Day 16: 500 car parade
I didn't really know how the organizers could top the unveiling of the previous morning but they did. We started off after breakfast by going into Osnabrück for shopping and sight seeing with Dave, Pat, Tom, Terri, & Kevin. As I was the only one who had been there I wanted them to see the Rathaus and the square to get a sense of the history of the city. When we arrived back at the field there were over 500 cars and as many as 42 T34s. I took a picture of the T34s every 10 steps or so to get a sense of who all was there. But before I had a chance to finish that I was approached by a magazine reporter as I stepped out of the car. I showed him the pictures of the trip and then he (that's him with the Santa Cruz shirt) took some pictures of us with the car. Before we knew it cars were lining up double wide on the street which didn't seem to make a dent in the still full field. It was obvious that there was no sense in sitting in the car. So we went overr to grab a quick lunch and on the way over saw a lot of people milling around. After getting back to the car it was still a while to the start and I had a chance to go over to the swap area and pick up that rare early T34 1500 script. We let all the T14s go out first to try to keep many of the T34s grouped together. As we turned the corner onto the main street our jaws dropped at the sight of hundreds of people rows deep and for as far as we could see lining the route. At every village and farm house along the way people were out cheering us on. A number of old car buffs brought out their brands in support. Therre were many old people who probably worked at the Karmann factory on our very cars. With over 500 cars and a police escort to get us through all the various intersections the pace was very, very slow and many times we were stopped from one to five minutes. We started with 1/4 tank of gas but almost immediately the car began running very ragged but still idled well. As a result, the needle began going down at an alarming rate. I began to worry that we wouldn't make the 40km route. We passed one gas station but the crowd made it hard to get in. I soon regretted not doing so as we came to a halt for one of ouor many stops mere yards past the station. Before long we were back in the country and the map didn't look encouraging for further stations. The needle was fast disappearing below the reserve mark. I idled the car whenever possible even down hills using the brakes instead. As we approached the last kilometer the pace got even slower as the first cars made their way into the parking lot at Karmann. I could see an overpass ahead where the road went over the railroad tracks and prayed that if we could only make it to the top we could coast to the finish. With the end finally in sight we again saw large numbers of people cheering as we went into the lot. There were rows and rows and more rows of cars at least 15 wide. Since we were near the end we had only just got out of our cars and started to walk to the front when we were all directed to move off to the side so a photo of the cars alone could be taken. There was a fire truck with the tallest ladder I've ever seen perched in front of the scene. After that picture we were directed to all go stand by our cars for more pictures and then we all waved at the camera for another. As this had all taken much longer than anticipated many were anxious to get back to GM for a supposed photo shoot with the newspaper. But first we had to address the gas issue. While off to the side I had seen the ADAC people and found that they had gas available. So for 7 Euros I got 5 litres to get me to the nearest station. When we found the gas station three other T34s happened to also arrive and we all took an impromptu picture at the pumps. By the time we arrived back at the field it was 7pm (after having left by 2:30). I didn't see any TV cameras so we soon drifted over to the beer garden for food, drink, music, and conversation. There were a dozen or so of us close friends sharing many happy memories while looking forward to coming events such as the 50th birthday of the Ghia convertible coming up in 2 years.
Day 17: Saying farewell
The late night meant we were a bit late getting up. By the time we ate and got checked out it was nearly 10:30. We had a bit of a worry when I discovered that I had misremembered the price of the room which was now 108 instead of 90. Mary and I got down to our last few coins before we finally came up with the new total. This all put us in a rush to get down to the tent. We found a seat in time and presently things started. There was a thunderous standing ovation for Tobias and the other organizers to start things off. The first award was for the longest distance which went to Casey who, after shipping her '63 cab from Perth, had gone through a luggage fire and a burned up clutch and finally was towed from Calais to the meet. Some local mechanics had been enlisted to replace her clutch but as we later found out they seemed to be ignorant of air cooled cars. She was running by late Saturday but in need of tuning which Richard promised to do Monday morning. The next award was for the longest distance come on the continent which went to a guy who trailered his car from Portugal. Then there was the furthest from within Germany which drew some discussion before finally going to a man from Bavaria. They finished with the oldest 143, 141, & 343. Then the newest of each and a special award was given for the owner of a TC. After the awards we invited Casey to join us for a special photo shoot of the cars from overseas. All of the cars were first to file through an area next to the casino for an individual shoot and we then went up the hill and found a charming restaurant suitable for our finale. In addition to Casey's red cab was Brent's red coupe, our T34, Richard's aero silver '58, Inaki's black coupe, and Marcus Pracht's black cab. It was a stunning shot and we then took the other cars out for a shot with just the three shipped cars. We finished up with a wonderful lunch before saying our long goodbyes. One of the funny moments from lunch was that some had run out of business cards on the trip and so pieces of coasters were deemed appropriate. And Inaki was awarded the unofficial long distance European award for his long drive up from Madrid. Some of the group had long drives ahead and while we were only going as far as Göttingen I didn't want to dally. After leaving I wanted another chance at yesterday's route without other cars around. It was a blast. We took the autobahn for an hour before tiring of the sameness and got off in favor of secondary roads through Hameln and Hessich-Oldendorf. After checking into the hotel, we walked down to the train station for our tickets and then to another charming sidewalk cafe for dinner.
Day 18: Off to Amsterdam
We arrived at Lars' shortly before 9 and started sorting stuff into car, ship, check-in, and carry-on piles. The ship pile ended up being 21kg, in large part due to the tools going back. Finally it was time to say good bye to Trip and leave her with Lars for 2 years until we come back to finish the trip. We want to get to Spain and Portugal when we come back and also attend Bad Camberg and Hessich Oldendorf. After Lars dropped us off we had a leisurely lunch at the train station but then the train connecting us to Hanover was late getting in and both the conductor and the loud speaker mis-led us to the wrong platform and we missed our train to Amsterdam. We ended up catching a later train to Köln where we took an express in to Amsterdam Centraal Station where we were staying at the Ibis next door. Because of our earlier troubles we didn't get there until almost 9pm so we turned right around in search of a coffee shop. After relaxing for awhile and getting something to eat and drink we stumbled back to our room. My hip was on fire with pain Amsterdam is a magical place and I was able to put the pain out of my mind for awhile. We had lucked out in getting one of the best views in the city from the 6th floor facing the city (odd numbered rooms). It was a memorable night and a perfect ending to the trip of a lifetime.
