Sunday Driving to Hamburg
We slept in till 6 a.m. this morning! Wow, it felt good. By 9 a.m., we had packed, eaten breakfast, cleaned our dishes, and made a picnic lunch for our ride. We always have two extra pieces of luggage on the return trip, due to the shopping. We each put a gym-type bag, folded up in our luggage that we use for the return trip. This gives me extra room for the tablecloths, beer steins, candies, books and other souvenirs that I have purchased on the trip. We loaded all our suitcases into the rental car.
Amazingly, every thing fit in the car quite neatly. We went next door and said good-bye to Achim, our temporary landlord for the past week. We thanked him for a very nice room and were on our way.
When we return to Hamburg, we try to find a more scenic route than the Autobahn. Last year we found a side road (#432) that goes thru the countryside that made for a relaxing ride. We decided to try this again.
Today being Sunday, no businesses were open in the small towns. I wanted to stop at one last bakery but doubted we would find one. Occasionally we saw fruit stands open. Suddenly John found the only one bakery that was open and stopped. I was a happy traveler!
Further down the road I noticed a sign for "Floh Markt" and saw a parking lot full of cars. I made John stop and park the car. We were in the middle of a local flea market. For the next hour, we wandered from table to table looking at the local items for sale. I found two beer steins (5 & 8 Euros), a plate with a Bavarian cottage on it (1 Euro), several baby outfits (1 Euro each), a funny child’s cap (50 cents), 3 German children’s books (1 Euro each) and a small, linen tablecloth with flowers on it (5 Euros). John found 3 small antique items – a pillbox, a small frame and a very small-decorated container. This was a nice break from the drive and it was so much fun to see all the tables of local items for sale.
The flea market on the drive to Hamburg
The Flea Market also had wagons serving sausages, drinks, candies and other items. But we resisted, and went down the road, till we found a wooded area, parked and ate our picnic lunch. The day was still sunny and beautiful..... and in the shade of the trees, is was cool.
Before long, we were in Hamburg, and at the Kock's Hotel, by the Airport. We stayed at this same hotel last year, so it was very easy to find. We checked into room 13, a room with a large window that opens out..... into the parking lot. We parked our car just outside the window and just pass all the luggage thru it into the room. That makes it very convenient unpacking and packing the car!
Kock's Hotel in Hamburg
We rested awhile, and then took a walk in the local area around our hotel. After walking for about 45 minutes, we found a local cafe a few blocks from our hotel. The weather was beautiful, so we sat and ate our dinner at the tables outside under an enormous tree. We ate a big dinner of spare ribs, potato wedges and salad. Walking sure can make you hungry.
Back to our hotel, we had to get ready to go to the airport. We had to return the rental car and check-in our luggage with Lufthansa for the morning flight. So at 6 p.m., we drove our rental car to the "Mietwagon" area (Rental car Return) at the Hamburg Airport and within 5 minutes, Hertz had completed the paperwork for the return of the car. They were very efficient.
We then rolled our luggage to the Lufthansa Check-in counter marked "Vorhand", which is the early check-in for early morning flights. This is one of the reasons that we like to fly with Lufthansa Airlines. We get to check-in our luggage and get our boarding passes for the next morning. We keep our carry-on luggage back at the room with the items we need for the night. In the morning, we just go straight to the listed gate and flight by the boarding time. It makes the morning flight very easy.
John walking to the Hamburg Airport
After all that, we walked back to our room. This is another reason why we picked the Kock's Hotel. There is a walkway on the side of the airport, leading over an overpass that goes straight to the hotel. It’s only about a ten-minute walk and since the weather was cool and pleasant, we enjoyed it. After watching the German TV for the last time, we turned in early.