Second full day in Hannover, Sunday, we slept even later, 11:30 a.m., phew, jet lag, wow. The day before, after many calls, we have heard from the airport that they will deliver our checked back to Hartmut and Martina's place. Cool. That will be so cool if it works out. While we went on all of our excursions on Saturday, the neighbor kindly agreed to watch for any luggage deliveries. Today, Barbara, Hartmut's sister, also known as Bobsy, is here, and she has kindly agreed to stick around and watch for our luggage. Today is Hartmut's birthday. I'm not sure if Bobsy is here for the birthday or for an evacuation. They explain, unexploded ordnance from WWII is still found now and then (like a few times a year), and neighborhoods are evacuated while a special crew comes in, digs it up, attempts to remove the explosive part, and if they can't, to contain it in some way and explode it. Bobsy's neighborhood has been evacuated for just this reason. The bomb is just 200m (I think) from her house.
Everyone seems pretty chill about the giant bomb like, oh you know, that happens sometimes. Apparently, they find the ordinance by comparing records from the allies who did the bombing with their own records about where explosions did (and did not happen). What an interesting job that must be.
We found out later they could not remove the explosive part safely, so they contain the whole thing in some kind of water containment system and blow it up there. Apparently the roofs of a couple homes were damaged, but otherwise, it was all just fine.
So anyway, while Bobsy hung out waiting for our big red suitcase, we went off on another excursion, this time to Marienburg Castle, built between 1858 and 1867 as a birthday present by King George V of Hanover to his wife, Marie of Saxe-Altenburg. It's a little unclear to me (and maybe others) who currently owns it now. It was for a long time owned by Ernst August, Prince of Hannover, who was married to Princess Carolyn of Monaco, but then maybe it passed to his son Ernst August, Hereditary Prince of Hannover, but then maybe he gave it to the state of Hannover because it needed so much money to repair it after decades of neglect by his father who is also known as the "pissing prince" (and a raging alcoholic) because he was caught urinating on the Turkish Pavilion at the Expo 2000, leading to a complaint from the Turkish embassy accusing him of insulting the Turkish people. Apparently the son has sold as much art and furniture as possible in hopes of raising funds to repair the place, but then all those funds had to be spent on his father's debts. Ah, royalty. There are more twists and turns to the story, but maybe you get the idea. Our most scandalous American celebrities can barely keep up with European royal descendants.
Anyway, the castle is lovely, with still many interesting furnishings, architecture, and great views. We had lots of fun roaming around it. Sorry I didn't get more good photos. I was just enjoying it. And I also neglected to get a photo of Bobsy who stayed home watching for our luggage.
Next up, a post birthday dinner surprise from Hartmut and his children ...
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