Day 37 Hamburg

Friday, snowing and cold. I could have stayed home for this! Changed to mostly sunny and warmer, by mid day. Tied up at the dock at 1830 last night. The captain informed me that I had been cleared by Immigration without restriction. This was so much easier than Antwerp. The Immigration process in Antwerp for a freighter passenger was incredibly expensive (nearly 100 Euros of transit costs for 2 trips to Immigration).

The ship is a bee hive of activity today, with food replenishment underway, as well as cargo operations and other activites. I've been watching what I'm going to be eating for the next month or so, as it is loaded. I have language guides or phrase books for most of the places I will visit. I only have maps and tourist guides for Belgium and Japan. I also have some electronic information and images stored on my laptop. I thought there might be some travel guides in the ship's lounge. The books in the lounge get redistributed in rough weather. After lunch today, I straightened up the books, and found nothing. Fortunately, I am able to email home for more internet tourist information.

Guten Morgen. Wie geht es Ihnen? Tut mir leid. Ich verstehe klein Deutsch. Tomorrow, the first German passenger is scheduled to board. We are scheduled to depart Monday on a fairly long leg.