Germany visit

Hello, we are checking in from Meckelfeld where we have spent some time visiting Carsten's parents and other friends and family.

Inga and Kay hosted a lovely dinner where we visited with Dominic, Kerstin and Stiene, Maya, Uwe and Jan and of course Katrin.

We then had our usual slumber party at Falk and Svenni's house. We had a casual visit, playing games and eating - Pernille and Pauline joined us Saturday and Barbara on Sunday morning.

Sunday night was dinner at the Italian restaurant with Inga and Kay and Ulf and Heike. The restaurant is under new, friendlier management - no more grumpy Italian dude! The food is still good.

Inga and Kay asked us to help with their cat Cooper. All we have to do is give him his insulin injection twice a day. On Tuesday morning we could not find him anywhere! We searched up and down the house - silly cat! We had to leave but we came back later and looked for him again three hours later - still no sign of him! Of course, when Inga and Kay got home he was right by the door waiting for them.

On Tuesday we spent the afternoon and evening with Barbara.

She picked us up and we went to Wildpark Schwarze Berge. We have not been there in 27 years. All we remembered about the park was the fat pigs 🐖 that we fed raw noodles to. Marieke was just a toddler but she loves the pigs! We did not see the pigs but enjoyed the park very much. We saw bobcats, wolves, racoons, deer, goats, a bird "talk" with storks, eagles and other big birds. It was lovely and green and beautiful. This shaggy guy is a Scottish Highlands Cow.

Later we met Matea at Hoi An Vietnamese for dinner. The restaurant was lovely and fun and the food was very good! Matea is working on her Masters in Bio-something, her Master's thesis will be about Cancer research. It was wonderful to spend this time with Barbara. We remembered her first trip to Texas in 1996 for the Atlanta Olympics. She remembered Austin as a little boy and me negotiating with him at dinner one night "one meat, one fry". Apparently, he did not want any meat, only fries. Funny! I don't remember this at all. This was also the time when Austin wanted to watch The Lion King over and over - she sat and watched with him at least once. To this day any mention of TLK makes her think of Austin.

Wednesday was a travel day. We took a ferry from Hamburg harbor to Helgoland. This is a small island in the North Sea. First order of business was protecting our very delicious Fish and Chips from the hungry seagulls! The colorful huts were a charming welcome to the island.

Fun times together!

We walked around a bit. Helgoland is famous for several things but their "duty-free" status is definitely high on the list. We found a church and cemetery very quaint.

On Thursday we had a full day of exploring. We took a "bus" tour. There are only a few vehicles on the island and 99% are electric. The bus was more like a little train you might see at the mall, but adult size seats. It took us all over the island.

Overlooking the beach. The water is about 55°. No thank you!

These seabirds are related to the Boobies we met in Galapagos. There are 5-10,000 pair here breeding (& pooping) on Helgoland.

This geological feature is named "Lange Anna" after a tall waitress named Anna - that's the story anyway.

We had a lovely lunch at the Aquarium Restaurant (shout out to Inga and Kay for the recommendation!) and pizza for dinner. We had great weather and many steps!

Friday we returned to the mainland but first some history. Helgoland was a strategically important land during WW2. There was a U-boat bunker here that could accommodate up to nine U-boats for repair, etc. In 1945 the British bombed Helgoland extensively, rendering the U-boat bunker useless. On the island was an extensive bunker system with weapons stored inside and serving as an air raid shelter for civilians. We toured one of the remaining bunkers.

After the war the British wanted to be sure that the bunkers and fortifications could not be used again. Despite numerous protests from the former inhabitants of Helgoland, the British began preparations in 1947 to demolish the extensive military installations. They filled the U-boat bunker in the southern harbor and the other installations with leftover munitions from the war. Approximately 4,000 torpedo warheads , almost 9,000 depth charges , and over 51,000 shells of various calibers were stacked there . Because these preparations took longer than planned, the original deadline of March 31 could not be met. On April 18, 1947, exactly two years after the major attack on Helgoland, the Royal Navy detonated the explosives across the entire island simultaneously. The detonation was triggered by British engineers from aboard HMS Lasso at a distance of approximately 17 kilometers.The British staged this detonation for the German public; a special brochure was published about it. Nearly 20 journalists and 100 guests watched directly from the steamship Danzig. A smaller explosion preceded the main event to scare away the birds. The actual explosion occurred a few minutes later at 1 p.m. A huge jet of fire and tons of rock shot into the sky. The tremors were felt as far away as Cuxhaven, 70 kilometers away. The mushroom cloud rose about nine kilometers according to some sources. The explosion shook the island's base to a depth of several kilometers.

Carsten and I went to Dune, the other island of Helgoland. Prior to Jan 1, 1721 the two islands were one. There was a huge storm that separated Dune from Helgoland. The ferry is very quick. This island is famous for he Grey Seals and the birds.