and not long after we stopped for another snooze. In total we stopped 3 times to sleep and once for lunch. I was expecting only about a 5 your drive, in the end we did not arrive at our hotel until, about 5 PM.
Our VRBO was small but clean and modern.
Thursday, August 29, 2024 – Hamburg and
Altona
We called our first contact (XXXX at YYY) and they suggested
we drive over and show them the model house. XXX made us feel very welcome and they
showed great interest in the house. They verified that the item was German and
that it had a silver smiths “mark” on it but one that they were not able to identify.
They could not help us any further but suggested we took it to the Altona
Museum.
We drove over to the museum and introduced ourselves
to the receptionist (is that still the right name for a guy?) He involved his
boss, but their conclusion was that “everyone is on vacation” so just leave it
until “everyone gets back". That was not a good plan for us so we departed, but
with the intention of following up via email etc from the USA.
We had another target antique store, but they did not
answer the phone and the store was closed when we eventually found it. I expect
this was another “summer vacation” problem.
Hamburg is located on the Elbe River and although the
city is at least 80 km from the North Sea it was obviously a very active port. We
decided to explore the harbor and shoreline, so headed for the river and then
west. We immediately came across a “Marine
Museum” and so parked (not easy) and had a look around.
As we continued along the riverside road, we started
to experience the “posh” part of town. Most of the city had been destroyed in
WW2 but this area appeared to have been spared, and it was quite impressive –
Shaker Heights style. If our house was still standing this is where we would
find it.
We found a waterside restaurant and stopped for a beer
and some strudel.
Friday, August 30, 2024 – Hamburg and
Altona and YYY
We hunted down another Antique store, but it was also
closed. After grabbing some lunch and exploring a bit more of downtown Hamburg
we decided to try and find another facility in the village of Sullburg a bit further
out of town, west alongside the river. The address was a bit strange (XXXXXX
YYYY) and so was the village. It was quite ancient, built on the side of the riverbank,
with very narrow one-way roads. Mainly because of Google maps we found the
address – a small house – not a shop. There was just nowhere to park and we had
cars behind us, so we had to do almost a complete circuit of the village to get
back to the same spot.
Eventually we got back to the house. I left Deidre in the
car blocking the lane, with the engine running and knocked on the door. I was
not very optimistic, but we had come a long way….. An “elderly lady” answered
the door and responded to my enquiry in an English accent! “Yes” we had the
correct house, and “Yes” her husband was a retired collector – but he was out
walking the dog. I showed her the house and she immediately said that her
husband would be very interested and called him on the phone. While we were waiting,
she found us a place to park.
Manfred was quite excited by the model. Unique, and definitely
not sold by any 1850’s Walmart. He thought the architectural style also
reflected the Hamburg style, and he pointed out local features, like the
lightening poles on the roof line. Manfred also suggested that the house may
have been a local Mason’s Temple, with the coin box used to collect overnight
charges/contributions.
He took several photos and recoded the “branding” that
was etched in the silver. He also promised to do some further research, and suggested
we followed up at the Hamburg Mason’s Temple. We spend a couple of hours with
Manfred and his English wife Linda. We invited them to join us for dinner, but
they declined.
We had spotted a cute open air restaurant down by the
river and headed there for dinner. I enjoyed my first veena schnitzel for a
long while.
Saturday, August 31, 2024 – Hamburg and
Altona and XXXX
After breakfast we drove straight to the Hamburg Mason’s
Temple. Unfortunately, it was being renovated and was basically deserted. We
found a lady folding napkins and asked her for help, but without much result.
But she did take us for a tour. We can follow up from the USA.
There was not much else we could do so we decided to
visit the Fehmarn Peninsula, where they are starting to dig a new 18 KM tunnel to Denmark. It
was only about a 100 kms drive and and a nice sunny day. We had a look at the ferry terminal
and the construction site, then found a restaurant overlooking the North Sea
for lunch. Another veiner Schmeichel !
This was our last day in Hamburg.
Saturday, August 31, 2024 – On the way to Belgium
The German highways were fine but harder to drive than US highways. In the US we can drive Cleveland to IOP in a day - 730 miles. But the German roads were busier, more complicated and harder to manage. So we had decided that attempting Hamburg to Ypres of 450 miles was too hard a day, and had decided to reduce the day's target to a village that David suggested, only about 350 miles distant.
We made it to XXXX in good time and early enough to have a walk around town and down to the river (BBBB) before dinner.
Our hotel room was a bit funny - clean and modern but exactly wide enough to fit the bed. If I needed to visit the loo during the night, I would have needed to climb over Deidre.
Sunday, September 1, 2024 – Ypres, Belgium
We finished the drive to Ypres in the morning. Ypres is an old town that once had a defensive wall. Most of the wall has gone now, but some of the old "gates" have been preserved. Ypres was located quite close to the front in WW1. The story is that through one of those gates - the Menin Gate - the Australian soldiers would much on the way to the front. And since the early 1920's the "last post" has been played every night at 6 PM in memory of the Australian soldiers who never returned.
