Exploring Hamburg, Deutschland with all five senses (Part 1)

A close friend recently posted a blog about her travels and mentioned the scents and tastes of the country in such detail it was as if I could sense it right along with her.  When visiting Germany, you couldn't help but experience it with all five senses.  Here I hope to share with my readers some of the same experience.

I do want to start this entry with a very big thank-you to my sister and brother-in-law, Christine and Christof, for inviting my son, Andrew (17), and I to spend a week at their apartment in Hamburg, Germany.  Neither of us has traveled to Europe and were very excited at the prospect of this opportunity.  I was excited to spend time with family as well as explore a new culture and historic land.

Two days before the trip I was able to spend time with my good friend Vi and we prayed over the trip, then we enjoyed a spectacular Christmas Eve Eve service at church.  On Christmas Eve, Mike and I had a small hike together, ran last minute errands and went to bed early.  Christmas morning we woke up earlier than normal to head to the airport-we had already celebrated Christmas with family on the 21st! Our first plane was leaking fuel so that set us behind a bit but we did arrive safely in Newark. Andrew and I sat separately but I did enjoy meeting a woman on her way to meet her granddaughter for the first time and a student from Northeastern on his way home to Beijing-he had a 14 hour flight ahead of him! We had a 7 hour layover but it was nice not to rush around. We found a restaurant named Gallagher's and I explored all the terminals to kill time.  We boarded a smallish plane and Andrew and I were squished in the very last row, tough spot for a 6 and half hour flight but at least we had a window :)

Andrew showing his enthusiasm for the upcoming flight to Hamburg :) We enjoyed a nice American meal at a diner in the airport during our long layover.


For this flight I sat next to a young woman who was returning to her home in Poland, she lives in New York part-time, but enjoys traveling home-that's a lot of flying! I tried to sleep but was too excited knowing I would be stepping on German soil soon!



(12/26/2013) About 7 hours later we would arrive in Hamburg Airport, a small, 2 terminal airport and meet Christine and the girls for a short train ride to their apartment.  On the left is a photo of Andrew just above the platform for the S-Bahn train we would take.  This would be the first of many trips on Hamburg's expansive public transportation system! We arrived at about 8 am on Thursday, December 26th. Hamburg was still shut down for the holidays and due to a late sunrise-9:30 am-the city was still asleep.  I was greeted by one interesting resident on the elevator at the train station as she hurried to get into the elevator and tried in vain to speak to us in German she started pushing us and then punched me in the arm. I sensed she was intellectually challenged and a bit frustrated that we didn't speak German and one of the trains at the station was not running due to construction.  It was just comical that my first interaction with a local was so physical!


The train was quite empty and the streets even emptier, eerily quiet for a big city of over 1.8 million inhabitants. In the photo at the right are my nieces and Andrew waiting for the U-Bahn to take us out to explore the city some more.  As you can tell it was a bit chilly, average temperature in the 40's but with the high humidity if felt a little colder.


To adjust to the time change it was best we stay awake the first day though we hadn't slept much on the plane.  Christine did a great job keeping us busy as we dropped our things off at the apartment, had a quick bite to eat and then headed back out to see the city! Our first stop was for Rathaus, the city's town hall and an impressive piece of architecture.  We also ventured in as it was open, beautifully decorated for Christmas, as we would find most of Hamburg was, and purchased our first souvenir.

The girls and I with Andrew in front of the Rathaus.  Below the lake Alster in

front of the town hall.

 Next we would explore a Christmas Market (Weihnachtsmarkt) that was closing down and one nearby still open. American music was playing through the loudspeakers at the market but all the conversations going on around were in German.  Peddlers were encouraging patrons to make a purchase and friends and families were all enjoying conversations with one another.  Though tired, there was a lot to see.  I tried to take in all the goods at the market stalls. There were seasonal items like hand carved Christmas ornaments, scarves, hats, gloves, and also gift items like jewelry, wooden toys, candles, and glassware.  Next came the abundance of food and drink. Many of the folks were standing at booths enjoying German beer, warm drinks, and other beverages.  Sweet shops had colorful displays of chocolates, pastries and frosted cookies.  There was also a stand selling crepes made fresh to order and a circular pan of assorted meats being roasted over an open fire.  The mixture of smells from all the different foods was heavenly.  My sister bought some sweetened almonds that we all enjoyed and a treat for the girls.  At the end of the market was a Ferris wheel and off in the canal was a lit Christmas tree floating on a platform.  

The girls were showing signs of boredom and exhaustion so Christine offered to take the girls home while Andrew and I continued to explore using the day passes for public transportation.  Andrew was very excited to explore more and I would do my best to keep busy to stay awake.  

                                                                                      As Andrew and I explored we found an open mall. It was quite large, 6 stories high, and beautifully decorated for Christmas. The stores were closed in the mall but restaurants, including a McDonald's and Starbucks, were open. The mall was called Europa Passage and had a large variety of stores.  After seeing all the floors of the mall we went down to the bottom level and found our way to the U-Bahn station to take a train back to Christine's neighborhood.

