Poor Hammonia was a bit chilled in the wind at the Services of the Headless Man. She is the beautiful goddess who watches over Hamburg. In this case, she was watching over people stopping to use the loo in the restaurant as well.
There was also an entire army of police officers inspecting a timber laden truck. I have no idea what they were looking for, but, eventually, having had the driver move his load around, they were satisfied enough to drive off without arresting anyone.
We had stopped at the Hamburg – Stillhorn services for a much needed coffee injection and loo stop.
This followed an almost run-in with a huge lorry on the ghastly A1. The barely human driver, frightened by a tiny mini, decided a blast on his horn, and a furious flash of his lights was a clear indication of his driving prowess.
The experience almost soured the delightful breakfast we had, following an excellent night’s sleep at the Thöles Hotel.
We really love the hotel, particular now that the floods have receded. Mind you the ground still feels pretty spongy.
Back in January, we were diverted around the worst areas, so we missed out on seeing this amazing, single lane bridge.
This is the bridge across the Weser River at the Intschede Weir. It opened in 2023 and has lights to control the traffic. A thing of beauty.
Now, from the above photo, it would be fair to assume that the weather continued awful, but that would be wrong. There were a few spots of rain spitting on the windscreen now and then, but by the time we reached the Hamburg bypass, the sun beat down on us.
Not that it was warm. In fact, as you’d expect, the further north we travelled, the colder it became. By the time we reached Hermann’s Gut Hotel, it was a chilly but dry 8°.
While we’ve stayed at Hermann’s a few times, today marked the first time we’d seen it in the light and without rain. It felt so good.
We checked in without fuss (Ina will be pleased to know that, this time the receptionist spoke English), and Mirinda took the girls for a walk.
There was a bit of a disagreement over when we could eat in the restaurant, but, eventually, we were seated.
Then, unexpectedly, the woman in the restaurant, whose son lives in Oslo, asked Mirinda if she was Swedish. It caused a lot of hilarity. This was an excellent beginning to a very German dinner.
The dogs were particularly popular.
We quickly forgot the truck before the services of the headless man.
Hopefully, the truck driver will get over his unnecessary anger issues before his ulcer gets any worse.