That afternoon we spent a couple of hours at the Ypres Museum. It was very interesting, but the statistics of the Australian losses were terribly sad.
That evening we attended the Menin gate ceremony. About 100 people were there, I wore my Aussie hat, but we met no other Aussies.
Monday, September 2, 2024 - Memorial Trail
Our plan was to follow the "Australian Remembrance Trail" from Ypres in Belgium to Villers- Bretonneux in France. I had found this guide produced by the RSL when I was researching our trip.
Between 1916 and 1918 some 295,000 Australians served on the Western Front. Over 46,000 died and 134,000 were wounded or captured. Many more also served on the Middle Eastern fronts. The ART links the most important sights for Australians along the Western Front. It includes battlefields, cemeteries, memorials and museums.
Deidre had brought with us photos of her grandfather, an uncle and a family friend that all served on the Western Front. Her uncle never made it home, her grandfather was severely burned by mustard gas, recuperated in Scotland and married his Scottish nurse.
There is nothing I can write that can aptly describe our experience, so I will leave that to our photos.
Thursday September 5, 2024 - back to Amsterdam
Bryce was due to arrive on Friday, Deidre's flight home was Saturday morning, I had booked 2 nights so we could rest up and repack!
On the way North we stopped in Rotterdam for lunch at a fancy place down by the harbor. We also popped into The Hague to have a look at the house where David and family lived during his Belgium assignment.
Friday September 6, 2024 - Amsterdam, Bryce arrives.
We picked Bryce up at the airport. Indian food for dinner.
Saturday, September 7, 2024 - Deidre leaves, Bryce and I head East
We dropped off the car and said goodbye to Deidre at about 8 AM as she entered security. Bryce and I headed to the railway station and caught the next train to Central Station.
We were heading for VCX, Slovenia via rail. We planned to overnight in Frankfurt, Salzburg, Villach and arrive in Ljubljana on Tuesday.
I had reserved seats on the 11AM train to Frankfurt but we were ahead of schedule enough to catch the earlier train - just without the reserved seats. So we grabbed seats in the dining car and enjoyed our first beer at about 9 AM. It was a "fast train" but not Japanese fast - maybe about 80 miles per hour.
The train stopped and sat in XXXX which was unexpected for an express train. After 30 minutes or so an announcement was made to the effect that satellite communications had failed system wide, and no trains could move. We immediately assume sabotage (as in Paris during the Olympics) but we eventually learned that was not the case. The train was then cancelled.
Bryce immediately came up with the idea of taking a bus - he was aware of a European bus system called. His phone told him we could book a ride and pick up the bus at the XXXX airport so we immediately "hailed" an Uber and were at the airport in time to buy a coffee and mount the bus. A few hours later we were in Hamburg and back on schedule. Amazing.
Wow! It was Saturday night and Hamburg was alive.
Sunday, September 8, 2024
Apparently the satellite system was fixed over night and our Salzburg train was waiting for us. We bought German sausage sandwiches at the busy station. The station was large - 3 hangers wide for a about 30 tracks. We left on time and this time in our reserved seats. Another "sorta fast" train. We needed to change trains in Munich and we had plenty of time for the long walk to the Salzburg train.
Salzburg was quite interesting. Bryce shouted the funicular up to the castle. We were now on the edge of the Alps.
Monday, September 9, 2024
And the Villach train was waiting for us that morning. This was also a fast-slow train, but not an express so it stopped at a variety of interesting places as we would into the Alps. We had two facing seats with a table between, and so attracted a few interesting companions as we progressed.
We had booked hotels close to the railway station in each of our stops, and usually that meant we were also downtown (or in the CBD as Bryce would say) Villach .......
Tuesday, September 10, 2024
I was hoping the train to Ljubljana would be an old soviet style train and it was - to some extent. Most of the carriages were the old style 6 seater cabins with a side corridor. But we were in First Class and we had 1/2 a carriage of aircraft style seats.
This stage was rather short, we reached Ljubljana early afternoon. Some of our hiking friends were there to meet us.
Wednesday, September 11, 2024 thru Friday September 20, 2024
Over the next 10 days we would be exploring Slovenia with our 15 person hiking group of oldies - 8 Australians, 2 Canadians, 4 Americans and just 1 Australian/American (me). This would be our 3rd hike - the first being the "Coast-to-Coast" and the second the "Portuguese Camino". But this hike was not going to be an A to B trek like the others - this time we will stay at 3 hotels in 3 different regions and be driven to different daily hikes - and on the last day end up in a small city on the coast called Piran.
Saturday September 21- Sunday September 22, 2024
Early on Saturday morning 6 of us took a hire car from Piran to Trieste airport. I then took a flight back to Amsterdam via Frankfurt (where Lufthansa lost my bag for a day or so). Sunday morning I flew home to Charleston via Houston.
