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| Dermot atop Cheddar Gorge |
This segment of our trip started as planned - a ferry from the quiet Æro Island to the mainland on a windy day and a drive to Hamburg. Our altered plans to fit the rainy weather were altered again by renovations so we covered fewer sights than expected. We marveled at what remains of St. Nikolai’s Cathedral after it was bombed in WWII. The Cathedral was not rebuilt but becomes a “Place of Commemoration . . . The remains commemorate the victims of the ‘Fire Storm’ over Hamburg and the victims of German atrocities in Europe.”
The two sculptures were added afterwards. “The Ordeal” is a haunting and haunted figure who sits on bricks from a concentration camp which was the final stop for some 10,000 victims. The sign below “Angel on Earth” reads “Take my hand and let me lead you back to yourself.”
We also strolled and then visited the Elbphilharmonie which is a stunning piece of architecture that I couldn’t manage to get a decent photo of due to its scale, location and the incredibly windy weather.
Our plan was to drive to Brussels with a one night stop in Munster to break up the trip. The wind was ferocious as we drove and we heard a loud thunk on the roof which was followed by the skylight rattling up and down. When we could pull over we couldn’t see any damage so we just reset the handle and drove on.
“Into each life some rain must fall.” When Ella Fitzgerald and the Ink Spots performed this song they were referring to rain figuratively. But in the middle of the night we had literal rain drip, drip, dripping into our camper. We found a repair shop and they explained that the skylight is two glass pieces and the wind had ripped off the top dome-shaped glass. 😳 We were ecstatic when they quickly fitted a plastic domed replacement because they didn’t have the glass kit in stock. They told us to get the whole thing replaced when we got home. Unfortunately, that night we learned that the temporary fix wasn’t waterproof either. No local shop could fit us in so we made a bee line back to England where we’ve been ever since.
Please excuse the lack of pictures of scenic and interesting places, but maybe this picture of Dermot grilling in rainy England will bring a smile.
We spent rainy days waiting for a repair and exploring Cheddar. Once the repair was done, there wasn’t enough time to fit in more touring so we prepped the van to go into storage, dropped it off in Bristol and spent a few days in London visiting family and taking in a few sights. You really can’t go wrong visiting the British National Museum and we concentrated on Africa, Japan and China this time.
The following day we enjoyed Sea Life. As you can tell from all the pictures, I love a good aquarium and penguins make any day better!
Next stop: Iceland.
