Trip is over or is it?

On the way home on Sunday and ran into thunderstorms over Chicago O'Hare. Luftansa 747 circled couple times and had to land and refuel in Detroit....4 hours later our flight to the 'Peg was gone....in line till 8 pm and hope to be out by 3pm today....of well...the rest of the many flights were good.....hate Chicago airport!


Maureen in Katrin's cute car..




One last walk in the park...Just down the street from Droege's"..a great view of the harbor in the distance...even saw a deer.




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Location:Chicago

Hamburg Emigration

Today was an unexpected surprise...we went to visit the Hamburg emigration museum.....Ballinstadt showing the period between 1850 to 1934....I believe it was in use following as well.
Found the ships record for Wanda Rattay (our Gramma Wurch)..the record shows them on the Hamburg Amerika Linie, the ship being the 'Assyria'. It left Erste Mai, 1902. Bound for Halifax, and showing the family Rattay, Germans out of Warschau, Poland. Father and mother (Peter and Rosalie) and six children....Wanda being 2 yrs old. They were not 1st or 2nd class,.... But were in the Zwischen deck. The ship was registered Deutschland.
Here is a pic of the ship record...as well as a print..








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We spent a few hours here......
Once done, back on the train to downtown and a walk in the park and a treat of Currywurst....







Parks in bloom








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Location:Hamburg Germany

Erste Mai - May Day

Today was a holiday in Hamburg celebrating Erste Mai....or may day. The fruit trees and orchards are in bloom and we toured the area near Droege's. In the afternoon Henrich and Jana, and Theresa came over for a barbecue. The weather has been like summer.








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Location:Hamburg

Hamburg in the spring

We are really enjoying Hamburg....the weather is beautiful and no umbrellas here. Spent Monday taking a cruise in the canal system in downtown Hamburg with Frank and Katrin.








The trees are in full bloom here with lots of colors with cherry and apple....




Today is a holiday in Germany as it is May 1... May day. Henrich and Jana will be coming over for Abendessen (supper).. As well as his sister Teresa and her boyfriend Christopher.

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Location:Germany

In the homeland....Sveland

We had a wonderful stay in Sweden with our relatives....my second cousin Ingvar Sturk, whose grandfather Axel was a brother to our grandmother Hulda.
Waterfront in Stockholm




Ingvar, Ingrid and Maureen at the Vasa ship museum.




Sweden is a lovely country and reminded us a lot of the area around the Whiteshell as far as the topography. Lots of rock and water...Stockholm being a mass of islands with bridges and waterfront. The Baltic sea is a short drive away and we spent one day at the coast....many harbors and fishing boats. We bought some smoked herring and had coffee and cake in one shop.








For Brian and Sandy we have the Swedish prayer on video with Ingvar at supper time..when we then had traditional Swedish smoked herring
(stremming) and other types of herring in brine as an appetizer...during this, they rang a little bell, sang a Swedish song and had a little 'skol' (pronounced shoal) or as we would say 'cheers'. A great way to have our last dinner together.
Earlier that afternoon we met Anna and her daughter Elana....her older daughter, Mika is 17, and was getting ready for graduation and could not join us...... She has a birthday in Novemeber and looks just like Katie....you will see the pictures! We are not kidding.
We left Sweden on Sunday morning and have arrived in Germany with our friends Frank and Katrin.
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Location:Sweden

The Queen planted an early garden!

well....one of those days when things seem to click. We had no plan today but thot that we should see Buckingham Palace before we left. With no thought to time, we arrived from the Victoria tube station around 11:40....and wondered why there were so many tour buses and people everywhere....well, guess what, we had arrived just in time for the changing of the guard at noon.This is more than two guys switching places at their posts...which is what I expected. This was a full blown parade, march and band session. Very impressive and we caught it all!




As well, guess the queen has been out in her garden a few weeks before us in Canada....




Later in the day it was the British museum and then meeting an old friend for coffee....Gary Norris....the ultimate Londoner....



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Location:London

Harrod's shopping trip

Well today was the first real rainy day so was a good day to relax and do laundry for the trip to Sweden on Wed. We took the tube in the afternoon to map out the next Wurch girls shopping excursion.....we know how to get there, we know where it is... and now we now know you need to dress up to get any attention from the many sales associates. At one point we noted that it felt like we were in an art museum. Note that they are flying the Canadian flag out front! What we could afford........a box of tea in a Harrods tin! Most of the real shoppers were also arriving by cab... we walked from the tube station! In hindsight Maureen thinks that Glasgow would be a better shopping trip.










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Location:London