Christine made us a great warm meal of potato soup and salad.  Andrew and I retired to bed shortly after dinner though it was only 4 p.m.  The sun had set and it was dark making it even tougher to stay awake. The city was still quiet and we slept very well! 

 Friday morning (12/27/13), Christine went out early to get us week passes for the buses and trains.  After breakfast, Andrew and I went out on our own to explore the city some more.  I was a little nervous not knowing the language well enough but Christine taught us a few important phrases such as "entschuldigen" which means I'm sorry or excuse me, "still wasser" for requesting water that doesn't contain carbonation, and also how to pay your bill in the restaurants.  

We decided to check out the Harbor at Landungsbrucken and the shops along the water.  Lots of big ships in the water, harbor boat trips, fish stores, restaurants, bars, and the Hard Rock Cafe.  We found the Elb tunnel and took an adventure under the harbor.  It was kind of scary looking down the stairs that went down to the tunnel entrance.  I had saw a sign, "Personaufzug" and thought it meant 'personnel only' but later realized it was for elevator and we took that down.  Then we walked the 1/3 mile tunnel to the other side of the canal.  The tunnel even had three elevators for cars to use.  On the other end we did use the stairs and discovered a small park that overlooked the harbor and many warehouses.  We returned the way we came, back through the tunnel, and the U-Bahn.  

Andrew and I then ventured to Reeperbahn, a cultural experience of casinos, game rooms, sex stores, and interesting characters.  There was quite a number of homeless on the streets of all ages.  We had lunch in an international diner that looked nothing like a diner. Andrew enjoyed a greek dish of fish and rice, I tried Wiener Schnitzel with pommes (Fries).  The waiter spoke English when he realized we were struggling to order which was a relief.  We also found a souvenir store that was more affordable on Reeperbahn and enjoyed the sites of the Dancing towers-very crooked skyscrapers.  

Our next goal was to find St. Michaelis, one of the most prominent Lutheran churches of Hamburg.  (So, I mistakenly assumed it was Catholic but then Andrew pointed out that a Catholic church would probably not have a statue of Martin Luther right out in front of it!)  It was very tall, visible from most parts of the city, and open to visit.  We went in to see the impressive sanctuary which was still decorated for Christmas.  It was filled with many visitors and offered a trip up to the tower.  The tower costed 5 Euros each and consisted of 452 steps. We chose to skip the tower trip and head back to the apartment instead.  We enjoyed another great meal that Christine prepared and had dinner with her and her daughters.  Andrew and I stayed up a little longer this night as we were getting more acquainted with the time zone (5 hours ahead of EST). 

After breakfast on Saturday morning (12.28.13), we all headed over to the Hamburg Dungeon building which housed the Miniature Wonderland (Miniatur Wunderland) a large model railroad and exhibit.  It contained beautiful and intricate model railroad layouts on replicas of parts of Germany, Northern Europe, United States, and historic representations of Berlin.  Their newest exhibit, the Hamburg Airport, was very impressive with airplanes landing and taking off as well as little details like moving tarmacs, passenger transportation, and plow trucks on the run ways.  The museum also simulated day light as the lights would dim every 15 minutes to being night time which was beautiful as all the displays were lit up.  Some noteworthy exhibits included the proposed new building in the Hamburg Harbor, the Elbphilharmonie which opened and closed exposing the opera house which will be in the center of the building.  Also enjoyable were the Scandinavian exhibit with real water and winter scenes.  Trains ran throughout all the exhibits and many parts were interactive where you could push buttons to activate some of the scenes.  We enjoyed lunch at the museum, Andrew and I ordered fish, fries and German potato salad.  They try to put gobs of mayonnaise on the fries, I learned quickly whenever I ordered fries to say "keine Mayo" to keep them from putting it on.  We also ate rice pudding for dessert which tasted more like rice than the varieties I have found in the United States.  After lunch we looked over the exhibits some more including a chocolate factory that actually dispensed real chocolate bars for patrons.  We also looked at the historical representation of the history of Germany including the Berlin wall before and after its existence.  

After the museum, we split up, Andrew and I taking time to explore more on our own. We took a pedestrian bridge over the harbor, and discovered many of the bridges in Hamburg were adorned with love locks, padlocks, often engraved, to represent a couples' intentions to stay together.  I wonder what happens if a couple breaks up, since the key is thrown in the water, do they saw it off? keep it on and get a new one for a new relationship? Do some individuals have multiple locks? We headed back to the train, took it to a random spot, found a market, new mall to explore, one with an Aldi's grocery store on the bottom level, and explored the central train station to observe all the trains coming and going.  The mall had elevators so people could take grocery carts from the parking garage levels to the store-funny as I'd never seen anyone with grocery carts in an elevator before. The trains at the station were going to other parts of Germany and Europe, something I'd like to do when I have more time.  Near the train station were many different characters, one young man was drinking and we observed him lean over and just fall. I felt bad but did see him get himself back up.  We then returned to the apartment for dinner and time with Christine and Andrew's cousins. As I was still feeling energetic, I took a short walk around the  neighborhood and captured quite a few Munzees (a geo-location game I play on my smartphone).  

