Part 80: Hamburg is Illuminated

Guten Tag!

Wow, so I warn you, depending on the stamina of my fingers and brain, this could turn out to be a long blog - we'll see!

So, I got up this morning at 9 and pondered around the house talking to Jettes sister and Dad about our plans for the day. They invited me to go swimming with them, but due to my genuine dislike of water and also the fact that its freezing and it was an out door pool, I politely declined and told them of my plans to check out the Customs Museum in Hamburg. I got dressed and ready to go and then by 11.16 I was on the train riding into Hamburg with book in hand and iPod in ears. Its a good way to travel.

When I arrived, I walked up to the museum which was easy to find because it was close to the Miniatur Wunderlan one I went to yesterday, but just a bit further down the road...well, a lot further. I walked for ages and then eventually found out that it was unreachable at the moment because of construction work in the area. Disappointed, I thought of going home but then realised, my ticket costed 5.40euros and what a waste that would be if I went home now. Also, I hadn't actually toured Hamburg yet, just sorta seen this and that so I thought, why not do it now?

There was a massive black spire sticking out from behind all these buildings a fair hike away that looked interesting so I decided to walk there and go check it out. As I made my way I saw some pretty cool buildings and such and when I arrived at the spire I was impressed at what it actually was. There seemed to be some sort of ruins all around it, I mean not ruins but walls that didnt full join up and had no rooves etc. It turned out I had made it to the St. Nicholas (?) Cathedral. This particular Cathedral had been destroyed many times in its history and then after a huge raid in 1942 or 43, the Cathedral was not rebuilt and all that remained was the spire and some random walls. Its quite beautiful all the same. There are all statues and stuff in memorial for the destruction of Hamburg during the war. It costed me 2Euro, but you can go up the elevator in the spire and get a pretty ace view of Hamburg so I did that. Up there, there was lots of pictures of what Hamburg looked like after the raids and they were laid out so you could see what it looked like then while looking at it now. It was really eerie but very cool. It also had various info on the spire and why it stands etc.

Next, I made my way to the town hall, by accident actually, I was looking for something else, but there was a huuuuuge crowd of people yelling and singing because I am assuming, there was some footy match or something today because they were all dressed in colours and stuff and it was pretty funny to walk around there listening to already drunken men babbling on about whatever in German whilst others shouted out random cheers. I made my way through the crowd to find Saint Petris Church. Saint Petris in just down the road from the town hall and to me, the building itself isn't all that impressive (however, it was originally built in 1342 and then destroyed and then rebuilt so.. you know.. has an excuse) but all the same I thought I should check it out. I went in and explored and saw a counter where you could pay 2euro (everything-2euro!) to go up the spire which is 123m high. I was all, yea cool quick view of the town WRONG. The way to get up the spire is with the 544 stairs. 544! Bah. It had various floors where you could look at different things and it was cool to check out but god it was exhausting, and by the time I was reaching the top, petrifying. The stairs would shake slightly and creek and they were windy and narrow and bleargh. Still it was fun and reaching the top made me feel like I achieved something. Haha. Best. Achievement. Ever. The views up there were through portholes and there was about 2 square meters of floor space which I shared with and elderly couple who were so happy when I offered to to their photos :)

I then went down and had some lunch before making my way to a shopping center and exploring for a while. Then I decided to go find the Planetarium, which is apparently amazing. I caught the trains out of the center of Hamburg and made my way to it. It took ages to find and I got... not lost because I knew where I was but... put off course a few times before an hour and 40 minutes later finding and making my way. In that hour though, I did go through an amazing park thing which was so green and pretty to walk through. I think I walked for like an hour rather than half an hour because of my detour, but it was worth it anyway until I got there. I went in and they were all like.. we dont speak English and I was all like... Pooh you. I could have spent that 1h40 doing things that achieved things but no! I walked here and then you sucked. Still, the building was cool and the walk there really was very nice, so I shouldn't complain. It was good to see the non-city part of Hamburg too. Really see Hamburg for what it is not just as a city...Yeeeah.

So I made my way back to the city part, which was a lot quicker and easier and then checked out Reeperbahn. For those who dont know Reeperbahn is a huge redlight district famous for legalised prostitution and sex shops. Its also the best nightlife area of Hamburg apparently and you can see why, it looked pretty cool but being a solo tourist who looks like a 12 year old school kid, especially with my backpack I didn't hang around long I basically walked from one train stop to the next then left. I am so cool I frost the windows.

So, by this time it was like 6ish and so I made my way back to Ellerau arriving home at 7ish where Jette was sitting around NOT studying. I nearly died from a heart attack! (Not really, I should stop making Jette out to be some snobby person who just studies all the time. Jette really is an awesome host who just has the pressures of school to worry about! I totally get that and so please, if I say something about Jette studying, I dont mean it to be mean about her! She's fantastic and very helpful) Right, so we talked for a while then I booked all my Berlin trip with the help of Jette and her sister who left this morning but before she did, researched and printed a few pages of Berlin info including prices and ways to get there, hostels and things to see and do. I was stunned at the effort she put in, it was SO nice and incredibly useful. Hostel, Bus and Plane trip to Glasgow are all booked and out of the way!

I then had tea and then Jette and I watched this really weird movie called 'Everything is Illuminated' with Elijah Wood. I really recommend it, its bizarre but very interesting and good. I wont babble on about it because it will ruin it if you watch it but yea, good film. I want to see it again just to see what I missed.

Then Jette went to Arvids place, but we made plans for tomorrow and then I came and typed this. I'm going to Facebook the photos now because theres too many important ones to blog them.

Cheerio!