Germany 2009

Leaving the UK aboard the P&O Pride of Dover. The channel was somewhat misty on the morning of our departure, hence this rather hazy picture of the white cliffs and Dover's Eastern Docks below them.

A fine photograph of my dad, Derek Johnson, with Dover slipping away behind.

On the road. A rather blurry picture taken through the coach window, looking towards one of the channels of the River Rhine as we continue on our way through The Netherlands towards the German border. We eventually made it to Ellerhoop, and a champagne reception, at just past 2300 CET - hence there not being any photographs of that occasion.

On our first full day in Germany we travelled to the Nordsee town of Busum, which amongst other things is known for a huge flood which hit the whole Schleswig Holstein coast from Denmark to Hamburg in the 1970s, killing many. This is the entrance to a new centre charting the events of the night in question, and looking at attempts before and since to keep Spring tides of this very low lying part of the country.

This is a side view of the centre, demonstrating its innovative wave shaped exterior.

After an hour in the centre, which included a rollercoaster ride through flooded streets, the party made its way into the centre of Busum for a lunch of traditional Schleswig Holstein fare at a famous local restaurant. Here the group is seen returning to terra firma after a stroll along the top of one of the dykes that protect surrounding houses from floods.

A rather dark photograph looking across the centre of Busum towards its lighthouse.

The restaurant where we had our truly excellent lunch (I would highly recommend a trip there if you're in Busum) is decorated inside in a somewhat eccentric manner, with mussel shells.

Busum, as a tourist town, was one of the only places open over the Easter weekend, hence the streets thronged with people enjoying the early April sunshine.

Beer. Need I say more? This is an excellent Dunkelbier which I enjoyed with Dieter Wiesman, my host, after lunch.

And here's me with said beer, and a busy street scene behind.

A photograph looking back down Busum's inner harbour towards the town centre, showing the variety of boats moored on the right.

Day two in Germany and a change of scene. The main group went off by coach for a day of sightseeing and shopping in Hamburg, whilst Dieter and I headed for Lauenburg (Elbe), which sits some way upstream of Hamburg on the River Elbe. This photograph was taken as we passed between the Alster lakes in Hamburg, and looks towards the spires and towers of the centre.

Passing through the outer areas of Hamburg we crossed the Elbe several times. This hotograph was taken from the autobahn.

Lauenburg is know for a number of things, one of them being the Luneburg - Lauenburg - Lubeck Kanal which reaches the Elbe here. This photographs looks along an apparently unexciting section of canal towards the site of a very old weir, known as the "Palm Weir" because of its palm-fronds like shape. Sadly for us on the day of our visit it was undergoing restoration work and was inaccessible.

One of the other things than Lauenburg is famous for is being the place where the River Elbe proper stopped and the tidal estuary began. This, the first of lots of photographs depicting the river, shows the bow of a boat with the wide stretch of water behind.

We weren't really sure what this rather strange sculpture of a rounded rock balancing on a metalic pyramid, was meant to symbolise. Perhaps it signifies the old world being propped up by modern restoration and maintenance methods … but who knows? In the background can be seen the River Elbe the some buildings in the town itself.

Old Lauenburg is trapped between a steep hill to north and the Elbe immediately to the South. This photograph shows the start of the picturesque streets which run between the two.

This is where my commentary begins to get a little sketchy. This picture shows some house, possibly boats (or are they flagpoles?) and a tree covered hillside.

Looking along a street of old houses in Lauenburg.

Who's that handsome looking person…? Oh it's me, holding my cane, standing with my back to some Lauenburg buildings.

Dieter with a statue of … somebody (I really wish I had taken some notes!).

Look west along the north shore of the River Elbe this photograph shows the Lauenburg riverfront in the foreground, with the state of Lower Saxony visible on the far bank. The sky and water is blue, and the day is clear and bright.

Back on the road again, or at least the streets of Lauenburg. Here are more interesting buildings.