Sunday-the day of the famous Hamburg Fischmarkt!  Christine and I got up early, had a quick breakfast and Andrew was volunteered to babysit so we could go visit the market.  Christine and I took the train to Landungsbrucken and followed the crowd quite a ways away.  It was very dark still and we were hoping we were heading in the right direction.  The market was in the St. Pauli's district and we were right, the crowd we followed led us there.  There was a lit sign and an older man playing a music box at the entry.  This market was like a huge, and very crowded flea market.  There were lots of tables, open trucks, and stands.  Similar to the Christmas market there were seasonal items such as hats, gloves and scarves, also bags, souvenirs, and wallets.  There were lots of fresh fish stands, snack foods, fruit and vegetable stands.  The peddlers were very animated at some and yelling out their wares, even throwing out items for people to catch and pay later.  We enjoyed some hot drinks, bought fresh Salmon and pineapple.  The market was filled with scents from the fresh fish and fruits.  People were eating fish sandwiches at 8 in the morning, one sandwich was observed being consumed still had the fish's tail attached.  Christine and I did some souvenir shopping near the harbor on the way back to the train station.  

We got back, Andrew had done a nice job getting the girls ready and feeding them breakfast. We all had lunch together then Andrew and I headed out to attend a Church service.  I wasn't sure we could fit in a service, but Andrew insisted and remarked that as cool as it would be to worship in one of the large churches we should find one in English.  I had discovered one near St. Michaelis, the International Baptist Church.  We were running late but Andrew insisted we still try to make it.  So glad we did, after one bus trip and two trains, we arrived only ten minutes into the service. They were singing worship songs I was familiar with including "Praise Adonai" and "More Love, More Power." It was incredible to be worshiping with people from many different countries, probably representing every continent aside from Antarctica! It kind of reminded me of Heaven where people from all nations will be worshiping together The sermon was very relevant and focused on being honest with each other to support each other.  Another bonus was that newcomers received chocolate bars :) We took advantage of the free bathrooms too before going back out.  

After church we wanted to search for the gummy bear store on Monckebergstrasse but stopped for a tour of a U-Boat in the harbor.  That was really cool and somewhat scary as the room was very tight and some of the stairs steep.  It was built in 1976 so not used in WWII and built by Russians and sold to the Germans.  The torpedoes each weighed 2 tons.  Interesting to note that Germans will push you along on lines and this was true during the tour as one family pushed us along and eventually aside so they could see it faster.  We then headed back out to Monckebergstrasse only to find the stores were closed since it was Sunday.  We did find another beautiful mall to explore and an open Weinachtmarkt.  Andrew was tired so we didn't stay long and went back to the apartment for dinner and sleep.  

Monday (12.30.13) was declared "Sugar Day" as we planned to visit a chocolate museum, the gummy bear store and then get ice cream!  The girls were pretty excited about it and I wasn't too disappointed either.  The chocolate museum tour was in German but that was ok as we could see a lot and tasted lots of chocolate in different stages of production from raw bean, powder, to finished product.  The girls were great and definitely enjoyed the part where you could create your very own full size chocolate bar with assorted fillings. I learned that white chocolate is actually just sugar and cocoa butter, no actual chocolate!  We left with many chocolate souvenirs and headed back to the U-Bahn. We reached Moenckebergstrasse and the opened gummy bear store: Baren-Treff.  Tons of samples were handed out and we purchased bags of gummies to go.  It was now time for some real food and found a nice restaurant at a nearby mall, one Andrew and I had explored the day before.  We had a variety of orders; I had a baked potatoe and salad, one niece ordered spaghetti, and the other an ice cream, my sister ordered eggs and a pancake and Andrew had his official hamburger from Hamburg :) It was delicious and very busy. There was a nearby coffee shop brewing coffee and the aroma filled the air, so delicious!

Chocoversum

During the entire trip I kept thinking how neat this was that Europe was no longer just a place on a map and info out of a book, but a real place I could touch, taste, hear, smell, and feel! After we ate, Andrew and I took Alina for more exploring while Christine and Kyra headed to the apartment for resting.  Andrew and I took Alina through the Christmas market and on to the central train station.  We spent a long time enjoying the large book store at the station and then headed back to the apartment as well. I was still pretty energized and went out for the evening on my own to enjoy the waterfront at the harbor, played Munzee for a bit (lots of them in Germany) It was quite cold but so pretty at night.  I attempted to get some nice pictures of the lit up Christmas tree floating on a dock in the water.  The nights are longer than I am use to as the sun sets at 3:30 and doesn't rise until 9:30.  Despite being in a new city, I felt quite safe and loved the convenience of the trains and buses.  I was also scoping out places to see the fireworks the following night for Silvester 2013 (New Year's Eve) and many people were already setting off fireworks throughout the city in preparation.  

(End of Part 1)