Hamburg!

Saturday afternoon Arne and I rode to Hamburg with his mom and sister, since they were heading toward that area anyway. It took a while to get there because there was construction on the autobahn, but they dropped us off around 4 in the afternoon which gave a lot of time to explore the city. We started off by taking a bus to a different train station (the one that we were at was closed and being worked on) where we jumped on a train to head toward the harbor area in Hamburg. I really couldn't get enough of the water everywhere there, it was so beautiful to be riding by train and passing over channels and old narrow streets. The transportation system was amazingly efficient and combined busses and trains that often ran in subway tunnels.

When we stepped out of the station we were right on the water by an old ship that had been docked and converted into a restaurant. I think it was a perfect day for walking around, and Hamburg is a beautiful city to explore. We went along the waterfront for a while and then crossed a bridge into one of the new areas of the city that's being developed. There, a massive old building where ships used to unload cargo is being converted into the new Hamburg opera house, which the city hopes will rival the fame of Sydney. I pulled this picture from Google of what it is supposed to look like when completed:

Right now only the lower portion is completed and the entire upper section is still being built. The building is massive already, so when they more than double the size it will certainly be impressive. Some of the pictures of the initial construction work are incredible, in particular there was one where one of the cranes was lifting an entire backhoe into the center of the building since it couldn't be gotten in there any other way. When complete, there are supposed to be three separate concert halls inside, and I believe the sign said that the entire theme is based on the water of the harbor.

The picture above is pretty awesome because it demonstrates so many of the different elements I saw in Hamburg. The red ship is an old fireboat that also has a lighthouse built into the top so that it could keep ships away from dangerous areas where an actual lighthouse couldn't be built. In the background on the left are some of the buildings that have recently been constructed, as well as the in-progress opera house which is the brick building toward the middle with blue at the top. At the right in the distance are the gigantic cranes that surround the shipping yards, where thousands of container boxes of freight are loaded onto ships to be sent all over the world.

I loved the water that was everywhere while we were walking around. Channels still run through buildings which are now apartments, offices, etc, but which were originally used so ships could pull up and unload freight directly into the buildings, where it would be sold immediately on the other side.

As walked over a bridge, Arne stopped and had me look over toward the black cathedral tower in the distance. I had assumed it was really old; however, half the reason it is black is from smoke during the second world war. Hamburg was completely destroyed by the Royal Airforce and the Americans during this time, which is why even today they are still building new and beautiful buildings. It's amazing to me though how quickly they've been able to build so much. Apparently most of the buildings that really define the city today weren't built until the last 30 years or so. We continued walking and got to the base of the cathedral tower, where the remains of what must once have been a massive building still stand. Apparently after the war the city considered rebuilding it, but instead they decided to let it remain as it was as a reminder to never have such horrible war again.

They did, however, do something really cool with the tower. It is the tallest structure in Hamburg and so they built an elevator which goes to nearly to the top, almost 70 meters, and provides a view of the entire city below. When we got in the elevator there were only two button, "0m" and "70m". It flew up threw the tower, which was pretty awesome because we went from the ground floor with its soaring ceilings up through a whole series of levels, some dim with pigeons flitting around and some really bright with sweeping views. When we got to the top we were provided with a great view of the city and could see everything out toward the harbor and on in toward the town hall. There were some pretty fantastic gargoyles perched and diving from the tower and we spent quite a bit of time reading some of the information about the war and Hamburg.

I thought it was pretty amazing to see the picture from immediately after the city had been bombed and then compare it was the same view today. The development is just mind blowing. Also, a sign mentioned that the reason many of the towers still stand is because the pilots would use them for beacons and so purposefully leave them intact.

We headed on toward the Rathaus (German for city hall) and also another sort of capital building from which the state is governed. There was a market going on in the square, but we didn't wander around it for long because we were starved. I have come to realize that McDonald's is one of America's proudest creations, and even in Europe you can get cheap happy meals and order things from the Euro Menu, which is exactly the same as the dollar menu only instead of mayonnaise a lot of the sandwiches have slightly funky sauces.

After getting some food we jumped on the subway to go toward the student area of the city. Since Hamburg used to be many smaller cities, there are actually several city centers and the area we went to was one of them - a sort of liberal, alternative, young, and really fun place to walk around. There was this great old building that the government apparently tried to tear down but the people there protested and saved it. The entire thing is covered in graffiti, protests, and just random stuff.

Another great thing I saw, especially considering our preceding dining choice, was this pole that had messages of peace on it, but also on the top a fat little man throwing a McDonald's paper into the trash with an "I'm lovin' it" slogan printed below!

It was really fun to just sit, talk, and watch the people go by in this area, because there were definitely some interesting ones. We hung out for a while and wandered around a bit till it got closer to evening, then jumped on a subway and went back toward the harbor where Arne took me to one of his favorite spots where we could sit on the dock and drink a beer while the sun set. Across the water was "Der König der Löwen" - The Lion King musical theatre which has been putting on elaborate performances for years and apparently sells out every time. The evening was beautiful and it was a great combination with the city in the background the the water in the front.

We eventually got up and started wandering back into the city, where Arne was excited to show me one of Germany's most unique attractions: the Reeperbahn of Hamburg. This is the red light district and I didn't really know what to expect. When we got there, it was amazingly fun and just as packed with people as the Kieler Woche had been the night before. We walked by sex shops, porn stores, prostitutes in the windows, and what must be the most interesting police station in the world right in the middle of all of it. Saturday also happened to be a Harley Davidson fest, so bikers were streaming through the streets and people were packed in all around watching. Arne and I each got a Döner, which is a really popular sort of fast food over here that reminded me of a pita but with way more stuff crammed inside, and just watched everything. Every walk of life passed us, everything from young punks to college students to flocks of Asian tourists to elderly couples looking on and laughing. I really like the more fun and frivolous European attitude toward sex. Even when I'm shopping I notice that magazines have naked models on them and nobody minds because they're all pretty open about it.

Anyway, apparently the Reeperbahn is also where the Beatles played before they became famous, so we went by "Grosse Freiheit 36" which advertises them pretty heavily.

After a bit more time there, we had to jump on the subway to catch our ride back to Kiel. As we were getting out of the car an hour or two later, Arne's mom asked, "Well, do you two want to head back down to the harbor?". She meant did we want to go down to the party like the night before. I told her no and went to bed - I'd already had an awesome day!