Nov 8
Final trip post! For my last day in Hamburg I supplemented foot explorations with a hop-on hop-off bus to partial success, before beginning my 40 hour journey to get home. I was lucky that a disappointing discovery on the way didn’t have a greater impact in what had been a fairly epic adventure. Read more
Hamburg is 110km away from the open sea but it is a port city, the second busiest in Europe no less. Its waterways are its lifeblood and on my first day there – the penultimate day of my trip – I went on a maritime tour to get a feel for the modern version of the place my great-great grandfather sailed from in 1876. Read more
Poland Day 26. In 1876, members of the Fabich family embarked on the long and hellish journey from their home to start a new life in New Zealand. While it’s not possible to emulate the sea voyage (thankfully), I could at least mimic the train journey beforehand that got them to the port city of Hamburg. Read more
Poland Day 25. Given the south-to-north trajectory of my trip, and given my Polish ancestors came from the north, it worked out that my last full day in Poland would be spent visiting some of the villages they’d lived in. Read more
Poland Day 24. I didn’t have an advance plan for what I’d do but after a bit of research the night before, it was obvious. To round out one of the themes underpinning my trip, I’d use my last day in Gdańsk to see the place where WW2 began. Read more
Poland Day 23. It was time to head back to Gdańsk and see what I could see in whatever was left of the day. Read more
Poland Day 22. I explored the less visited parts of Wolf’s Lair and, being as I was in the lakes district, went looking for a lake. Read more
Poland Day 21. I ventured east of Gdańsk to the site of Hitler’s main HQ during WW2. Read more
Poland Day 20. The Teutonic Order played a major part in Poland’s history and not far from Gdańsk lies what was the most critical part of their network – also the world’s largest brick castle. Read more
Poland Day 19. I have a smidge of Polish blood and worked into my itinerary a day at an archives office to see if I’d be able to add to the information Mum has already collected. Read more
tall tales 