Northern Germany

Day One: Hamburg

I slept maybe three hours total after packing, before I had to catch my train from the station here in Tübingen. I switched trains in Stuttgart, and then started my six hour train ride to Hamburg. I slept on and off, mostly because the ticket guy came to check my ticket probably once every hour. I had to transfer in some smaller town off of Hamburg, because on that date, the train did not go directly into Hamburg. It was a good thing I checked with the program that we got in the beginning of the train ride, because I would have stayed on the train and missed my transfer train the Hamburg Hauptbahnhof! I took the S Bahn from the smaller town; luckily I got on the right one. When I was on the train, there were three punk German kids, and by punk I mean they all looked like Justin Bieber. It was pretty ridiculous. When I got off the train and headed out of the station, I was greeted by wind. A lot of wind. It was so windy, and I looked ridiculous trying to pull out a single sheet of paper, which was my instructions on how to find my hostel, while also trying to hold back my hair. It was a little frustrating to find the hostel, because I only had the address and the instructions that said: “We’re right next to the Hauptbahnhof!”. Well that’s helpful. I found it eventually, and went to check-in. But that was too easy, so of course Emily had to have a major blonde moment. I went to check-in, but the lady said there wasn’t a reservation in my name. So I gave her my reservation sheet, my receipt, and she looked at it briefly before handing it back pointing to the date. I had forgotten to book the first night, the 10^th, and only booked starting the 11^th. I had a “OH NEIN” moment, before asking to book a bed that night as well. She found me a bed, and then told me that I could only pay with exact payment, unless I had a credit card. I didn’t want to use my credit card, because I had the money in cash, just not the perfect amount. So I had to pay some of it upfront, and then some later when I got the change. They should have had that on the website. Frustrating. I got there pretty early in the day, so I dropped off my stuff and set out in search of the Rathaus and the main churches, because this is Germany and they have to have big ole’ churches in the Altstadt. 

I walked around a little lost for a bit. Found some smaller churches, and the art center before finding my way to the main shopping street and the Rathaus! I walked around, saw the sights, took some pictures (not knowing at the time what exactly they were), and then went back to the room to pick up my information so that I could buy the rest of my train tickets for the trip.

Some church that I found during my lost wanderings.

The Hauptbahnhof (main train station).

Art center.

The Rathaus.

Oh look, a church in the distance.

Some tourists taking pictures with the lions outside the Police station.

St. Nikolai's Chruch.

They kept this church, as it is, as a monument against war.

Oh art. I don't understand you.

The city itself, with all it's old buildings, was really pretty.

Another church in the distance.

Hamburg has more bridges and canals than any other city in the world, leading over Venice and Amsterdam.

The garbage cans here all say funny little things on them. It was an effort to get people to keep the city clean. This one says: Have dirty fantasies.

When I was buying my tickets in the ticket center, there was a drunken bum on the floor sleeping, or just passed out. The Popos had to come and kick him out. They knew him by name, so he must be a regular in there. After I bought my tickets, I stopped some place for dinner, walked through a few shops, and then headed back to the hostel to check my email, shower, and be annoyed by Americans outside my door pretending to be British. They are the reason Americans have such a bad name abroad. Also, this hostel has the world’s smallest shower and bathroom. Just saying. I was also under the impression (because the lady at the check-in desk told me this) that I was in an all girls room, so when I came out of the shower, I was not fully presentable. As I walked out of the world’s smallest bathroom, there was some guy in the room, and I was not expecting that. Oops. The rest of the night, I spent my time making plans for the next day. I had planned to do the same three hour walking tour that we did in Paris. Oh, and I was woken up in the middle of the night by the guy spraying deodorant continuously right next to my bed, without opening a window. Thanks for provoking the asthma, buddy.

 

Day Two: Hamburg

I got ready in the morning and headed to the tour, which met at the Starbucks near the Rathaus. The only problem was, that were more than one Starbucks in the area, and I went to the wrong one. I spent a good half hour waiting for the group to show up, but when they didn’t I decided to just move on and try and see the sights myself. As I was in front of the Rathaus, I saw a tour going past, and heard the English, so I decided to jump in. The tour guide caught me and asked if I had done this type of tour before, before letting me join. So I think I will just show the pictures of the tour, and then explain them in their subtitles:

This is an old shipping company building.

The building was covered in hundreds of these little button looking things.

We made it to the Chile House.

Animals on the Chile House.

It was made to look like a ship, with a very pointy front. The Chile House was a shipping company made by some guy who traded with Chile. People were concerned when it was built, that the sharp corner of the building might be dangerous.

