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German Roots Trip 2003 - Contents
SEEKING OUR GERMAN ROOTS
Chapter
II
May 13 - 14, 2003
Luebeck
Tuesday
Afternoon, May 13
The major lessons to be learned about traveling by train in Germany are:
1) They always leave on time and,
2) YOU HAVE ABOUT 45
SECONDS TO GET ON BOARD.
Miss
the train--and you wait for the next one, which usually comes along quite soon.
We hopped aboard at 3:03 pm and arrived in Luebeck about 45 minutes later. At
the Luebeck train station, I got my next lesson in train travel. There was no
elevator, but the long flight of stairs that would take us up and over the train
tracks had an interesting conveyor belt alongside. Putting your suitcase on the
belt activated it, and as it rolled upward, so did your suitcase. Only problem
was that the belt was considerably narrower than our luggage, so it had to be
carefully managed on its trip to the top. Way better than hauling that heavy sucker
up by hand, however!
It
was about four blocks from the train station to our "Hotel Excelsior." A bit smaller
than the "Baseler Hof" in Hamburg, but very clean, with soft bath towels, a clock
radio and a rate of 77 Euros--considerably less expensive than the Baseler Hof
at 109 E. But then, we weren‘t in a large, metropolitan city either.
There was a message waiting
for us that Karen’s birder friend from her 2001 trip to Luebeck would pick us
up at 5:30. Karen met Tim via the Internet--he had listed his name as someone
who would guide international birders in his area. Tim is perhaps in his early
30’s, is a science school teacher, and he and his girl friend have a charming
little boy, "Luca," about ten months old. On the dot, Tim and Luca appeared at
our hotel and we drove off to see some of the nature preserves right on the edge
of Luebeck. Lovely wooded areas with nice walking paths--mostly used by people
walking their dogs--not listening for bird calls. Tim placed Luca in a jogging
stroller and off we went--even climbing to the top of a dike where we could see
a pond with lots of interesting water birds, and beyond them, huge cranes--the
shipping industry species--that move the containers from ship to shore.
| Tim & Karen, entering nature
preserve |
Luca
is very bright for his age and clearly understood all about his favorite TV character,
"Elmo." He tolerated all the bumps involved in being pushed along dirt paths and
up steep banks. Actually, he handled the steep bank part much better than I did.
There were some rough steps going up the grassy slope, but one of my feet missed
the next step and hit the slippery grass--and down I went. No great harm done,
other than a skinned area on my hand and ouch! a lot of nettle stings along my
legs. Apparently I landed in a luxuriant patch of nettles. A good lesson to REALLY
watch my step--with all the uneven cobblestone streets ahead of me in the next
three weeks.
After
Tim returned us to our hotel, we found a nearby café and had a light supper of
soup, toast and a huge platter of "frites," aka French fries, all washed down
with more Alster beer. Coming out of the restaurant, we spotted a beautiful rainbow,
arched right over one of Luebeck’s medieval churches--a Kodak moment, for sure!
After our long and busy day, lights were out by 9 p.m. in our hotel room.
Wednesday
Morning, May 14
Early to bed meant early to rise--as the effects of jet lag were still felt by
both of us. By 5 a.m. it was light, the birds were singing, and we decided it
was the ideal time to take a walking tour of Luebeck’s Alt Stadt, or "old town."
Two blocks brought us to a
bridge across the tranquil Trave River and past the charming twin-turreted "Holstein
Tower" which reputedly was erected not as a defense gate, but just to show how
rich and powerful Luebeck was in the Middle Ages. With its strategic position
near the mouth of the Trave River it had easy access to the Baltic Sea. Luebeck
and the other cities that formed the Hanseatic League once ruled the Baltic--all
the way to Russia. The city had once used the Trave River as a moat around the
Old Town and today it is still surrounded by water.
We
followed Tim’s advice, to see not the "touristy" parts of the Old Town, but some
of his favorite little narrow streets, filled with "cute and darling" houses,
just crying out to have their pictures taken--so I did! There was a great deal
of individuality in the homes, and there were intriguing little alleys winding
behind the homes. A little jarring to see all of the cars lining the cobblestone
streets--just waiting for the owners to finish breakfast and head off on their
daily commute to the more modern parts of Luebeck.
Church
spires reached skyward all across the Old Town. We walked around the "Dom" or
Cathedral, admiring the Gothic architecture and handsome brickwork. Luebeck richly
deserves its designation as a World Heritage Site. Before returning to our hotel
we picked up more good deli sandwiches for lunch. The Excelsior Hotel furnished
an excellent breakfast. Most of the other guests appeared to be German senior
citizens. Apparently they do their traveling in the off season, just as we do.
A fixture on our table was a little round canister--in which we were expected
to deposit all of our litter from breakfast. We saw this in every hotel breakfast
room. An efficient system that must make cleaning up the tables much quicker and
easier for the breakfast room staff.
Walking
back to the hotel we also noted the location of the Hertz car rental office, five
blocks from our hotel, and plotted the best way to walk to it with our suitcases,
and more important, how to get the car off the rental lot and onto the Autobahn
for the next leg of our trip. Renting the car proved very simple and before we
knew it, the Hertz man was loading our suitcases in the roomy trunk of a shiny,
almost-new Peugeot station wagon--quite similar in size to the Subaru Outbacks
that Karen and I drive.
Like
our Outbacks, this had manual transmission and after a test drive around the Hertz
parking lot, Karen declared she was ready to tackle the Autobahn, so off we went.
The Peugeot was definitely an upgrade from the very compact car we had requested,
but we got the cheaper rate (228 Euros for one week) and enjoyed the ample room
and extra creature comforts that came with the upgrade. Some of its features we
never tried to use--such as the sun roof. The car manual was in German, of course,
and it just didn’t seem worth the effort to figure out how to open the roof.
We were soon out in the countryside and the Autobahn was lightly traveled so it
was an easy introduction to the German highway system and signage. We had printed
out a couple pages of German highway signage from an Internet site, and kept that
handy in the car’s glove compartment. Came in very handy during the next week
as not all the German highway icons were familiar to us.
Today’s
schedule was:
1)
to see some of the old part of Luebeck. Accomplished.
2)
Pick up the rental car. Accomplished.
3) Drive northeast to Fehmarn Island,
a large island jutting out into the Baltic, but connected to the mainland by a
handsome bridge. Go to the Wallnau waterfowl wildlife refuge on the island, recommended
by Tim Herfurth.
4) Drive on north through the German state of Schleswig-Holstein
to the village of Schoenberg where we hoped to find clues to some of Glenn’s ancestors.
LOCATOR
MAP
Fehmarn
Island indicated by red star.
Wallnau Waterbird Preserve is on west end of
Fehmarn Island
Luebeck is south of Travemünde
Schoenberg is east
of Fehmarn Island, on the Baltic
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