Monday 16 June 2014
Gasp! What kind of
hideously outdated train am I on?! No
internet?! Oh my. What on earth will I do for the next 8
hours? Well, other than do some work
that needs to be done. But that is not
nearly as fun as surfing the net. I do
have my Kindle and there are some things to look at out the window. And, this means I don’t have the opportunity
to answer emails, so there is some comfort in this horror, haha!
I didn’t sleep well in parts last night, but soundly in
others. I had some sort of tummy bug before
I left and it hasn’t quite resolved itself.
This is disappointing to say the least.
I was up a few times in the night.
But, after yesterday’s walk around town, I was pretty tired. When I did sleep, I slept like the dead! The bed was very comfortable.
Their neighborhood is very quiet. It makes me realize how noisy ours is. I was able to sleep with the window wide open
and I heard nothing ;o) They have two
cats, Sophie and Wilma. They are
indoor/outdoor cats and very sweet.
Wilma warmed up to me after a bit, but Sophie probably didn’t like me
much because my suitcases reek of doggie!
Their house was built in 1936 and Gill told me that at one
time during the war, there were about 5 families living in it! Their home has three floors: three bedrooms and a small ½ bath with
shower, the main floor and a ¾ basement.
It is quite large by European standards, however certainly not large
enough for 5 families!
The half bath upstairs is genius! Imagine a powder room that is about 5’ x
2.5’. Teeny. Enough for a toilet and a sink? Well, they remodeled it so that you walk in
and to the left is a slender toilet and in front of the toilet in the corner is
a teeeeeeny sink. Seriously, it could
probably hold 1 litre of water, haha!!
But, as Ronnie says, it does the job.
So, that takes up about 1/3 of the total space.
The other part of the room has a shower unit on the
wall. Then, (this is the genius part),
there are 2 doors that pivot on an arc.
When they are closed, they are against the wall and out of the way. When they are open, they form a round space
in which you can shower quite nicely.
You cannot open the main door to the bathroom when you’re showering, but
it’s all quite neat. They have a full
bath on the main floor with a huge shower there. I think they thought I was crazy not to use
the fancy shower, but I was content with the tiny one.
The whole house is floored with unfinished, but treated,
wooden planks. It would look stupid in
our house, but it is very attractive in theirs.
Their furniture is simple, yet very elegant. I’m partial to their two red chairs because
they are red and they are very comfortable.
I sat in one on Friday night and after about ½ hour sitting there I went
to bed!
Now I’m on the train without wireless. Gasp…is this the 18th century for
goodness sakes? Off to read for a little
while. And then maybe I’ll crack open
the computer and get a little work done.
Or take a nap. We’ll see :o)
**Later that night** I wound up taking a couple of catnaps,
which was nice. I also continued reading
a book series called The Hangman’s Daughter.
I’m on the 3rd book. I
enjoy the series quite a bit. The author
is Oliver Potzsch. No work….I’m on
vacation!
Left Copenhagen without any fuss. Got right to my seat. Still cannot fathom not having wireless.
Train ran smoothly stopping occasionally.
About 2 ½ hours into the trip, the conductor announces that in about 20
minutes the train will board the ferry and we’ll all have to get off the train. I was concerned because I didn’t know
anything about a ferry. Did not recall
ever having this discussion with myself at any time when purchasing the ticket
either. Thought maybe I’d misunderstood
his perfectly clear English.
Sure enough, about 20 mins later, we slowed down. We stopped.
I looked to my left and saw all manner of vehicles in a queue. Hmmm…..Then we moved slowly forward. People began gathering their small items like
purses and laptops. The conductor walked
by and I asked him 1) are we getting on a ferry (yes) and 2) do I need to bring
all my luggage (no).
I couldn’t get over the part about the ferry. Sure enough, I look out the window to watch
us glide effortlessly onto the ferry. A
train inside a boat?? What’s next…cats and dogs living in sin? :o)
Train stops, we gather our small items, walk up 3 flights of stairs and
enter into an area with two cafeterias on either end and several shops in the
middle. I decided that if I was going to
be on a train in a boat and then off a train on a boat that I might as well
eat. I had a hot dog and fries. No bun. That’s how crazy my life was!
I sat in the front of the boat in the cafeteria and
ate. Looked at the other ferries and one
cruise ship in the water. Then I puttered around one of the stores and bought a
huge bag of gummy bears for 4E. What a
steal! Even at about $6.50, I still got
a crazy amount of gummies at a great price. It made my world seem a little more
sane :o)
Ferry slowed down, I went down the wrong stairs, saw a ton
of trucks but no train! Panicked a
little bit, but decided to walk forward.
After all, how difficult would it be to hide a 7 carriage train?! Found the train, found my seat, watched as
trucks, campers, and cars left the ferry at the same time we did. Soon enough, we were back on train tracks where
we should have been the whole time and my world order was restored.
Made it to Hamburg and found my train to Münster with no
problem and arrived just at 7.
Immediately saw Ellie and Fons and they drove home. We caught up about their girls’ families and
then ate a hearty meals of antipasti.
Cheeses, salami, tortes, wine (of course), very clever little peanuts
covered in a crunchy outer shell, and the piece d’ resistance: a deep fried potato and meat ball covered in
some sort of covering that fried to a crispy golden brown. They were like little shepherd’s pie
balls. Yummy!
Now, I’m in bed, getting ready to sleep. I’m exhausted, but in a good way. It is great to be back here. It’s been 5 years already…hard to believe
it’s been that long ago. After seeing
their house again, it doesn’t feel more than a few months! And, their house doesn’t move into the inside
of a ferry boat, so I do believe I will sleep just fine tonight!
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