Travels in History

I Am Home

After many hours on flights, a bus, and sitting in three airports, I am very happy to be home.  What an amazing trip.

At Gatwick

Christy and the boys drove me to Lubeck airport -- despite the fact that the GPS did not know where it was.  My wait and my flight were uneventfull, I read Harry Potter most of the time.

I arrived into Stansted around 11, and it was almost midnight before I was through passport control.  That wait was made more difficult by the Americans in front of me.  They were two guys in their early 20s.  One of them seemed to think that the best way to spend the time in the queue was to tell his friend all the stupid, illegial, or difficult situations he had ever been in while traveling.  Since most of these involved stupid things he had done, or his friends had done (for example, going to Los Angeles and buying a fake ID for himself, and one for each of 12 friends, and then getting really scared that they would search his luggage on the way back and he would be arrested).  Of course he had a loud American voice, and no sense of how annoying he was being.  The only good thing was that the nice couple from India and I bonded a bit about how hard all this was to listen to, and how stupid he sounded.

I was in no hurry, because the first direct coach to Gatwick did not leave until 3:40 am.  I could have gone sooner through Victoria, but since I figured I would go to sleep on the ride, I did not want to get off and change.

So I finished Harry Potter. 

I did sleep on the ride, and arrived here at Gatwick at 6:30am.

The line at Delta was really long, they seem to have three big flights, Cincinnati (where I am going), Atlanta, and New York all leaving at about the same time. 

Now I am in the departures lounge, surrounded by shops and places to eat, and more and more people every minute.  I IMed with Alex for a bit, then got some coffee, and I have been trying to walk around as much as I can.  But as it gets more and more crouded it is harder to do that without getting frustrated.

My flight is listed as leaving a bit late, 10:45 rather than 10:10.  If that is true it is no problem, but of course sometimes when something is delayed the new time is just a guess.  I will just have to wait and see.

I am really looking forward to being back home and seeing everyone.  It has been a great trip, but it is time to be home.

Out for a walk

This afternoon we went for a walk, hoping that the big market would be open (it was not) and getting some exercise after a rainy morning inside.  We had good timing.  As I write this the rain and wind have come back stronger than before.

Saint Nickolai Memorial -- the church was destroyed by bombs in WWII.  The bells rang while we there, it is amazing that the bell tower survived.

Boys with hot chocolate.

The Mississippi River Boat.  The building in the back with the curved roof is the Lion King Theater.

Adventure Hamburg!

After reading Christy's Blog about all of the adventures and challenges of being here, I got to see one in action, and I hope their creative solution will work in time.

Christy took David to the airport about 40 minutes ago.  I was just thinking she would be back soon, when the doorbell buzed.  It was a man we did not recognize.  He was a taxi driver, sent from the airpot to get David's passport!  David packed earlier, so that he would be ready in pleanty of time, but he forgot his passport. (He was probably so excited to pack from the closet rather than the boxes that he was distracted from what he really needed.)

We called Christy on Charlie's cell phone to confirm the request and find out where the passport was, and I sent him off with it.  I hope he gets there in time.

And minutes later another tragedy happened, although I am not quite sure I understand it, but for Charlie it was definately a tragedy.  He was playing Zelda (they have a wii) and though some series of unfortunate events he was playing on James' saved game (which was fine with James) but he saved it over his old game, which was the farthest he had ever gotten.  He was hartbroken, and I guess with some cause, if these things are important, it was a true tragedy.  James shouted out not to save it that way, but he said it too late.  They have started another game, and agreed to all work on it to get the score back up that high, but I don't think Charlie will feel much better about it for quite a while.

Update: The taxi made it in time, David got on the flight, and he was not even the last one on. 

The Storys

Ships in the Harbor

Since this place is not just a construction zone but a working harbor, there is never a dull moment looking out at the view.

This is the basic view across the water from their patio.  The big blue and yellow cranes are moving most of the time, taking containers on and off ships.

This huge ship came in this morning, and then they turned it around with tugboats.

But this is the strangest one.  It is a bit hard to see, but it is a Mississippi River paddle boat!  It comes past several times a day, so it must be for pleasure rides.  But it is a long way from home.

Sunday in Hamburg

It is raining, so we are doing mostly inside things.  The friends from Denmark have left, and Christy has taken David to the airport while I stay here with the boys.  They are building legos

The grownups also built things this morning.  David and I put the bar, shelves, and doors on this thing from Ikea.  It was great to be able to put all the coats away when it was done.

Earlier the boys had journal writing and homework to do.  They have a German tutor for the sumer, and he sets them homework.  The journals are Christy's idea.

Greetings from Hamburg

I am here at the Story's place in Hamburg!

Here are the boys, with their friends who are visiting from Denmark, having some TV time.

We spent much of the day working on getting things unpacked.  David and Christian (the father of the children in the photo) went to Ikea to get all the rest of the bits needed -- more shelves, more bars, more hanging baskets, etc.  The children played, and we unpacked.

We got a lot done, although there is still plenty to do.  Moving is like that.

After dinner we went for a short walk about the neighborhood, most of which is a huge construction zone.

This is the front of the Storys' place -- notice the paper on the windows, since the blinds have not come yet.

We had a lovely day, it is late, so perhaps more tomorrow.

Harry Potter

I had hoped to blog as this happened, but of course the wifi did not reach where I was.  I am now at the airport, and I have found a t-mobile hot spot to enjoy while I wait for the time to go to my gate.

It is just after 8pm, and I am at Borders, where I have reserved my copies of Harry Potter 7.  The queue is already formed downstairs, and there are plenty of people dressed up, including many of the staff here.

