An Empty Envelope

Red Baron likes to return to the place of his secondary schooling, i.e., Hamburg.

Due to a Covid infection I imported from the States, I couldn't attend my yearly class reunion in the port city at the beginning of September. What a pity.

So, one evening in the middle of September, I read in the online version of the Badische Zeitung (BZ) that they had organized a trip to Hamburg, and I decided to book the excursion the following day, recalling a good memory from a previous trip.

The printed copy of the BZ is distributed the following morning. When I called First, the travel office charged with the trip organization, in the afternoon, they told me they were already overbooked.

It's crazy how much the people of Freiburg love the northern seaport. I was placed third on the waiting list, and indeed, one month later, they called me to say a slot had become available.

In the meantime, First charged my credit card, and I was expecting the travel papers any time these days. And indeed, last night when I opened my letterbox, I found a large envelope, but became slightly suspicious when I noticed how thin it was.

When I hastily tore it open, there was a cover letter informing me that hereby they had sent me the travel folder, wishing me a nice trip.

The travel folder was missing, so I concluded that someone had forgotten to include the papers in the letter. This simply meant I had to contact First to explain and complain. I had a bad night's sleep.

The following morning, I carefully examined the envelope and found that someone had sliced it at the bottom, just about the width of the travel folder, to be removed.

Somebody had simply stolen the papers, and I asked myself, who was doing that? Did he/she expect some money, the train tickets perhaps?

At 10 AM, I was downtown at the travel agency announcing, "First, we have a problem."

I told the lady behind the counter my story. She said that this was the first time something like this had happened, but it was no problem because they kept the travel material on the computer, "We are simply going to re-print it."

After 10 minutes, she handed me the new folder. It doesn't even contain a train ticket, but just a paper slip stating that I belong to a group. The group ticket is held by the person guiding us on our six-hour train ride to Hamburg.

The Elbphilharmonie became the new Hamburg landmark. Nowadays, a trip to the port city always includes a concert at the Elphi.

This time the Orchestre des Champs-Élysées conducted by Philippe Herreweghe will play Beethoven's Missa solemnis in D major op.123. An obligatory excursion is also a round-trip by boat through the extended harbor. Not least, the group will be treated with kale, made according to a recipe known only in the north of Germany. Down here in Baden, you don't find any decent kale.

I am looking forward. So expect a few blogs.

**