Kassel to Hamburg
Day 49. Today I got up pretty early so that I could visit a couple of stores. I walked up into town and went to a couple of toy stores, buying some more Sikus and an Austin by Welly Nex. Not bad for a fairly short shopping day.
Then we packed and called a taxi. Brigitte managed to summon one that had plenty of room for our stuff,and we got underway to the train station. The driver was wonderful and we had a good conversation with him along the way.
We got to the train station plenty early and Brigitte accompanied us to the platform. There she sat with Kathy while I went exploring a little. I found out that our train would stop at 4 different stations in Hamburg, and that the final station on the line would actually be closer to our hotel than our planned stop. And, it would give us the added advantage of not having to rush off the train, so that was a win all around.
The train pulled in on time and we said our goodbyes to Brigitte, our wonderful host. She was simply wonderful to us the whole time and I enjoy the time we spent with her.
We got on the train, this time at the correct door, and found our seats, which were right next to the door. Finding a home for our stuff was a little more difficult until we found out that the person sitting across the aisle from us would be getting off at the next stop, and the conductor agreed to let us keep our stuff where we really shouldn't have, and then take that seat for our luggage. So that worked out well.
Then we sat on the train enjoying the sights as we traveled. The train got up as high as 273 kph, which is the fastest I've ever traveled on the ground. It's amazing to me how smooth the train is at that speed.
In Hamburg we stayed on until Hamburg-Altona, where the line terminates. We took our time getting off the coach and said our goodbyes to the conductor who helped us so much. Then off to the end of the platform to find a taxi, no lift involved today.
I walked out to the taxis, and saw that the first one would be too small for us, so I asked the second one if we could go with her. So we had our first lady taxi driver of the trip. She got us all loaded in easily and off we went. After a very quick journey we got to our hotel, and saw that we had to go through the red light district a block or two away from here. Yikes. But the hotel, Hotel Hanseport, is a very nice one and does not seem to cater at all to that kind of business. It's a nice, comfortable room.
It was still late afternoon when we got here so I went on a short walk to explore, and stopped on the way back at a McDonalds to get us McRibs for dinner, as they have them here all the time. The McD's is next to a shop where you can apparently buy Sex for EUR 39. I did not inquire further.
I got back here, we ate, and now we are exhausted even though it's still fairly early. So we will turn in early and make an early day of it tomorrow.
Then we packed and called a taxi. Brigitte managed to summon one that had plenty of room for our stuff,and we got underway to the train station. The driver was wonderful and we had a good conversation with him along the way.
We got to the train station plenty early and Brigitte accompanied us to the platform. There she sat with Kathy while I went exploring a little. I found out that our train would stop at 4 different stations in Hamburg, and that the final station on the line would actually be closer to our hotel than our planned stop. And, it would give us the added advantage of not having to rush off the train, so that was a win all around.
The train pulled in on time and we said our goodbyes to Brigitte, our wonderful host. She was simply wonderful to us the whole time and I enjoy the time we spent with her.
We got on the train, this time at the correct door, and found our seats, which were right next to the door. Finding a home for our stuff was a little more difficult until we found out that the person sitting across the aisle from us would be getting off at the next stop, and the conductor agreed to let us keep our stuff where we really shouldn't have, and then take that seat for our luggage. So that worked out well.
Then we sat on the train enjoying the sights as we traveled. The train got up as high as 273 kph, which is the fastest I've ever traveled on the ground. It's amazing to me how smooth the train is at that speed.
In Hamburg we stayed on until Hamburg-Altona, where the line terminates. We took our time getting off the coach and said our goodbyes to the conductor who helped us so much. Then off to the end of the platform to find a taxi, no lift involved today.
I walked out to the taxis, and saw that the first one would be too small for us, so I asked the second one if we could go with her. So we had our first lady taxi driver of the trip. She got us all loaded in easily and off we went. After a very quick journey we got to our hotel, and saw that we had to go through the red light district a block or two away from here. Yikes. But the hotel, Hotel Hanseport, is a very nice one and does not seem to cater at all to that kind of business. It's a nice, comfortable room.
It was still late afternoon when we got here so I went on a short walk to explore, and stopped on the way back at a McDonalds to get us McRibs for dinner, as they have them here all the time. The McD's is next to a shop where you can apparently buy Sex for EUR 39. I did not inquire further.
I got back here, we ate, and now we are exhausted even though it's still fairly early. So we will turn in early and make an early day of it tomorrow.