Right near the Chile House, was a building where they made Zyklon B, which was the drug that the Nazis used to kill thousands and thousands of people. They had a plaque up in remembrance.

More shipping buildings.

Along with my foot in this picture, is a picture of a golden plate in the ground which are placed around the city to remember victims of WWII. This one was for a Jewish man who had served in the community and worked in the city hall before the war started, and he was sent to a camp.

More shipping buildings.

We came to a bridge, which had a statue on both sides. This side represented the old city.

Bishop the Old City.

This one represented the New City of Hamburg.

The oldest street in Hamburg.

We walked through this passageway to get to the water.

So, we heard all about the Great Fire of 1842. This is where the fire started. This fire wiped out most of the city over a few days time, killed a good portion of the population, and left a good percentage of the population after the fire homeless.

The building that started the fire, shown here, was an old cigar building... but it was found out to be arson.

You can tell which way the wind was blowing on the day of the fire. This was the old side of the city, which was unscathed.

This was the new side, where the fire spread from.

Welcome to Hafenstadt (Harbor City).

At the end, we got to see the boats lined up at the harbor.

You shall not pass!

Pirate SHIP!

So the entire tour, our tour guide kept us waiting by telling us that he had a pirate story for us. So here it goes.

Klaus Störtebeker (whose name roughly means: can drink five liters of beer in a single gulp) was a pirate out of Hamburg who was a sort of Robin Hood. 

Here's a reconstruction of what is thought to be Klaus' skull.

He stole from the rich Hanseatic League (shipping companies) and gave to the poor. The Hanseatic League decided that they couldn't let Klaus Störtebeker keep robbing them, but he was too good a sailor for them to catch. So one day Pirate Klaus wakes up to hear cries of help coming from the water. He looks overboard, and sees that there is a man in a boat. The boat was sinking, and the man was calling out for help. Now Klaus, who was a pretty good guy, helped him aboard. Klaus gave him food, drink, and a place to stay. In the middle of the night, the man taken aboard sabotaged the ship by pouring molten lead into the links of the chain, which controlled the ship's rudder. Klaus was captured and was going to be tried for his crimes. The mayor of sorts had Klaus and his men strip down and walk to their punishment: beheading. Klaus, however, tried to save the lives of his men by saying that if the mayor let his men go and just kept him, he would give the mayor enough gold to wrap around the city. The mayor refused. So Klaus said that the mayor could kill Klaus, but after his head was chopped off, each man that he walked past after his death would be saved. The mayor agreed. The story goes that the executioner chopped off Klaus' head, and he fell, before getting up and starting to walk past his men one by one. He made it to the eleventh man before the executioner had to run him down and tackle him, because he was saving too many and because it made him look bad as the executioner. Everyone made fun of the executioner, and the executioner responded by threatening to cut off the mayor's head. So in the end: Klaus was killed, all his men were killed (including the eleven that he had saved), and the executioner was killed. A happy day for the mayor and the people watching (as this was entertainment back then; no television!).

  

Any way, back to reality!

I met two American girls on the tour and some guy from Mexico. So after the tour was done, we went to a café to relax after our tour. When we got in there, the guy was shaking out of fear and started freaking out when a beggar guy came into the café and started asking for money. The guy ran out of the bakery with the look of complete and utter terror in his eye.  We then speculated as to why he was so afraid while we enjoyed our down time. From the café, we headed back to the hostel, where I said goodbye to the two girls. I then went to walk around for the rest of the day. I spent my night making plans and attempting to take a shower. I say attempting, because someone took my shampoo and face wash (which was from home!). I’m guessing that the people who make the beds threw it out. Smelly Emily went to bed with no shower and with her new found blisters on her feet. 

When we were walking back to the hostel, there were these guys doing tricks on their bikes.

Day  Three: Hamburg

I woke up with the intent of going to the history museum. I set out on the U Bahn. There was a class of students on the same train, so I thought that if I followed them, then I would get to the right spot. They headed towards the Reeperbahn, though, (which is the red-light district in Hamburg) so I quickly had to find my own way. I walked around lost for a little while. I walked through a park hoping that it would lead me to the museum. I saw the building, but had to walk back out of the park the way I came in order to get to the museum. When I finally got to the museum, I did not go in for a few reasons. One, it didn’t look open. Two, standing in a museum on such a nice day didn’t seem that appealing anymore. And three, standing in a museum sort of lost it’s appeal after all the effort that went into finding it. I walked back to the hostel. All the way back. I stopped in a few stores and bought a new bag, because the backpack I bought just wasn’t big enough. I walked through the five story mall, which was somewhat of a treat here in Germany. And I replaced my shampoo at least. Unfortunately, I would have to wait until I got back to Tübingen to get my good face wash (I bought a second tube when I was home for Christmas)!

