About two weeks, a friend at CBS sent out a group message on Facebook asking me and a few others if we would be interested in going to Hamburg, Germany for an upcoming weekend. I personally had never heard of Hamburg so within the next five minutes, I was on Google, trying to find out exactly what this Hamburg place was all about.
Hamburg is the 8th largest city in Europe, and the 2nd largest city and biggest port in Germany. The maritime spirit is quite prevalent through out the entire city but what Hamburg is most well known for is the Reeperbahn- the city's red light district!
Hamburg is a city that has been destroyed and occupied multiple times, the most recent of course by the Nazis during WWII. The city is quite interesting however, because half of the city is very old and lived through the war, while the other half was well destroyed and has been rebuilt since, giving the city a nice mix of old and new architecture.
As you may of guessed by now, I ended up agreeing to the trip to Hamburg and am so glad that I did. This past weekend was absolutely amazing but I still have a hard time grasping the fact that I am living in Denmark but within a few hours I can be in an entirely new country to spend a few days before heading back to school on Monday.
Hamburg is the 8th largest city in Europe, and the 2nd largest city and biggest port in Germany. The maritime spirit is quite prevalent through out the entire city but what Hamburg is most well known for is the Reeperbahn- the city's red light district!
Hamburg is a city that has been destroyed and occupied multiple times, the most recent of course by the Nazis during WWII. The city is quite interesting however, because half of the city is very old and lived through the war, while the other half was well destroyed and has been rebuilt since, giving the city a nice mix of old and new architecture.
As you may of guessed by now, I ended up agreeing to the trip to Hamburg and am so glad that I did. This past weekend was absolutely amazing but I still have a hard time grasping the fact that I am living in Denmark but within a few hours I can be in an entirely new country to spend a few days before heading back to school on Monday.
On Friday afternoon, our group of 6 packed up our backpacks and took a train from Copenhagen to Hamburg. The entire trip takes about 4 hours. Now, you may be wondering why we are all sitting on the ground. Well, we all booked train tickets, but when doing so, it said that all seats were reserved but that doesn't stop the train from selling more tickets. Little did we know, the trains in Europe are totally fine with packing people like sardines into the trains and if that means standing and sitting in the hallway then so be it. It is an understatement to say that we weren't exactly comfortable but luckily had each other to stay distracted and pass the time as best as we could. The most incredible thing is that you are on the train for about an hour and a half and then to get to Germany, the entire train boards the bottom level of a ferry boat to cross the water. Being from Seattle, I have seen ferry boats with the cars and people on them, but I kid you not the entire 10 car train just pulls right into the bottom of a boat and then we were allowed to deboard the train and stretch our legs on the boat for the 45 minute boat ride, before reboarding the train and finishing the rest of the trip to Hamburg.
When we finally reached Hamburg Central Station at around 8:30 Friday night, we were basically feeling like children on Christmas morning and were basically on top of the world when we walked right out of the train station to see a bright sign reading "Generator" right in front of our faces. We knew that our home for the next few nights was the Generator Hostel and so we couldn't be more excited to not have to go far to throw our bags in our room, freshen up, and then head down to the bar that was conveniently located on the ground floor of our hostel. The Generator is a very hip, brightly colored hostel and as a group of 6, we were able to be perfectly accommodated in a 6 person room with our own bathroom- there would be no worry about having to lock up our belongings from strangers. So, let the night begin.
And with what better way than the beer TOWER!!! Before you judge, let me remind you that we had just sat on the ground of a train for 4 hours.
After each having our fair share of libations, we decided to go check out this mysterious Reeperbahn. As I mentioned before, the Reeperbahn is the red light district within Hamburg. For the most part, it is just a lively night life scene, full of pubs and clubs but if you go far enough, you will find a street that resembles the more well known red light district in Amsterdam with prostitutes sitting in windows and looking for business. They are very serious about this though, only men who are truly serious about looking for a lady are allowed and if any women try and enter, they apparently get extremely hostile and it can even be very dangerous. Needless to say, we stayed away from there and stuck more to some low key pubs.
Like the responsible adults that we are, we all agreed that at about 3:00 in the morning, we should turn back to the hostel to ensure that we got at least some adequate sleep so that we could be up early the next morning and ready to explore the city.
This is unfortunately the best shot of our room that we got, but you get the point. Three bunk beds (I called dibs on a bottom) for the six of us.
The next morning, we woke up, got ready and were out the door at around 10:30 fully ready to explore. Our best move was going down and asking the concierge at the hostel for directions and getting a little bit of advice as to what is worth seeing and what is a little overrated. We were pointed in the direction of the city center and the rest is history. And by history, I mean six clueless 20-something year olds wondering around a city being lead by the tall, gold things that we saw rising above the rest of the buildings for we figured those would indicate the most interesting sights to see.