Here Dieter is peering into a shop window. Lauenburg was surprisingly quiet for (or perhaps because of) the Easter weekend, with barely a soul out on the streets.

Lauenburg's church taken at an artistic angle, showing the spire and part of the exterior of the nave. As with most of northern Germany this was a Protestant church - though sadly it wasn't open to visitors.

Having started to climb the hill behind the church we paused for a view between the pushes and through a chainlink fence to the River Elbe now some way below us.

Now higher up on the plataeu above the old town, looking west along the River Elbe, now with much more of the south bank visible.

To the east of Lauenburg, past the entrance to the harbour and canal, is a great iron bridge, crossing the river with three long spans.

Lauenburg's Burg (or fortress). More precisely, this was the keep and watchtower for the town. The building appears to be formed of two main parts. The lower is round and wide, with an external staircase running halfway up its height. The second sits atop the sloping roof of the other, and is much narrower, with unglazed arch windows, and a rounded roof.

Unfortunately, after climbing the rickety outer, and spiral inner, staircases leading to the small watching post (complete with bell, presumably to be rung in case of attackers) we discovered the view from the top was nearly as good as from the terrace below. Nevertheless it did afford some good views of the river, a little higher than the ground below, though somewhat masked by trees. This picture is taken artistically through an arched window frame, forming a a dark border around the background.

Another view from the tower looking through the treetops to the river beyond.

Dieter is seen here leaning through one of the open window frames. The small space of the watchtower's top is all too clearwith perhaps just two metres between one side and the other - with a bell positioned in the middle, hanging at chest height.

Back at the bottom, this is another street scene in Lauenburg.

After all that hill climbing we were both ready for a spot of lunch. Dieter picked a very nice bar and restaurant with a small terrace immediately adjacent to the river. The beer was good, the food was excellent, and the views of the river slowly gliding passed were unparalelled. This photograph shows a small boat fighting the current to travel upstream.

This photograph pictures Dieter looking pretty content, with the river over his right shoulder and the inside of the bar behind.

Another splendid picture of me, albeit squinting slightly into the sunshine.

The Elbe is very much a working river, particularly here with Hamburg not too far away downstream. Several large river vessels like the one shown here with the bridge behind, passed whilst we enjoyed lunch.

The front of the restaurant with "Schiffer Baerde" written in old German style lettering. This is definitely another place worth a return visit!

Further along the street was a public open terrace overlooking the river, where people were enjoying lunch and a drink.

A quick change of scene now. Having finished our lunch and meandered back to the car we returned to the area near Barmstedt where Dieter stopped to buy some Easter flowers from a pick-your-own site. Dieter is seen here intently focussed on his task of picking flowers, bent down towards the ground.

Day three now, and it was time for a few formalities. In celebration of twenty-five years of twinning, which truly is a quite considerable achievement, a number of guest speaks gathered to address the British guests and German hosts and friends. This photograph looks down one of the long tables and people began settling into their seats. The room being used is part of an botanical college recently established on the edge of the Aboretum, itself about a mile from the centre of Ellerhoop.

Another similar photograph of a long table and more people getting ready for the speeches.

The afternoon started with an excellent performance of rhythmical drumming from a group established in Ellerhoop only a year or so ago. Sadly my photographs were too blurry to use, but rest assured that it got the afternoon off to an energetic start. Following the drumming Astrid, chairman of the German organising committee took to the lecturn to welcome everyone to the event. This photograph shows were talking to the audience with a large flower display on either side of her, and the corner of a projector screen showing photographs from the past twenty-five years just visible over her left shoulder.

The President of the local district council for Kreis Pinneberg addresses the assembled people from the lecturn. I understand from Dieter that Kreis President is both a political and bureaucratic role, elected by the other councillors but also responsible for the day-to-day running of the organisation.

Next up came Bergemeister Martin, know to everybody involved in the Twinning, who gave an excellent speech looking both back to the past twenty five years and forward to the future.

