Adventures in Deutschland: Gritty old town, 5-6 November

Sophie and I worked in the same building in the states for almost two years before she took a job in Hamburg. We were actually in the same university from 2003-2007 without knowing it, and didn’t meet until she ‘joined’ me in Houston in 2008. Equipped with a Laugenbrötchen, a Fanta, and the unused travel days of the Europass from my previous EuroJourney, I boarded the S-Bahn in Mainz and then connected to an ICE (Inter City Express) train in Frankfurt on Saturday morning for our reunion on her home turf. Punctuality is the German stereotype, but it’s quite common for a train to depart one city on time (9:58am from Frankfurt, for example) but arrive in a city in its route more than half an hour late (14:15 in Hamburg, when scheduled to arrive at 13:41, for example). Sophie generously came on time because my German comprehension wasn’t good enough to realize we would arrive so late for me to let know before she arrived that she had some extra time.

Hamburgers are tall. Sophie had to shrink from her usual ~15 cm over me to get in this shot, and all her friends were taller than her. On a bridge into Speicherstadt

After stashing my backpack (the small red one, just an overnight trip, after all) in a locker at the station, we wandered the city center. According to my esteemed guide, Hamburg, is the second largest city in Europe next to Rotterdam. Water is the theme of the city, both on the earth and above the ground. The city center features the Alster, a very lake like part of the Elb River, it’s an 8 km walk around it, and the scenery varies from cafes and hotels by Jungfernsteig (literally “ ’maidens’ way”), where families used to parade around their unmarried daughters without explicitly saying they were finding dates for them), to well-insulated kayakers, nimble runners dodging bikers, tourists, and wind-caught willow branches alongside ducks proportionately larger than the southern German ducks as Northern and Southern Europeans , to the American embassy. The city has an industrial feel that contrasts the combination of ornate Cathedrals of the southern German states and the Roman ruins of Mainz, the people have attitude. If you like New England, in particular the old and foggy port and fishing towns of Connecticutt (I think Old Lyme), Massachusetts, and Maine, you might like Hamburg. A Hamburger I met this weekend particularly favors London over all cities, no surprise given the Jurassic harbor machinery we viewed on Saturday night plus Sunday’s fog cover reminding me of Dickensian setting.

Alster outside Hamburg Dammtor station on Saturday

Same place on Sunday, about the the same time

Just left of the view above, also on Sunday

My esteemed guide

American Embassy

The ducks here were big too

I prefer cars over maidens on Jungfernsteig.

Sophie loves to roam on foot, perfect (!), but of course needed less time absorbing the scenery than this newbie here. Rathaus is like their city hall. The outside features names of past dignitaries, and someone who my esteemed guide knows has a previous generation relative somewhere among them. The inside is almost as ornate as some churches, except the stained glass windows feature named portraits of Roman dieties. I looked directly in front of me after snapping a picture of the Rathaus, and quickly sidestepped out of the view finder of a man less than a meter in front of me, and he reacted with surprise. Keine Anung, said my guide.

Rathaus, the fanciest state house I've ever seen

Mars, on the window inside

Rathaus, the fanciest state house I've ever seen

We strolled through some of the ritzier shopping streets before wandering over to Speicherstadt (literally, Storage City). This district was built in the 1880s-1920s and the previous storage contents within the buildings, labeled as ‘Blocks’ followed by a letter, were as unique and varied as the combination of brick colors and patterns. Upon crossing one of many iron bridges to Speicherstadt, the street feel quickly changes form commercial and metropolitan to an eerie but beautiful desolation. If you choose to wander along the right water way, you can come upon a qeue outside the Dungeon, a haunted amusement, and a crowded coffee shop. We took a break here over a hot fresh waffle and fragrant coffee drinks that had cooled by the time our forgotten then remembered waffle arrived. These treats warmed our blood and we continued to walk along the harbor, viewing large recreational and utilitarian water vehicles as well as gargantuan, nearly life like shipping machinery.

So far, yet so huge

Our destination was the Empire Riverside Hotel, which features the bar called 20 Up, on the 20^th floor overlooking the harbor. We realized we were half an early to their opening time, and decided to wander the Reeperbahn, accessible just a block away. The Reeperbahn is Hamburg’s red light district. There is an alley where the sights but not the sounds are hidden behind walls where no one under 18 or women can enter. Unlike Amsterdam, no one is on display in the windows, but it was still too early in the evening for certain entrepreneurs to populate the streets. Sex shops, costume shops, theatres, pubs, currywurst and döner stands mingle to satisfy gastronomic and entertainment needs of the clientele. (Yes, it’s safe for two women to wander around there and absorb the sights out of morbid curiosity.)

Angels, perfect angels

On the Reeperbahn

View of the harbor and some lighting behind me in 20 Up

After the harbor machinery and colorful Reeperbahn zoos, we arrived at 6pm on the dot at the entrance of 20 Up, where they had not yet opened the doors to the crowd that packed the hallway so densely that those of us deposited from the elevator into the crowd near the bar’s door could not politely make our way to the back of the line. Within minutes, the doors opened, and people scrambled to check their coats (required) and claim one of the non-reserved seats. The price of the view is included in your cocktail. Tip: If the alcohol free cocktails cost 9 Euro, you should pay the extra two to replace half of that juice with something more flammable and keep enjoying the view J

We picked up our belongings at station, took a trip to drop them off at Sophie’s flat and pick up a döner (kebap) sandwich (or cheese sandwich for the vegetarian), and ate and walked our way to Sternschanze, or ‘Schanze’, the dirty, vibrant, and affordable district of eats and drinks. We changed our choice of pub after protesters against consumerism dressed in black with black hoodies began running off with the tables and benches of the pizzeria despite the line of white-helmeted police.

A building occupied by Leftists, or 'Linkers' in German (Links = Left)

Demonstrating against our Western heritage

The look of Schanze in the day time is no surprise if you’ve seen it the night before. One can return here to one of many Portugesische restaurants to load up on a full breakfast and a nice strong galao (Portugese coffee). We loaded up, and the instinctual activity was to keep strolling through the city, significantly foggier than yesterday until night fall and the arrival of my train. If you like to swim in leaves, this is the perfect time of year to visit Hamburg.