Stop #1: Hamburg Town Hall
The next morning, we woke up, got ready and were out the door at around 10:30 fully ready to explore. Our best move was going down and asking the concierge at the hostel for directions and getting a little bit of advice as to what is worth seeing and what is a little overrated. We were pointed in the direction of the city center and the rest is history. And by history, I mean six clueless 20-something year olds wondering around a city being lead by the tall, gold things that we saw rising above the rest of the buildings for we figured those would indicate the most interesting sights to see.
Stop #1: Hamburg Town Hall
In case you aren't able to tell by the pictures, the city hall, or the Rathaus, is absolutely stunning. We were quite fortunate that the sun was out and shining and made the entire experience of standing in the courtyard of this amazing building even that much more breathtaking. Everything about the building was so incredibly detailed and it is crazy to think that the building was built in 1897 and is one of the few entirely preserved buildings of historicism in Hamburg. The building is the seat of the government of Hamburg and still houses its original government functions with the office of the First Mayor of Hamburg.
We probably could have stayed and examined the neo-renaissance architecture forever, but decided to move along to the next historical landmark.
Stop #2: Mahnmal St. Nikolai
St. Nikolai was not as fortunate as the Rathaus in terms of surviving the raids of WWII. St. Nikolai, being the tallest building in Hamburg, was used as the reference point for British warplanes when it came to dropping bombs during night raids on Hamburg. The church was never fully rebuilt after being destroyed, but rather stands as a memorial fully equipped with a museum and observation tower.
We probably could have stayed and examined the neo-renaissance architecture forever, but decided to move along to the next historical landmark.
Stop #2: Mahnmal St. Nikolai
St. Nikolai was not as fortunate as the Rathaus in terms of surviving the raids of WWII. St. Nikolai, being the tallest building in Hamburg, was used as the reference point for British warplanes when it came to dropping bombs during night raids on Hamburg. The church was never fully rebuilt after being destroyed, but rather stands as a memorial fully equipped with a museum and observation tower.
For four euros, you can take the elevator up this tower to the top for what everyone considers the best view of the city. So of course we partook and it did not disappoint.
Up we go...
The views were beautiful however, elevators and heights are two things that do not exactly put me at ease so upon reaching the top I began to feel quite woozy which made it difficult to hang on a rail and snap a bunch of pictures. It was still a great experience being able to stand in the middle of a ruined steeple while seeing the city from a completely different angle and worth every penny.
This statue sits where the church used to be and serves as a memorial of prisoners Sandbostel Concentration Camp. The bricks in which the boy rests upon are actual remnants of the concentration camp.
We said our goodbyes to St. Nikolai and kept trekking along. After taking nice little stroll along a river and crossing a few bridges we finally found ourselves waterfront.
Stop #3: The Harbor
Stop #3: The Harbor
Having walked our fair share, we decided it was time for lunch and we all came to the agreement that we needed to get some authentic German food in us. Luckily for us, BlockBrau Restaurant is German brewery located at the port right on the water.
When you walk in to Blockbrau, the smells of freshly baked pretzels hits you in the face like a bus and we all suddenly became about 200X hungrier than we were 3o seconds before. We quickly sat down and scanned the menu. I decided on the sausages, sauerkraut, and a pretzel on the side. Oh and of course, the house-brewed Hefeweizen to wash it all down. One word: DELICIOUS!
Our meals put us in deep food comas and so we decided that we needed to get back outside and on our feet. We went straight to Stop #4: The Elbe Tunnel
The Elbe Tunnel gets it's name because it is a tunnel that is underwater! The tunnel was constructed in the early 1900's as a way of getting pedestrians and vehicles from one side of the river to the other. The tunnel is over 1400 feet long and about 70 feet beneath the surface of the river. The tunnel itself is really not anything special but it is crazy to try and think about building a tunnel underwater, and by crazy I mean mind blowing.
After about a 15 minute walk, we reached the other side which offers a great view of Hamburg's cityscape.
After about a 15 minute walk, we reached the other side which offers a great view of Hamburg's cityscape.
We took in our surroundings for a good while, rested our feet, and then went back down to the tunnel to return to the mainland where our hostel beds were calling our names. Our six hours of sleep the night before was adequate enough to get us to about 3:00 that afternoon, but in true European fashion, we had a nice little siesta before getting back out in the city for dinner.
