Sprengel Museum...

Next we visited a art museum that apparently houses one of the most significant collections of 20th and 21st century modern art in Germany. Some of the cool things we saw included a sculpture that looked like a tornado...

...a wall of old loudspeakers...

...a glittery gold skull in its own room...

...a melted staircase...

...and a crunched up vehicle.

Afterwards we walked to the hostel where everyone was staying for the weekend, and then headed to the party venue which was nearby. 

That evening was a pub crawl that included a boat ride across the Maschsee, an artificial lake built in 1936.

New Town Hall...

After breakfast at the hotel, we dropped off our bags in Melissa and Pieter’s car, so we were free to wander around Hannover for the day. When Jimmy noticed that a shoe store was sponsoring free pedicab rides, he talked to a driver to see if we could hitch a ride across town and the fellow told us to get in.

We were originally heading to a museum until we spotted this grandiose building and asked him to drop us off after he informed us that it was open for visitors.

What looked like a castle was actually Hannover’s New Town Hall, which opened in 1913. 

We didn’t pay to go up to the observation deck, but apparently the elevator is quite unique because it travels diagonally to get to the top of the dome.

We did, however, enjoy going up the cool spiral staircases...

...and looking back down to the bottom. 

Especially fascinating were the four 3D models depicting how the city has changed over time.

First, as a walled medieval city in 1689...

...then as a sprawling city just as World War II was starting in 1939.

It was very eye-opening to see how devastated the city was by the end of the war in 1945...

...including seeing the damage of the building we were in.  

The final model showed Hannover today, a modern 21st century city.

Hashing in Hannover...

The Hash started in front of the Marktkirche (Market Church), built in 1366. The roof was destroyed during World War II and repaired in 1952.

This was a particularly macabre sculpture on the church. 

Here’s some of the other buildings we saw in the city center during the Red Dress Hash. 

Red Dress Hashing...

After our 4.5-hour train journey east to Hannover, we grabbed some lunch, dropped off our bags and changed into our red dresses early to meet up with 2-year-old Norah...

 ...Pieter...

...and Melissa, who moved back to the US in August 2018. Seeing them was actually our prime motivation in registering for German Nash Hash for the first time in many years. 

Here’s all the crazies that arrived one day early to be able to invade the city in red dresses for a pub crawl around the historic city center.

Roderik was the only other Amsterdam hasher that arrived early. Can you figure out why I like his shirt?

Are you surprised to see that Jimmy got special greetings?

Don’t know this fellow’s name, but loved his outfit even though it wasn’t a dress.

Kati’s Big Adventure...

The last weekend in August, Jimmy and I took a train to Hannover, Germany for German Nash Hash. Kay was sweet enough to look after Kati, who wasn’t especially keen on riding in the bokfiets (box bike) to her house.

So instead Kay cycled slowly and Kati ran behind her.

That was quite a sight to see.

The highlight of the weekend for Kati was when she got to go sailing for the first time. Amazingly, she didn’t look at all scared.

She also went on their motorboat with the whole family. While Kay’s kids were happy to have Kati for the long weekend, their elderly cat was quite miserable so afraid she can’t stay with them again until he runs out of his nine lives. 

Off to Croatia...

While Veronica was enjoying herself in Aberdeen, Ashlynn was having a blast with Sophie in Croatia. They started in Split for a few days of relaxation...

 ...boating...

...swimming...

...and seeing beautiful nature. 

Then they took a bus north to Pula for Dimensions Festival. The opening event took place in the Pula amphitheater, shown here, that we had also visited in 2013...

...while the rest of the festival took place at the ruins of Fort Punto Christo, the biggest Austro-Hungarian fortification dating back to 1881.

Ashlynn really loved this festival as it combined dancing to great music, camping by the beach and swimming.

Here she is proudly showing off her mug from her mother hash: Sir Walter Raleigh H3. 

Ashlynn’s Summer of Musical Festivals...

Ashlynn had a busy summer filled with lots of music. In July she took a bus to Berlin to visit Soso, a model she met in Sydney. After a few days of exploring Berlin, they went to Melt, a festival that Ashlynn attended the previous year but was Soso’s first music festival. 

Ashlynn enjoyed getting to see her BSN guy friends at the festival, but mostly hanged with her squad that dressed identically.

She also enjoyed two festivals in Amsterdam: ADE (Amsterdam Dance Event) and Dekmantel in the woods of Amsterdamse Bos.