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Monday, May 31, 2010

Travemunde, here we come


Probably one of the only major fears I had about this trip was not being able to get to the right German places on time. The last thing I wanted to have happen was for this part of the trip to get messed up, as these are G&G's special friends and places to go. I'm very happy to report though that after a very early morning, a very fast flight, and a round about drive we have successfully made it to Travemunde! Thank goodness. (good sigh). Here are the fun details...

An early morning flight from Gatwick meant an even earlier morning departure, so naturally the fear of not hearing the alarm go off meant that none of us got any sleep last night. I put earplugs in and still didn't sleep well. So when 3am finally rolled around, it didn't take long for us to get ready.

Our cab was on time and it was off to Victoria station to catch the train...or so I thought. The plan was to catch the 4:30a train to the airport, but our wonderful cabby offered to take us all the way for less money than the train tickets. Score! An hour later we were at Gatwick, checked in, and munching on some breakfast (no beans this time).

Our flight was called on time, and after a quick tarmac walk to board, we were off. No flight problems at all, and we landed on time to Hamburg with our bags waiting for us. Then the fun began.

(:30 commentary - my goal of having enough German vocab learned at this point to at least let myself feel functional was not at all reached. That being said, I am just in awe of my grandparents. They can step right in and be conversing the minute they walk off the plane. I'm so thankful to be here.)

First time in the Hamburg airport, so naturally I'm not sure where the trains are exactly, but within about five minutes we had them found and we were down to the tracks and going (no attendant meant taking a chance our passes weren't stamped, but thankfully we didn't get stopped and thrown off). Hamburg's main train station was not at all marked for main regional trains, so after getting the passes stamped, and only miss-climbing one set of stairs, we found our train to Lubeck in first class.

Pictures will be added later, but I really think G&G liked being able to ride the train and see the countryside pass by. It's very different than driving a car. And i would say a little nervousness about the unknown of doing this type of new travel soon wore off. That is, until we got to Lubeck and had to switch to go to Travemunde.

For some reason, we were told the trains were not running there and our only option was a bus. I like busses. They tend to like me. :-) But in this case, it was very confusing...everyone we asked said to do something different. Finally, the 30 bus was located and we hopped on for a 35 minute ride to our next stop, which we hoped was the same as where we were supposed to go. Thankfully it was and we made the slow walk up the hill toward the Pommern Center, after confirming exactly where Erika lives. She was so happy to see G&G it almost can't be described.

The next few hours were a bit of a whirlwind. Erika took us out to eat at 3:30...i had the largest schnitzel I think I've ever had and it was so good. Plus, it was my first time to see the Baltic. Travemunde is right on the water, and i got some nice pictures. After that we went back to the center for dessert, and that's when my tiredness started to catch up with me. I haven't had to fight that kind if tiredness in a long time, but Grandpa was fighting the same. Eventually we had to head out for dinner again, which for me and Grandpa meant soup, and also two Jaeger shots (it is Germany after all). Now after all that, I'm really tired. Really. Tired. Oh my goodness so tired.

Sleep shall happen soon. Cant wait.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

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