Waggum Ladies Choir gathering around the coach at 6:30am on Thursday 18th May, in readiness for our 8 hour, 382 mile coach journey from Braunschweig to Calais for our ferry crossing to Dover. The driver took four 20 minute breaks along the way.
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During my stay here in Braunschweig in the summer of 2016, Monika, the choir's secretary, suggested to the choir that it would be a good idea to take a coach trip to Bath, Braunschweig's twinned city, to sing in the Abbey and to see the famous sights. To "get the ball rolling" Monika and I visited the Mayor's office in Braunschweig to discuss the possibility of organising such a trip, and what sort of financial help the city could offer.
Soon after my return to the UK in August, Monika emailed me to say, "Yes, the choir will definitely visit Bath, and the City of Braunschweig has offered us financial help." This was the beginning of the six months it took us to organise the trip. Monika contacted the coach company, "Ulli Reisen" who quoted her a price for a six day coach tour, and also helped organise our overnight hotel stay in Dover. The coach places were soon filled with 48 singers, family and friends, and then the "nitty gritty" of planning each day began.
The journey had to fit around the driver's needs, so the coach company planned the journey to Calais via Hannover, Bielefeld, Dortmund, Essen, Eindhoven, Antwerp, Ghent, Bruges, Dunkirk and eventually Calais. We drove through Germany, Holland, Belgium and France, before crossing the channel to Dover. We got stuck in a traffic jam in Antwerp, so missed our booked crossing, but took the ferry an hour later, and eventually arrived at the Ramada Hotel at around 7.15pm, in time for dinner at 7.30pm. By this time most of us had taken to drinking beer and attempting to stay awake long enough to eat a meal. It was a long day!
Eating Wurst in a service station in Antwerp.
The driver had to stop every two hours, so, as with all long coach journeys, most of us spent the day nibbling the wrong stuff at the wrong time of day! During the journey we occasionally broke into song, singing English and German folks songs led from the front of the coach by our conductor and microphone.
The White Cliffs of Dover emerging from the heavy rain and fog in Dover. The weather was atrocious, the rain battered down on the ferry windows, and completely obliterated the view. We did venture out on deck in the downpour and wind, to get a glimpse of the famous cliffs.
Our Dover hotel was comfortable, and after an excellent evening meal with beer drinking and much laughter, we took to our beds in readiness for Friday morning's drive to Swindon via Windsor.
Day 2 to follow, just one day at a time, so watch this space.
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