It's been three whole weeks since I've last posted, but I'm sure
you can understand that while I enjoy writing about life, I most especially
love concentrating on living it. This week, I thought I'd tell you a little bit
about my experience in the city of Hamburg. I absolutely LOVED it there. The
city is nice, the people are friendly and open; the food was great, and the shopping was a
dream for me but a nightmare for my budget. These are the five things that I’m
going to share with you today. Oh, and the Reeperbahn.
The City
The cultural history of
Hamburg is as rich as many of the residents themselves. We took the time to
visit the absolutely beautiful city hall and take a guided tour. It was
worthwhile, and based on these pictures I snapped with my phone, I think you can
see what I mean.
We encountered many
friendly people, who were cordial,open and conversational; greeting strangers
and passersby was a completely normal and natural occurrence (The whole “Moin”
– “Moin, moin” greeting is so cute). In many parts of the southwest region of
Germany, it’s almost considered a weakness to even acknowledge the presence of
another person. It was so refreshing to see (once again) that this is not
typically the norm in the country, but unfortunately more of a regional thing.
The Food
Anyone who had something
to say about Hamburg (and of course, that was everyone) recommended two things:
Taking an hour-long cruise along the harbor – which was very interesting and
informative – and eat some of their delicious seafood. People were raving about
the seafood and how fresh it is and so tasty…
Sorry, I ate enough seafood there at various price ranges and while it
was good, well most of it, in my case, it was nothing worth writing home about.
Meaning home to my fellow Floridians, of course.
Our understanding of
“fresh” seafood is that we actually see the one fishing it out for us, cleaning
it, plopping it into hot water and serving it up about a half hour later.
Hamburg was excited about having had the seafood shipped to them earlier that
morning. Okay.
A word of advice – the
picture below may look like a shrimp roll (I love the shrimp and lobster rolls
in New York), but unfortunately, it was just nasty. I ended up throwing those
icky seaworms away along the pier. The meals I had later were well prepared and
tasty (and not just seafood!).
The Shopping
My budget was very unhappy
with me by the time we ended our trip, but my husband and I were hella-happy.
(Sorry, I couldn’t resist.
This is a new beverage line released in Germany and it makes me laugh every
time. I noticed it for the first time in Hamburg.)
If you have the cash, they
have the goods. If you don’t have the cash, then you can look at the goods and
have a good time with that. We certainly did. Some things were almost
impossible to pass up, and my husband wasn’t immune to the great shopping opportunities
either, bwah ha ha.
The fashion palate there is
a bit more expansive than what I have typically associated with Germany over
the years – meaning that it can generally be described as “European” as opposed
to specifically “German”. I suppose that could be considered a backhanded
compliment, but facts are facts.
Beyond shopping, the architectural structures throughout the city are AMAZING. The city is a successful combination of historical and modern, hip and traditional.
Beyond shopping, the architectural structures throughout the city are AMAZING. The city is a successful combination of historical and modern, hip and traditional.
The Reeperbahn
I don’t have much to say
about this area, except that the street is certainly an eye-opener. To be as
euphemistic as possible, I can assure you that there was not one Disney or
Nickelodeon product in the area; nevertheless, every single store boasted of
selling a vast selection of toys.
Having been to Amsterdam
twice, it wasn’t as shocking for me as some areas we stumbled upon there the
first time; also, we were in St. Pauli during the week and avoided the weekend
crowd. There was also a very strong police presence, and we did discover a
really cool Turkish restaurant in the area.
Visiting the Beatles' monument (Beatles Platz) is a must for any music lover. The Reeperbahn, located in St. Pauli, is where the Beatles first performed and gained their fame throughout Europe. Initialy, there were actually FIVE Beatles, but one guy fell in love with a German and stayed there. Hmmm. Familiar story somehow.
Visiting the Beatles' monument (Beatles Platz) is a must for any music lover. The Reeperbahn, located in St. Pauli, is where the Beatles first performed and gained their fame throughout Europe. Initialy, there were actually FIVE Beatles, but one guy fell in love with a German and stayed there. Hmmm. Familiar story somehow.
By the way – most Germans
don’t know about the beer St. Pauli Girl, which is one of the most popular beer
exports from Germany. The irony of it all is that the brewery has nothing to do
with Hamburg, the Reeperbahn or any “girl” – the smaller brewery is within the
Beck’s huge brewery in BREMEN!
Have a great week.
xoxo CountryEuroCityMouse
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