Outside St. Nikolai's Kirche.

Ah, the mall.

I dropped off my goodies in the hostel and decided that I had enough time in the day to hit up the Miniatur Wunderland for the rest of the day.

The Miniatur Wunderland is the most visited attraction in Hamburg, and is the world’s largest model train attraction. It consists of probably thousands of moving pieces, trains, cars, and blinking lights. Again, I’ll just explain things through the pictures:

This was in the Americas section.

A sign telling you how to get to Las Vegas, St. George, and Salt Lake City.

On a side note, the person/people who made this model train exhibit had a GREAT sense of humor. Here we see a plane that crashed into a canyon wall. One guy is parachuting down, while the others climb out of the plane that crashed and down to the canyon floor.

Sea World.

The rocket launched up into the sky.

Vegas, baby!

You can see the lights on the ceiling. The would cycle in between sunrise, day, sunset, and night by using these lights.

The high ways at night. Here they had a platform for me to put my camera down.

There was a fire in Hamburg!

The Hauptbahnhof in Hamburg: Complete with S Bahn, Trams, and KFC.

Anytime the police were involved I thought it was really funny.

Punch-bug, Yellow, Shield.

Two penguins riding a surfboard pulled by a seal.

Even the water underneath was detailed.

Poor guy. He was just shoveling his roof...

A clown on a tightrope.

Monster TRUCKS! Right next to...

A Sumo Festival.

The trains would move between the different spots underneath us or above us.

On the left we see a smart car placed upon cones. On the right we see the paparazzi and a star.

What is Germany without Soccer?

Outside the soccer stadium: A man is under arrest.

Sunset at the carnival!

Night time!

Everything was so detailed!

They even had an airport section!

*Neuschwanstein?

Ghosts haunting an old church.

To give you an idea of how intricate and detailed the place was! Even the cows' heads moved!

This is probably an American movie being made about Germans.

Okay, follow me on this one: We have Superman...

...rescuing the car which is precariously hanging over the cliff...but there's also people with ropes...

...who are helping the monks get down to the monastery... or up from the monastery.

Riding a dinosaur. A normal occurrence.

A pop concert.

The outhouses at that concert.

Poor guy! Being wrapped up by that toilet paper at his favorite singer's concert!

Red Bull gives you wiiiiings!

Even the bird crap was detailed.

In the bathroom they even had miniature something.

AHHH! Watch out kayakers! That is not a pleasant surprise coming up!

After a few hours, I left to go back to the hostel. I walked back through the Altstadt, which was a bit of a walk again. It was a busy day, but if felt at that point as though I was definitely running out of tourist-y things to do in Hamburg.

Day Four: Hamburg

I started out the day walking around a bit. I needed a post office to get stamps. I found a Postbank, but as it was Sunday, there was no one at the desk to buy international stamps from. So I had to buy two German stamps from a machine.

I don't know the message this Segway company was trying to send. Even Nuns can have fun? It's so good it's holy?

Batman made an appearance in one of the stores.

This one says: "I would really like to be a millionaire". Me too. As would the Prinzen:

Oh, it's so bad, it's almost good.

I sent out my postcards, and walked to St. Nikolai’s Church so that I could go up in the tower. Our tour guide had said that going up was worth it, because it was cheap and you got a great view of the city from way up there. With my ticket, I also got to go underneath the church too, where they had an exhibit in honor of the church and the anti-war ideas that it represented. The exhibit was a little musty, and very depressing.

They just had a button that said how high you were going. It was a little scary.

My view from the tower.

The destruction after Operation Gomorrah. Gomorrah was Great Britain's bombing of Hamburg. It practically destroyed the city. St. Nikolai, which was at the time one of the tallest churches in Germany, served as a landmark for the bombers.

From there, I went back out into the fresh air and continued to walk around before eventually stopping for a bit of a rest. After my break, I headed back to the hostel to pick up my information to buy tickets for Lübeck for the next day.

Hamburg's crest made out of Legos!

I saw this everywhere! I'm not sure what that show has to do with chickens... but it always gave me a good laugh!

After that I decided to see what all the fuss was about concerning the Reeperbahn. I wouldn’t go at night, because I was alone on this trip, but it was the middle of the day, so it seemed like it would be okay. When I got there, there were old people, young people, and children everywhere. I figured I was safe. It was really just a unclean street like you might see in Vegas. Not exciting. There were a lot of peep shows, which made me think of Elf. Haha. 