Despite his excellent English Martin elected to have his speech translated for those non-German speakers in the room (quite a lot of us unfortunately!) by Susan. She is seen here addressing the audience, with Martin to her left.

Next came a number of presentations. I believe this photograph shows Martin with Lillian Cruse, Chairman of the Hurst Green Twinning Association.

Another photograph showing people on the stage, either presenting or speaking.

More speaking or presenting (apologies for not being more descriptive - I can't really see the picture brilliantly myself - if you know better than me please let me know!).

Towards the end the two first British and German twinning association chairmen gave a short but inspirational speech.

The final speaker of the afternoon … I think. By this point I was rather full of cake and had (literally) covered myself in champagne, so I'm afraid I wasn't doing a good job of taking note of names of speakers. Sorry!

On the way home we chanced upon Manfred Gholish cycling back from the event. He is seen here from behind, looking through the windscreen of Dieter's car.

And then came the final day. Well not quite, in between there was a party back at the Botanical College where much beer and schnapps was consumed, but I can't remember an awful lot (save for talking to lots and lots of people!), and didn't take any pictures anyway. So, on to day four, and the tradional north German sport (soon to be adopted over here if I get my way...) of Bußeln. In summary it usually involves two teams, one with a large metal ball, and one with a rubber one. They take it turns to throw (perhaps "lob" would be more accurate) their ball up a country lane, avoiding passing cyclists and pedestrians, and without getting it stuck in too many ditches, until they reach a designated point. Here they down lots of Schnapps (hydration is very important) before seapping balls and returning the whence they came. Our game of Bußeln differed in two distinct ways. The first of them being that we had four teams, and second being we drank most of the schnapps on the first leg and never got to swap over! Anyway, this picture shows the team picking in progress in the school playground (literally!). There is a good reason why the photographer was able to get this show of everybody else waiting in line - it's because he ... or rather I ... was last to be picked. Oh well.

After being organised into teams we then proceeded to disorganise ourselves again until tactics had been discussed and rules explained. The photograph shows lots of people in front of playground equipment discussing important matters.

Then it was time for the off. Like my speech and presentation comments I'm not 100% sure of who everyone is here, so please excuse me if I simply label them "Bußeln 1", "Bußeln 2", etc. In general most pictures,including this one, show a group of people cheering on the next competitor as they swing (in our case) the rubber ball back before hurling it forward, praying that it didn't end up in the ditch or go off down a driveway.

Bußeln two.

Bußeln Three.

Bußeln Four.

Bußeln Five.

Bußeln Six

Bußeln Seven

Bußeln Eight

Bußeln Nine

Bußeln Ten

After a walk of some two miles or so, broken only to drink a bit of schnapps, hurl a ball down the country lane in front of us, or pick around in a hedge or muddy ditch (thankfully that wasn't my job!) to find the wretched thing, we finally happened across the pre-designating meeting, eating, drinking and - most importantly - ball swapping location. This photograph shows us following a track into the centre of a wooded area, marked by a small lake.

But alas, on reaching the spot in question we found the other team had come and gone, and failed to leave any of the promised food and drink (though thankfully we had brough some of our own!). So, after a brief break to catch our breath we were picked up by the other team (by now having reached their cars back in the village). This picture shows a great huddle of (our) team members taking a well-earned break. The other team, for the record, claimed victory - though some might say that by not waiting to swap balls they should have forfeited the match.

Okay, a slightly different picture now - here's me with my friend Lucy - taken in my host family's home in the village of Bokel, about twenty minute's drive north of Ellerhoop.

Here's Christian, the eldest son of my hosts Dieter and Metti. Christian is currently in the third year of a part-study part-apprenticeship with Airbus, and recently met up with him when he spent some time on secondment in Chester.