These were the first people in costume I saw.  They were lined up to go to the WH Smith -- which was not going to be open until 12:00. I am really not sure  why they were there, rather than one of the places that was going to be open for the hours of waiting.

I am trying to figure out when I need to get in the queue.  I don’t really want to sit on the floor that long.

9pm:
I have had my coffee, and the queue is not much longer.  There are more people in fancy dress, and there is a guy making balloon animals.  Strangely, the movie is not playing there, but up in the DVD section.  I think I would have set up a special bunch of TVs with the first movie playing or something.  The atmosphere is fun, and pretty calm.  They did say they have a group of over 300 visiting students coming, either American or Spanish, they were not sure.  I would like to get in the queue before them!

This is the beginning of the queue.

The t-moble hot spot does not carry this far, so I will have to post all of this later.  I wish there were a place I could sit and still see the queue.  With three hours to go, I think maybe the most fanatic folks may be here already, but if there is a big rush, or all those school children arrive, I would like to see it.

10pm
I am in the queue.  I got here just in time to get ahead of lots of students, but about 4 people late for a great spot sitting on some stairs.  It would be much more comfortable on the stairs than on the floor, but that is the way it goes.  The wifi does not reach here.  The woman next to me is British, she is here with her 10-year old son, who is upstairs in the kids department, where they are doing most of the entertainment.  I don’t think I will be able to check out what is going on up there without losing my place, and I really don’t want to do that.

This really nice woman was trying to keep some order in the queque

The students behind me seem to be Italian and Spanish, and a few Brits too.  Some of the Oxbridge students came by to check out what was happening, but they did not get in the queue, since they have to be back by 10 or 10:30, I can’t remember which.  I should have grabbed a copy of book 6 to read while I wait.  I read it again last month, but I do remember thinking how important the end is to what happens next, and I don’t really remember.  On the other hand, I don’t like reading about Dumbledore’s death. 

These are the people in front of me.

These are the people behind me in the queque.

The most common costumes seem to be hats.  There is a family ahead of us who are dressed as a witch, a wizard (including his academic gown over a bright purple wizard robe) and dobby (the boy looks like he is about 10).  The parents have had their photo taken by lots of folks, and they were wondering about how many copies of those photos would end up on myspace or some other such site.  They were joking about how this might not be the most respectable way for a math lecturer and admissions tutor to be putting his photo out.  But on the other hand, he did not tell anyone his name.

Now a staff member has come around handing out sweets, a candy called Maoam Stripes.  It seems to be some kind of taffy, everyone is chewing hard. 

Yes, it is like laffy-taffy.  Mine seems to be sort of lemon.

Here I am in the queue.

Most of the people here seem to be adults and teen-age girls.  There are a few little kids, some look under 10, and I am not quite sure what the point of that is, although the fellow who just came by had a brilliant Harry Potter costume on, he looked just like the young Harry Potter – but should he be up this late getting the last book?  I guess he might really be a bit older than he looks, lots of 10 and 11 year olds are still pretty small.

It should be no surprise that many adults have academic robes to use for this in Cambridge.  What is a surprise is how many children have them.  Did they get them just for this?

The family in front of me.

Now the students behind me are playing loud music on their cell phon/mp3 player.  It is really annoying.

Now they are trying to make sure things are organized, and there is a witch going down the line checking with each of us in line and giving us a yellow slip if she finds us on the list.  I am not sure what this means, but it seems to be designed to make things move faster once we get up to the till, which is all to the good. 

Of course lots of people are not on this list, and I am not sure about what that means, since she is writing down their names, and just giving them a slip too, but I assume those of us who have a receipt can show that we paid the deposit, and those who don’t have that will have to pay for all of it now. 

I think maybe the Waterstones which had people pre-pay may have done it right.  I picked borders because I was hoping to be able to use the t-moble wifi and blog from the line. 

Now a large group of very small boys, they look they are like they can’t be older than 8.  They are dressed as a Quiddish team, they look very cute, but they will be so tired tomorrow.

Things got pretty crazy after that, and I did not take out my computer.

Here are the books!

12:20
Well, I have my books, but the line still goes all around the ground floor, and all around the first floor as well.  They are rings things up as fast as they can, but it will be a long night for the staff.

I am off to Westcott House to make sure everything is packed away right so I can head out to the bus.  I don’t know when I will be able to post this, but I will keep an eye out for a place to do so.

12:50  Back at Westcott House

It took a bit longer to walk back than I thought it would.  First, there was a bouncer at the door to Borders, keeping people out, and someone was challenging him, and trying to force his way in. 

Then I walked passed Waterstones.  The line went out the door, and all the way down the street past the gates to Sidney Sussex College.  It was amazing.

Right in front of Waterstones I got to see several police arrest a drunken man who was first arguing with them, and then tried to hit the detective.  That got him put in handcuffs right away.  Then he tried to argue that he had not been arguing, and that he had not assaulted anyone, but I think the police were going to win this one. 

Now I have more than an hour before I even want to think about leaving.  I have a bit more packing – really just sorting things between my carry on and my suitcase, and packing away the new things – and it is really not long enough to sleep, so I guess I will just have to start reading.  Maybe I should set an alarm to make sure I stop reading and get to the bus.

Me and my books -- well, one of them is for the Storys.

Scenes from my afternoon walk

The rain was really amazing, but not fun to be out in, so I went back to Westcott House and read and took a nap after I got some lunch.

Then, when the rain had stopped, I went out for a walk.

Westcott College garden in the rain.

All Saints with beautiful clouds.

The inside of All Saints

I just love the clouds

Playing Cricket