Germany was an added bonus while my family and I were vacationing in London. We stayed there for two days and a night, just enough to get a taste of the town. I learned a few things while there: Hamburg is the 2nd largest city in Germany and the largest port in Europe, the word “burg” in German means castle or fortification and the town is littered with mansions and manor estates from 17th – 19th century upper class citizens known as German burghers (I don’t have many pictured here – we were on a tour bus most of the day), it’s an extremely affluent place and colorful against a grey winter background, and, most importantly, if you’re from Hamburg, you are indeed a Hamburger.
The German language is really hard to pronounce but it makes for a fun language to learn on the go. A friend of ours lent my brother and I an English – German dictionary which helped us to pick up simple words as we took a tour bus through the city. We learned please (bitte), thank you (danke) and globetrotter (weltenbummler), of course. We’re a long way from fluency but a few steps away from complete oblivion. The tour bus first took us through wealthy neighborhoods with mansions and castles and the streets surrounding the Binnenalster (inner alster lake).
We continued through town with a stop at the Hamburg Town Hall. I noticed these trees with knobbed branches. I still don’t know what they are called but I loved photographing them. On the way, we witnessed some interesting Hamburgers and random structures. We slid through the Warehouse District which I must say is nowhere near as cool as it is today. The photographs are of the up and coming area and even this early on you can see promise in its architecture and color. It has real character.
As the sun set on our short stay, my brother and I split with the group to visit Kunsthalle Hamburg (art hall/museum) for a much-needed look at German art. I do not recall the exhibit that was showing but the museum was under construction and we viewed modern and contemporary pieces. When we stepped back outside, the city was lit and the Binnenalster rekindled a liveliness of its own. After a long day of walking and touring, we settled for a nice döner kebab within the train station. I’m sorry I couldn’t include a picture of this delicious fare but I’m even less sorry that my dinner the night before was both KFC and McDonald’s. When in Hamburg, one must eat hamburgers. Am I right? Okay, so this is likely the most touristy thing I do in every city abroad and I’m not ashamed of it! When in Hamburg…
March 2015
Where should I go next? Perhaps Stockholm.
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