Life's a Stitch

After so much touring we took it easy for the remaining time in Norway, planning the next stages of the trip, running a few errands in the nearby mall, walking around the local lake, which of course included geocaching.

We said goodbye to our fantastic hosts and guides, Svein and Ragnhild, hoping to meet up again to travel together. 

We flew to Hamburg and took three trains to visit our former student, Helga and her family, in Detmold. Helga homestayed with us 20 years ago in North Vancouver, and she and her husband are both teachers. They now have little Lukas (enjoying his first doughnut). Consider his options, smile for the camera or basque in the delight of his first donut deliciousness?

Helga arranged for us to be guest presenters for a grade 9 class regarding life in Canada. Not something you normally do on vacation, but it was fun.

We visited Detmold’s Hermannsdenkmal, a monument to a chieftain of the Cherusci tribe, who defeated three Roman legions in the nearby forest in 9 AD.

Another historic site, close to Delmold is the Externsteine, a sandstone formation used over the centuries as sacred sites. We had a nice walk, climbed lots of stairs and even found some geocaches. 



Now it was our turn to homestay, at the lovely house of Helga’s parents. The garden and artwork particularly left an impression on us as well as our host’s hospitality. And one item really fascinated us. The 

“eierschalensollbruchstellenverursacher,” which translates to “eggshell predetermined breaking point cause.” A true example of German engineering. 

Our last night together we had a barbecue on the patio. 

The next day we moved on the Bremen.