Germany

(Kiel Canal, Rendsburg, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Volksfest, Berlin, Cuxhaven)

We have been at this for a while, Alec, Jack and Me.  A rough count is 30 countries, and lots of islands, cities and towns along the way.  We have enjoyed meals, customs, holidays and deeply meaningful conversations with so many people who carry a different color passport than us.  Each of these interactions makes a solid impression on us and our most fervent wish is that these experiences will inform the human that Jack is when he enters the world as an adult.   This summer we have been humbled by the experiences we have had with so many truly amazing people who have opened their homes and their lives to us in ways that I don’t imagine I have ever done before in the US (unfortunately).   We have hardly met anyone who wasn’t fluent in their language, our language and learning or practicing another 1 or 2 languages.   We have been so impressed by the willingness to learn and humble oneself to lean into another culture by the people whom we have shared this summer.  I thank each of you from the bottom of my heart. 

As I sit here preparing to share my experiences of Germany, the new and old friendships top the list of the best part of our time here.

We began our adventure in Germany after arriving at the entrance to the Kiel canal. Scotland and the Caledonia Canal initiated our appreciation of canals, and we loved the Kiel for the same reasons. The 98-kilometer freshwater canal has been here since 1898 and, through it transit, on average, 32000 ships yearly. The canal eliminates some 250 miles of potentially treacherous seas to the North of Jutland in the North Sea for ships heading into or out of the Baltic. All along the route one can see clever and resourceful ways in which the transit authorities have accommodated the communities that they have bisected to create this wonder. There are ferry’s, bridges and even a cable car suspended over the canal. We encountered every size and shape of vessel and despite the foggy conditions, we had a wonderful passage over 2 days.

Pleasure boats such as Gratitude must stop for the night which we did in Rendsburg and at the end in Brunsbuttel. An unplanned stop, friends we met in Portugal 4 years ago were in Rendsburg and texted us as we headed their way, so we decided to spend the night and enjoy a meal and some stories.

Thomas and Christine (https://danja.de) have just completed 2 Atlantic crossings as well as thousands of miles of sailing through the Caribbean and US Eastern seaboard.

It was wonderful to see them again and get caught up. Despite loving Rendsburg, we decided to press on and get to Hamburg so we might have a few days of relaxing before Colins arrival. We managed to transit the Brunsbuttel lock (in very heavy fog) and make it to Hamburg after a full day of cruising on the Elbe River. Once in Hamburg, we enjoyed a few days of walking and familiarizing ourselves with this very cool town. The largest Port in Germany, Hamburg has about 2.5 million residents in its urban area.

The Speicherstadt, or warehouse district, is the largest in the world with red brick buildings standing on timber foundations. The district has been designated a world heritage site. Adjacent to the Speicherstadt is the Kontorhaus district and also a world heritage site due to the notable buildings and architecture. Of greatest interest to us, however, was the immense canal system and we learned that there are more bridges, 2500 of them, than in Venice and Amsterdam combined. It made for a fun meander around the town both by us and later with Colin. There are several day trip boats that make the journey up and down the canals, but all of the commentary was unfortunately in German with no English translation available.

We visited the Elbphilharmonie concert hall, a stunning building on the river which reflects the sun and even appears to change colors as the day progresses. We were moored right in front of the building, and we noted how people congregated at the time of sunset but the view from away from the building was the prettiest then as the reflection of the setting sun changed the building to a beautiful orange hue.

St Nikolai and St. Michael, 2 of the original 5 Lutheran main churches are major landmarks.  What remains after the WWII bombing runs of Hamburg is just a shell of the beautiful gothic spires which remain of St. Nikolai, the second tallest building in Hamburg.  St. Michael remains and is one of the most famous churches in the city.  We went inside St. Michaels, and it was lovely inside. 

We flew Colin into Stuttgart since the beginning of Volksfest coincided perfectly with Colins planned arrival.  Jack and I traveled to Stuttgart the day before so that we wouldn’t risk a train delay and not be there on time.  Before I share the particulars of Stuttgart’s answer to Oktoberfest, I have to take a moment to impart the significance of this experience and, in particular, give a standing ovation to our hosts, the Penkwitt family.    There are, in my opinion, several ways into a culture, including the language of course, the food (a favorite of mine), and the celebrations of heritage and holidays.   There are the moments of shared humanity such as when I held the embrace of a Russian woman at the start of the war in Ukraine.  There are the moments of humility when someone comes to our aid either to help us communicate or to manage something in a place foreign to us (often the train or subway station).     Sometimes when we travel to a country, it can take weeks or months for us to feel as though we have “gotten” who the people are who call a place home.  Other times, we “get it” in days.  We feel so privileged to have been the recipient of the most extraordinary acts of kindness and generosity on this most recent adventure to Stuttgart.  And through this generosity, we learned the sounds of the German language from the lips of people who embody the most incredible spirit of kindness, compassion, and generosity.  We were invited into the home of a beautiful family – certainly the most intimate of gestures to extend to relative strangers, who prepared food, and shared their community and family with us.  They treated us to Volksfest, Stuttgarts Oktoberfest, and shared the history of this celebration.  They showered our child with kindness and heard him when he spoke – they saw him.  They prepared meals for us and introduced us to one after another special dishes unique to Germany.  Frank, Iris, Tom, and Celine, words cannot convey adequately how we appreciate your kindness and generosity on our behalf.  I truly hope that we can one day reciprocate your hospitality and friendship. 

