Family ties

The main reason for travelling up to the north of Germany and then on to Copenhagen was in order to meet some distant cousins of mine.

So as to not bore anyone with my family tree I'll just leave the relationship at that, however if anyone wants to know the details feel free to let me know.

So our first night in Hamburg was spent having dinner with all of the cousins, Ester (my grandfather's cousin), Beatrice, Elizabeth and Carlotta (Beatrice's grand-daughter). They are really more my Dad's cousins than mine, but that aside it is always interesting to meet people who are related to you but who you have no other connection with.

Dinner was nice, even though the whole raw fish were give a miss. Family tales were told and conntact with the Hamburg arm of the family was firmly re-established.

The next day was spent with Elisabeth (not my aunt, one of the cousins) who showed us to a garden that my great-great-great-great-great grandfather had designed (it also turns out that he developed the Queen of Denmark rose...). After wandering around that for awhile we headed off to my great grandfather and grandmother's graves.

They were not very easy to find, and when we did find them they were a little over grown. But it was nice to get in touch with that part of my family history, especially as I have heard so many stories through out my life about these people.

The rest of the afternoon was spent in Hamburg proper looking at a few shops, and going to a gallery. Unfortunately I didn't have much time to explore, but I think I will return next time I'm in the area.

Then it was time to head further north and into Denmark.