‘We’ll be there in a second. The beach begins just here.’

OK, that’s good news too. Finally, I’ll get something to eat. But what’s a beach? Once we get to the end of the wide landing, there are no woods any more, and we cross over a little path. Now I can also see where the smell of water is coming from: there’s a big river in front of us. A really, really big river, to judge by the size of the ship that is passing us right now. Gigantic! I’ve never seen anything like it! It looks like a huge, travelling house. I yap with excitement, and Caroline laughs.

‘You’re amazed, Hercules, aren’t you? Up to now we’ve only been to the Alster, and Hercules hasn’t seen anything bigger than sailing boats.’

‘Then it’s high time he sees a real ship. You can’t live in Hamburg and not get to know the Elbe!’ Jens tells her almost reproachfully. We keep going towards the shore – and wind up in an enormous sandpit. I come to a dead halt, because sand on my paws is a sure sign that any minute now, a human mother will come round the corner to give me a good tongue-lashing. But it’s strange that I haven’t seen any wooden border to this sandpit. I sit down uncertainly.

‘Now you’re going to tell me that your dog has never been to the beach. He almost seems a little afraid.’

‘No, he never has. I haven’t had him very long, and so far I’ve only taken him to our park or to the Alster. And we haven’t been on holiday together yet, so this is his very first time.’

Jens takes a step towards me and lifts me up. ‘Take a good look around, little guy. On a day like this, Hamburg is without a doubt the most beautiful city on earth, and this is the most beautiful part of it. You just have to get used to the sand on your paws, and you’ll soon realize how great it is here. From here you can run as far as you like in any direction. But when you see the first sheep on the embankment, you’d better turn round or else you’ll lose sight of us.’

He puts me down again. Run as far as I like – an excellent idea. But before that I need: right, you guessed it! Something to eat.

Caroline has brought a blanket in addition to the basket, and she spreads it out on the sand. The river is just far enough away that the waves can’t reach us, even if another big ship comes past. Now Caroline opens the basket and takes the things out. Hmm, yummy. Then I spy a bowl with offal for me. She puts it a little to the side, and I lunge at it. While I wolf down my meal, I see out of the corner of my eye that Caroline is serving up a storm of sausage and cheese, and she has even brought a cake. Jens takes off his backpack and puts it down.