Helga
and Wolfgang took Jana and I on a day trip to Helgoland, an island in the North
Sea. It is a 3 hour boat ride to get there (and then also 3 hours back). On the
way over it was rainy, so we sat inside in the restaurant level of the ship and
only went on deck a few times for about 10 minutes (in full rain gear). On the way
back, the sun was shining and I spent an hour sitting on the top deck in the
back of the boat, watching Helgoland grow smaller and smaller, until I could
hardly see it anymore and I could no longer stand the weirdness of large-bellied
old men snuggling with their wives sitting next to me. Then I went back down to
the restaurant area with Helga, Wolfgang and Jana and we ate cookies that Helga
had packed (and carried around the entire day without eating all of
them-restraint I have not yet learned).
We spent the last half hour on the front deck together as we approached Bremerhaven. Behind the loading decks you can see Bremerhaven primed for delivering its offshore-wind turbines somewhere offshore. The brochure I read said that Germany is planning to install 2000 (or maybe 5000) offshore wind turbines in the next few years. I told this to my companions and they shrugged. “We already have 20,000 regular turbines.” No big deal.
We spent the last half hour on the front deck together as we approached Bremerhaven. Behind the loading decks you can see Bremerhaven primed for delivering its offshore-wind turbines somewhere offshore. The brochure I read said that Germany is planning to install 2000 (or maybe 5000) offshore wind turbines in the next few years. I told this to my companions and they shrugged. “We already have 20,000 regular turbines.” No big deal.
In between the
going and coming, we spent 3 hours on the island of Helgoland. We first ate
lunch, fish, fresh from the sea, the best food I’ve eaten in months. Then we
hiked over Helgoland. The North side of Helgoland has steep high, red cliffs
made of a soft rock. The land we were walking over is pastureland with high
grass and pretty wild flowers.
The landscape is even more beautiful because of
its rolling landscape. The landscape “rolls” more than would be natural
(naturally I would assume it would be flat, like most things in this region).
The island was heavily bombed in WWII (there was a U-Boat hangar carved into
the island) so much that all the houses on the island were destroyed.
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