 Elf Clip

I quickly gave up on the Reeperbahn and headed back to the U Bahn station to take me back to the Altstadt. From there, I stopped in a store to pick up some food to have a picnic in front of the Rathaus. After my picnic, I headed back to the hostel for the night.

Day Five: Lübeck

I woke up and got ready before checking out. I headed to the Hauptbahnhof and waited for my train. Outside the Hauptbahnhof, I got a video of a really crazy guy who would preach to people in German (obviously, because it was Germany). But as he was preaching the good Lord’s word, the German just made it sound angry. Or maybe he was… I’m still not sure.

I tried not to be obvious about recording him.

 I got on board my train, and when I arrived I found my way into the Altstadt. The only down side to this day trip was that I had to bring my bags with me, which weighed me down. I found a place to sit for lunch when I got into the city. It was nice to sit down, but eventually I had to get up and walk around to see the city. Like most cities in Germany, there are many churches in Lübeck. This town, however, probably had about six big churches that stood out amongst the other buildings. I walked the entire city in almost no time at all, after all it was the “Stadt der kurze Wege” (city of short distances), as the sign said when entering the city.

This building used to be on the old German Mark.

The Rathaus.

A hospital.

I didn't walk far before reaching the edge of the inner city.

Heiligen-Geist-Hospital.

It was leaning quite a bit.

2:00 rolled around, and I had seen all that I could possibly have seen, and I decided to catch a train back through Hamburg to Bremen. Some three hours ahead of time, I got on the train and made my way to the next city. I made it to Bremen and found that to get to my hostel, the directions said to take the tram, but I didn’t have the right kind of ticket for the tram and didn’t see a machine to buy one, so I walked. As I was crossing one of the streets, I dropped my phone. I didn’t realize I had dropped my phone until I had reached the other side. Just as I realized it, I had one of the moments where you see the bus coming and you just are like “Oh no”. Luckily, my phone came out unscathed. From there I headed out in search of my hostel, which luckily wasn’t too far. It only seemed like it was far, because I had both my duffel and my backpack strapped to me. It was a lot of extra weight to carry, and that took its toll on me. When I got to the hostel, I checked-in. Luckily, I was able to check-in, because I was a few hours early. I got up to my room, but it was a little too early to call it a night, so I went to explore Bremen a bit! I found a nice little path that took me right into the Altstadt by way of a park. With my bags dropped off in the hostel, and not weighing me down anymore, I was good to go! I walked through the main Markt and saw a lot, and it was all lit up for night too!

The church in Bremen.

The market place.

The Rathaus in Bremen.

Here is the statue of the four animals from the fairytale made famous by the Brothers Grimm.

Here's Wikipedia's tale of the four animals:

"In the story a donkey, a dog, a cat, and a rooster, all past their prime years in life and usefulness on their respective farms, were soon to be discarded or mistreated by their masters. One by one they leave their homes and set out together. They decide to go to Bremen, known for its freedom, to live without owners and become musicians there.

On the way to Bremen, they see a lighted cottage; they look inside and see four robbers enjoying their ill-gotten gains. Standing on each others backs, they decide to perform for the men in hope of gaining food. Their 'music' has an unanticipated effect; the men run for their lives, not knowing what the strange sound is. The animals take possession of the house, eat a good meal, and settle in for the evening.

Later that night, the robbers return and send one of their members in to investigate. He sees the Cat's eyes shining in the darkness and thinks he is seeing the coals of the fire. He reaches over to light his candle. Things happen in quick succession; the Cat scratches his face with her claws, the Dog bites him on the leg, the Donkey kicks him and the Rooster crows and chases him out the door, screaming. He tells his companions that he was beset by a horrible witch who scratched him with her long fingers (the Cat), an ogre with a knife (the Dog), a giant who had hit him with his club (the Donkey), and worst of all, the judge who screamed in his voice from the rooftop (the Rooster). The robbers abandon the cottage to the strange creatures who have taken it, where the animals live happily for the rest of their days."

I walked into the main Markt to “My Girl” playing on the speakers, and that put me into a pretty goo dmood. After walking around for a bit, I decided to head back to the hostel again to get ready for bed/make my plans for the next day. That night I realized that I was in a room full of guys. Lovely. Hopefully no more spray deodorant. Please God, no more spray deodorant. Deodorant is fine, just no spraying.

Day Six: Bremen

I started my day off with breakfast in the hostel, which was pretty pathetic. Then I walked into the Altstadt and saw everything that I had seen the night before, only this time by the light of day. I soon realized that there wasn’t too much to see, as I had run out of attractions. I stopped into a book store, scanned a couple of books, and then bought one. I wandered around the city a bit more, getting lost a few times (but I was always able to find my way back to where was familiar).