Christian has been playing the guitar for about ten years now, and (to my ear at least) sounds pretty good. On my final evening he gave a fine private rendition of Pink Floyd's "Shine On You Crazy Diamond". Hopefully he'll bring over his guitar if he comes over to Hurst Green in 2010. This photograph shows him playing a short blues number on the instrument.

Into the final evening now, back in the Botanical College. It had been planned that we would leave Ellerhoop for our long journey back early on Tuesday morning, however with the ferry booked for 15:25 that afternoon it was determined that an overnight journey might be a little safer. So, with the final hours ticking by an excellent buffet and show was put on for us. Some of these photographs may be a little difficult to identify, so if anybody can tell me what they are please feel free to get in touch.

One of the main features of the evening was an excellent performance of short dances from different genre. This photograph shows some of the dancers at the beginning of their routine.

Another dancing photograph.

More dancing, this time with what looks like audience members taking part!

And yet more dancing!

Finally at the end of the evening came a few farewell speeches.

And then, at around 2300 it was onto the coach to bed down for a long night trundling along the motorways of Europe, retracing our steps to Calais. Bar a quick pit stop to collect a forgotten passport the journey was fairly uneventful.

After over eight hours on the road the drivers decided that a leg-stretch and a spot of shopping (for those who like that kind of thing) might be in order. For this they picked the city of De Panne, which I understand to be the last coastal settlement in Belgium before the French border, positioned close to the beaches of Dunkerque and within an hour's drive of Calais and that crucial ferry. This photograph, taken from the rear window of the coach shows the road into to De Panne with a tramway running beside.

De Panne's Church sits between the old and new town centres. Unfortunately the main nave is screened off, however we were able to look inside, and had a brief conversation with an elderly gentleman who identified where we were! The photograph shows the tall church spire and tree lined pavements.

Now, down to serious business. After wandering around wondering where we were my Dad and I finally decided that "when in Belgium, drink!" So we found a promising looking pavement café and enjoyed (really enjoyed!) a dark Trappist beer - absolutely gorgeous! Here's Dad with his beer.

And here I am with mine, and a square in De Panne behind me.

Unbeknown to us for our first hour in the town, De Panne sits right on the coast and has a wide stretch of sandy beach - which we eventually found.

Here Dad is, talking business on his phone, with a sand-ploughing tractor trundling past behind.

Inside the aforementioned church, looking through the glass screen into the Nave.

And then, a short time later, here we were at a surprisingly empty Port of Calais, with one of the ramps in the centre of this picture. After leaving De Panne we made quick progress to Calais and got ourselves on a ferry two hours earlier than the one on which we were booked. After just a short time waiting in the lanes we were able to board the Pride of Canterbury for our trip back to Blighty.

This picture was taken of another ship as we stood aboard the Pride of Canterbury waiting to leave Calais.

And here's a picture of Calais finally slipping away behind. After a short time aboard it soon became clear through word-of-mouth that shortly after leaving French fisherman had blockaded the port, and that we were the last out! It later transpired that the port remained blocked until aorund 2300 that night - I dread to think what that wait might have been like after our long journey across Europe - thankfully we didn't have to find out.

After a crossing of around ninety minutes our berth at Dover came into view. . After a fairly grey journey it was good to see Dover bathed in Sunshine - a rather nice welcome home.

Another photograph looking out across the car deck towards the Port, and White Cliffs, of Dover.

And one final photograph, the obligatary one of everyone leaving the coach, picking out their cases, and making their weary way home to their houses. We always get to the end of these trips and say it was the best one yet - but I really think this one ranks high on my list (it was, I think, my seventh twinning trip). We are always so well looked after by our hosts, however this year's programme was especially imaginative - particularly the trip to Busum - and the welcome seemed particularly warm. Next year it will be Hurst Green's turn to host the twenty-second year trip, and the Twinning Association will shortly be on the lookout for willing hosts looking for an interesting weekend, looking after the guests, meeting old and new friends, and seeing a bit of our own country in the meantime.