From Detmold to Dresden

The house Christine and Renate grew up in, in Brokhausen near Detmold.  It's been our home for the last three nights.  But this morning, we departed with Christine and Renate at 9.20, bound for Dresden.

Elfriede took our photo just before we drove off.

Elfriede waving us off and wishing us well on our drive through Germany and Poland...

On the German motorway, the fastest our Mercedes could safely do was 194 km per hour.

Along the way, we saw this smart car carried along the motorway in a way that was rather different.

During the morning, we stopped for coffee in a place called Ehlen.  On the sign saying 'Ehlen', someone had added a 'd' at the end of the word.  Christine, Renate and I laughed loudly because 'Elend' is the German word for 'misery'.  We also stopped for lunch at a service station on the motorway.

We hired a three-bedroom apartment in Dresden, where we arrived at around 3.45pm.  The apartment is actually on hilly Loschwitz, which has a view of the Dresden skyline.  Because Loschwitz is on a hill, this luggage lift is provided to carry luggage up to the residence.

Renate grabs our bags at the top.

This is the villa we're staying in.  Our apartment is on the top floor.

Our apartment has one main room that includes kitchen, dining and lounge areas.

From the window above the lounge, one can see the river Elbe and the Blaues Wunder (bridge called the Blue Wonder) as well as the distant Dresden skyline including the Frauenkirche.

The Blaues Wunder and the river Elbe as seen from our apartment

There are three bedrooms in the apartment.

From Hamburg to Detmold via Stade

Today, the four of us - me, Jean, Christine and Renate - headed out of Hamburg, the beginning of our big journey through Germany and Poland together.  We headed first north-west, and after an hour or so entered marshy, fairly flat countryside.  Soon, we came to Glückstadt, where we crossed the Elbe at a point where it was quite wide.  It's only a little further downstream that the Elbe empties into the North Sea.  

The 16 euro voyage across the Elbe took maybe 40 minutes, during which the ferry slowed because of a narrow channel between the sand banks, caused by a low tide.

The water was very shallow in the Elbe in parts.

During the voyage, there was not much to do on the ferry, just enjoy the scenery and the sunshine.

We stopped for lunch at charming Stade, a city founded many centuries ago on the Schwinge River.  One building was constructed in the 17th century, while a street we walked along appeared to have existed since 1329.  Some of our ancestors from far back also settled here in Stade.

A scene in Stade

The statue may represent a lady selling fish in the fish market adjacent to the river.  Here she holds a fish in hand and has a full basket of fish nearby.  A local cat comes to inspect...

Here, Renate admires Jean's ability to sleep absolutely anywhere - even in the middle of the town!

After leaving Stade, we stopped for afternoon tea in a small town and arrived at our destination for today - Detmold, with Christine's and Renate's parents.  We'll spend the next few days here.