Hamburg, Germany

After over six weeks of studying German and having close to zero English speaking friends, our great friend D came to visit and to the rescue.  I stopped going to class, which at that point was a blessing.  I needed a break from it and realized that being a teacher has forever ruined my ability to be a good student. 

After hanging around Berlin for a week, we headed off on a mini-trip that started in Hamburg.  The complication is that the husband and I were both really sick.  Here is the recap.

We were so sick that instead of spending our time exploring this gorgeous city with the perfect balance of down town and nature...

we spent most of our time in the bathroom of this hostel located on the very lively Reeperbahn street (which I found to be way crazier than the red light district of Amsterdam)

We did however manage to drag ourselves out of the hostel to meet great friend D on the waterfront for dinner.  I remember picking my food based on what would upset my stomach the least.  So the atmosphere was definitely the most memorable part of the evening.  It is always nice eating outside and even better eating outside on the waterfront.  Even the husband, who was actually sicker than I was, managed to crack a smile during the sunset. 

Even though we were staying in the party central of Hamburg, we couldn't make it staying up late.  Instead, we just joined the party the next morning.  Apparently it is common place to party all night in Hamburg and then end up at a fish/farmer's market the next morning for even more partying and beer.  Seriously some of the people you see in this photo had been up all night partying and are still going at 10:00am the next day.

Here you can see how much David is enjoying the party.  That bucket of fruit came from the fish/farmers market and fed the both of us all morning.

Great friend D on the other hand got to enjoy the true breakfast of champions becuase his stomach was fine.  Lucky!

Here he is trying to rub it in even further by showing everyone how early he was able to get his party on (just before 10:00am if I can read his watch correctly)

Even this lady with the scooter and the dog she is walking were able to wait in the beer line for the another drink.  People in Hamburg are really fun, and not just because they call themselves Hamburgers.

We saw a little girl being taught at a young age what all good citizens should do early on a Saturday morning, drink beer of course.

So there you have it.  That was Hamburg Take 1.  We will be traveling back to Hamburg in January for the husband's job and I am very much looking forward to enjoying the lifestyle of the city while I am healthy.