Stop #5: The Portuguese Quarter
Seeing that it was a Saturday night and we had a fairly large party, we consulted our best resource, the hostel front desk before our nap, to get a good dinner recommendation and reservation. We were told that Hamburg is home to a small, unique neighborhood that is basically just a handful of streets completely taken over by small Portuguese and Spanish restaurants, pastelarias, and bars. Our restaurant choice: Casa Ricardo.
Stop #5: The Portuguese Quarter
Seeing that it was a Saturday night and we had a fairly large party, we consulted our best resource, the hostel front desk before our nap, to get a good dinner recommendation and reservation. We were told that Hamburg is home to a small, unique neighborhood that is basically just a handful of streets completely taken over by small Portuguese and Spanish restaurants, pastelarias, and bars. Our restaurant choice: Casa Ricardo.
Casa Ricardo is a quaint, authentic Portuguese restaurant known for its inexpensive tapas, paella, and delicious cuts of meat. Unfortunately, all of the paella is made with loads of seafood and so my allergies kept me far away from that, but the bacon wrapped dates, prosciutto bruschetta, cured olives, and steak with garlic butter, veggies, and potatoes were all mine.
Our reoccurring theme of "food comas" did not let up after this meal but once again, we got to our feet and decided to make the most of the the last night in Hamburg. Our night at the Reeperbahn was an experience and quite fun, but we were in the mood for something a little more low key and with a few less strip clubs.
I am not exactly sure of the name of the bar that we ended up in, but it must have been because we were all so distracted having to much fun being the obnoxious, Americans playing Head's Up in the middle of a bar.
I am not exactly sure of the name of the bar that we ended up in, but it must have been because we were all so distracted having to much fun being the obnoxious, Americans playing Head's Up in the middle of a bar.
The game in combination with the serious Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera throw back songs that were blaring through the speakers kept us entertained for hours but we eventually called it quits and headed back to the hostel. Don't worry the story doesn't quite end there.
Two weeks ago, I had lunch with a Danish girl named Lea who is a friend of Anders and just happened to be from Hamburg. Upon hearing this, I immediately sent her an email asking for any recommendations whether it be for restaurants, bars, etc. After getting a response from her and forwarding it to everyone else, we all agreed that the recommendation to "go to Alex on the water for Sunday brunch where it is all you can eat buffet for about $15" was a clear winner. You know that college students are excited about something too when we were all able to wake up and be walking on our way to Alex by 10:00 Sunday morning. We were tempted to take the metro to brunch but the sun was out, we had a nice walk along a canal, and just the thought of an "all you can eat buffet" lit up a little lightbulb in our minds that we should probably take the 15 minutes and walk.
Two weeks ago, I had lunch with a Danish girl named Lea who is a friend of Anders and just happened to be from Hamburg. Upon hearing this, I immediately sent her an email asking for any recommendations whether it be for restaurants, bars, etc. After getting a response from her and forwarding it to everyone else, we all agreed that the recommendation to "go to Alex on the water for Sunday brunch where it is all you can eat buffet for about $15" was a clear winner. You know that college students are excited about something too when we were all able to wake up and be walking on our way to Alex by 10:00 Sunday morning. We were tempted to take the metro to brunch but the sun was out, we had a nice walk along a canal, and just the thought of an "all you can eat buffet" lit up a little lightbulb in our minds that we should probably take the 15 minutes and walk.
Alex is clearly not one of those well-kept secret kind of restaurants because when we arrived, there was a pretty serious que. However, we saw that there were multiple, empty tables outside and with our stomachs growling, we decided to brace the cold and take a seat. It ended up being quite lovely after the host surrounded our little table with four heat lamps and each chair was adorned with a blanket so we ended up being very comfortable and waited less than half the time of the other wussies who sat inside- more buffet time for us!
Lattes, orange juice, croissants, eggs, bacon, sausage, fruit, and that's just round one!
While the food was clearly the superstar of the morning, it was really just a great time sitting at the restaurant for almost two and a half hours just really getting the know all of the people that we were with. The six of us that had traveled to Hamburg together had clearly gotten to know each other over the previous few weeks but by the end of the weekend, we really found out about each other's siblings, parents' occupations, who's a cat person, who's a dog person, who was most likely to be a rapper in their past life...
Corporate Finance at 8:00 am on Monday morning called for a train ride home to Copenhagen at 3:30 Sunday afternoon so while our trip to Hamburg was short, it was so incredibly sweet. To end the trip, we luckily DID reserve seats for the train ride home and were comfortably situated in seats, with foot rests, and I even had the seat next to me empty which called for some serious relaxation and catching up on Top Chef and Keeping Up With the Kardashians.