We met Frank and Iris when we were docking in Edgarsund, Norway when they jumped off their boat which was moored forward of a space we were trying to squeeze into.  They offered to catch lines rather than staring down their noses, inspecting our arrival for signs of weakness.  There are often those who, rather than helping, would prefer to stand back and wait for the arriving boat to provide fodder for entertainment.  Having a capable and willing set of hands on the dock to catch lines is always a welcome site and this help was just the beginning of what we hope will be a lasting friendship.    While we had only spent a few minutes talking, among cruisers the conversation typically begins with places one has been or future planned experiences.  We shared with them our plans to make it to Germany to take our nephew to Octoberfest and Frank warned that without preplanning, those tickets would likely be sold out.  Without missing a beat, he invited us to share in the celebration with his family in Stuttgart, Germany and we quickly accepted.   Sometimes plans take on their own momentum and this was just such a case.  Before long, we had train, plane, and hotel reservations made and the hat was over the fence! 

We had a couple of months and several stops to make before we would arrive in Germany however, but the contact made, we stayed in touch and on the planned date, we arrived in Hamburg.

So, several miles have passed under our keel since our chance meeting of 15 minutes, and here are these lovely people meeting our train when Jack and I arrived.  Our cat Pratt has been a bit vulnerable since the last time we left him out of our care, and not wanting to subject him to more caregivers, Alec opted to stay behind.  In addition to caring for Pratt, Alec always has a long list of jobs to get done on Gratitude and he was anxious to knock some of them out while we were away.  The first stop after the 7 hour train from Hamburg to Stuttgart was dinner.   An absolutely perfect place – home cooked local food in the quintessential town one conjures when you think Germany, we relaxed and got reacquainted before being dropped at our Airbnb. 

The next day, Jack and I went to the old castle in the old town and walked around getting the lay of the land and having breakfast, then Frank and Tom collected us and brought us to the Mercedes Museum.    I had mapped out the bus that would take us to collect Colin from the airport but in one after another gesture of kindness, Frank insisted that they would take us, even parking and walking in to meet him right outside customs after Colins 24 hours of travel.  Ever the consummate hosts, they fixed dinner imagining that Colin would be more comfortable relaxing in a home after all the travel. 

The following day was a blur of activity as we drank beer, ate enormous amounts of meat and food (if you’re American, think Thanksgiving here) and had lots of laughs.  The Volksfest was terrific and had something for everyone.    Originally a big agricultural festival similar to the county fairs in the US, the first Cannstatter Volksfest (translated to mean peoples festival) was celebrated on September 28, 1818.  In a tradition that continues to this day, every other year cattle are brought here to be judged.  The tents are huge and look more like permanent fixtures rather than the temporary structures that are built each year for this event.  And housed in these tents are hundreds of wooden benches and tables on which thousands of people are served gallons of beer.  The tickets are for either daytime or night and there is talented live entertainment provided for either seating. 

Our generous hosts treated us to hours of entertainment and stories and ordered plates full of the most delicious meat and sauerkraut we have ever tried.  Jack is a fan of pretzels and on this trip, he had his fill!  After lunch, we rode rides and played games and had a terrific day.    If this was not enough, Frank who has been collecting Lego for years, offered Jack a Lego from his collection.  We spent the evening winding down at the Penkwitt home and fell into bed exhausted that night from all of the fun. 

Colin is a big fan of Porsche and since he missed the Mercedes museum, we went early the following morning.

Frank and Iris collected us from the museum and took us to a wonderful town called Tubingen, a 30 minute drive from Stuttgart. We meandered the town and after delightful stop to enjoy Flaammkuchen and a beer – then yet another stop at a Biergarten, we were off for the Hohenzollern Castle.

It is such a shame that Alec wasn’t here because Frank does sightseeing the way that Alec wishes I did it.  Each stop is punctuated with a rest for coffee or food at a Biergarten or café and the entire event is relaxed and enjoyable.   It isn’t often that we meet a couple with whom we connect so well but Frank and Iris are truly kindred spirits, and we hope to have the opportunity to re-connect with them along the way. 

Colin Jack and I returned to Alec in Hamburg where Jack spent a day getting schoolwork done and Colin, Alec and I took a walk around town. After a couple of days, we took a 1.5 hour train to Berlin where we spent the day doing sightseeing a bit more hectic than the way Frank and Iris do it. One after another sites and falling exhausted into the train for the ride home. In the short day there we saw several places including the Berlin Wall, the Brandenburg gate, the Memorial to the murdered Jews, the Reichstag building, the Holocaust Memorial, the Potsdamer Platz and the Berlin Cathedral, Checkpoint “C”, among others. While we tell Jack daily that his schoolwork is our highest priority, the words felt hollow as I asked him to finish up standing outside of a Starbucks with to-go service only. But we do tend to cram things in when fellow Americans show up since we want them to see as much as possible.

The final stop on our Germany experience is Cuxhaven.  Colin specifically asked for a boat trip and while we would have liked to make it all the way to Amsterdam on a 36-hour passage, the weather was not conducive.  So, we instead did a day trip down the Elbe river to the North Sea and Cuxhaven.  We are now positioned to be able to leave when the weather permits.  But our time here has been perfect.  Mostly we have been busy getting caught up on life admin chores and our inability to move has made for the perfect rainy windy snuggle weather.   The town is cute and improbably, we found an adorable secretary in an antique shop which Alec has managed to get into the lazarette for home.  I usually like to buy a small token to remember a country but I don’t often buy a piece of furniture.  This particular piece is from 1860 and was so lovely, I hated to leave it behind.  So someday when Jack is reading this or moves this antique into his family home, he will remember from where it came. 

We are absolutely at the end of our Schengen time, and thus at the end of our summer cruise.  We have one more stop we hope to make in Bruges Belgium.  Recommended by friends from London, it has been 4 years sitting on our bucket list.  Our goal of arriving in London by October 15 is on pace and it looks like with some cooperation from the weather gods, all will come together nicely.