Inside one of the shops, they had a Bunny Cake. It was pretty intense.

Inside the big church.

I then spent a while sitting on one of the benches in front of the Rathaus reading. A man came up to me while I was reading and told me something which confused me at first, but then I understood. He told me to read his bag, which said (in German) “Those who don’t read are dumb”. I stayed and read for a while, as it was nice and warm in the sun where I was sitting (got a little red for that one). I sat there reading until two ladies came and sat down right next to me and lit up their death-sticks, oh I mean cigarettes. The wind blew it directly into my face and into my precious lungs, so I moved and got up to walk around some more. 

As I was walking, I found the windmill that is in town. I walked through the park and sat and read some more.

The windmill was really pretty!

I bought some food for dinner after that, dropped it in the hostel, and then set out to read in the remaining sunlight before heading back to the hostel for dinner. I spent the rest of the night cooking, eating, and planning for my departure the next day to Hannover.

Day Seven: Hannover

I left my hostel and gave myself enough time to walk to the Hauptbahnhof with all my stuff strapped to me. I had a little time before my train, so I spent it reading, and finished my book. The train came, and after a while I found myself in Hannover. It took me a while to find the stupid U Bahn. Eventually I found it, and found my hostel. The hostel in Hannover adjoined with another hotel, so I was a little confused when the sign for reception pointed away from the hostel building and towards the hotel. I walked into the hotel to reception, asked if I was in the right place, and the lady at the desk said I was. Points for Emily. Also, points for me, because I have been having a good German streak. The lady at the desk actually forgot a few German words and had to ask her colleague what the word was in German, even though I’m pretty sure German was her first language. But I feel her pain. That has happened to me a few times in English. She must check-in a lot of people who speak only English. Luckily for her, both were understood by me! From there I went to drop off my luggage before going to the Hauptbahnhof again to explore the area from there. Around the train station was the main shopping district, and I found the opera house, and of course a church right in the middle of the city… I must be in Germany.

Opera House.

I walked around for a while and found the tourist information place, so I stopped in to find out what else there was for me to see. I took to U Bahn from there in hopes of finding the Maschsee, which leads up to the old Rathaus (city hall). Surprisingly enough, I found it right away without any problems or looks of lost confusion. Yes, I am Emily. Expert traveler. I stopped on the way up the sea to enjoy the sights. Eventually though I had to keep on going. I got some really good shots!

Sitting along the Maschsee!

I had some ducks come up and beg for food. Sorry guys!

That should be me out there!

A little modern art mixed in with the old Rathaus.

It was a very impressive building!

More locks to symbolize love!

I somehow ended up in the Altstadt again, and if there hadn’t been a giant crane towering over all the buildings in the shopping district, I don’ think I would’ve found my way back. I spent the rest of the night walking around or reading (as I bought a new book).

There were annoying Americans in the bookstore giggling, being loud, and complaining about there being too many good books. Back at the hostel, I got ready for bed after a long day. It felt as though I didn’t sleep at all that night.

This church, which I found walking through the Altstadt, didn't seem to be complete.

Day Eight: Hannover

Woke up early and got ready. I intended to go to the zoo, but when I got there, it was a little too much money for me (it was also smelly enough to remind me that I hate zoos). I hopped back on the U Bahn to go back to the Altstadt. I also got really lucky that my trip ended when it did. One more day, and I would’ve been stranded in Hannover with no method of transportation. The public transportation system was going on strike the day after I was set to leave. I definitely lucked out on that one. Anyway, from the failed zoo attempt, I headed back to the city to walk around. I didn’t really do much more that day, and called it an early night. I think I was just exhausted and I know I was looking forward to being back in Tübingen, even if it was just a few more days before I went to Ulm for the DAAD meeting.

 

Day Nine: Return to Tübingen

Day nine was a waste of a day. Everything was closed, as it was Sunday. I should have gotten an earlier train or one the night before. So basically, I sat around and read in the train station. I looked into changing my train, but it didn’t work out. Oh well. Lesson learned. I waited a long time, but finally was able to get on my train and head back on the six hour train ride. During the ride, there was a girl behind me who was an American studying at Tübingen, who started talking to the older German man next to her. I wonder if that was like what I sound like when I speak German. I hope not. But realistically, I probably sound just like her.

I got back to Tübingen, and after I dropped my stuff off in my room I immediately went to shower! I missed this shower.

I was able to spend the next few days relaxing before Hannah and I had to catch a bus to Ulm for our DAAD meeting. That post is yet to come!