A Very Good Weekend

It isn't very often that I travel to a place I know so little about, or rather, that what I thought I knew about it was so, so wrong.  Having spent nearly 2 years of my life living between Austria and Bavaria, I had thought that I understood what this area was all about, and even more so, what it looked like, and in those respects, this past weekend was a smack in the face.  I recently returned from spending three days in northern Germany, in Hamburg.  Of the more than two dozen trips I've made to Germany over the years, it was the very first time I stepped foot outside Bavaria.  Hamburg, its own state, sits along the Elbe River, one of Europe's largest, and is in the vicinity of both the Baltic and North Seas.  It's one of the European Union's largest cities, and second in Germany behind Berlin.  I knew Hamburg was a major port city, and I expected it to look exactly like Elizabeth, NJ, with endless rows of metal shipping containers, electrical plants, oil refineries, and monstrous cargo ships.  Being in the Protestant north, I didn't expect to see artistic images or objects around the city or painted on walls as one would in the Catholic south.  I didn't expect to see any of the beautiful, detailed work of Italian artisans in the baroque style, as it doesn't share that connection with Italy that Bavaria does.  In short, I didn't expect the city to be a pretty sight, nor did I really expect it to have a cultural scene, as my sense of "beauty" didn't seem to fit with the grey, industrialized, austere metropolis I envisioned.  It's not a city I had ever intended to visit, but this time around, I had good reason.  One of my best friends from last semester, Cecilia, had moved up to Hamburg to study at the university there, and my trip up to visit with her was the first one I planned this spring.  The trip would have been worth it just to spend a few days catching up in a quiet café, and, with my notions of the city, I half expected to do that, but with my tour guide extraordinaire at my side, those preconceived thoughts were blown from my mind and I had arguably my favorite weekend of the semester.

It all started taking a midday flight from Munich up to Hamburg.  The flight took me directly over parts of the city, and from the air, I could see just how green it all was.  My first mistake came when I was looking for the local train into town.  I walked up to an attendant and said, "Grüß Gott," which is the standard form of greeting in Austria/Bavaria.  I could tell I erred as soon as I said it, judging from the lady's facial expression.  While the formal "Guten Tag" is used more in the north than in the south, the most common greeting was simply "Hallo," or "Moin moin," a local greeting which utterly threw me off.  The lady (and a few more people along the way) may have been irked by what I said, but at least those words are German!  I have no idea where their little phrase comes from, but I heard it absolutely everywhere.  After dropping of my things at my accommodation, I jumped on the train towards Cecilia's place, about 20 minutes southeast in a suburb called Bergedorf.  She had underplayed it, and I was so surprised to see how beautiful it was!  We met with a big hug at the station, and then walked about five minutes into the heart of the quaint old town, with its cobblestone streets, jagged storefronts, and overhanging trees above the walkways, leaving a marbled design on the path as the sunlight passed through the leaves.  There was some type of festival going on, attracting a crowd of every age, shape, and size.  Though the center was buzzing, we grabbed some ice cream and managed to find a secluded patch of grass alongside the castle (which was surrounded by a moat!) right in the middle of a gorgeous park.  Having seen nothing but cold rain for 2 weeks, and since all the teaching assistants had left me pretty much on my own for a while, being hundreds of miles away, under the bluest of skies, feeling the sunlight's warmth upon my face, eating ice cream next to one my best friends made me really, really happy.  I could tell right there and then that it was going to be a wonderful weekend.

The Rathaus in the city center.

After a bit longer in Bergedorf, we headed into Hamburg for the night.  About a 10 minute's walk down a tree-lined shopping street, we arrived at the main square with its towering city hall rising far above the city.  Bordering this square was a canal and a few buildings with a long colonnade reflected in the shimmering water below.  I was dumbfounded.  Here's a scene right out of Venice nearly a thousand miles north in the very north of Germany, a place I thought would be cold and characterless.  Beautiful!  The noble swans and the ducks swam about, under bridges and in side canals, gracing the water without a care in the world.  Just beyond the Rathausplatz was the Binnenalster, one of two artificial lakes from the Alster, a major river.  It really took my breath away.  It's designed in a square, tree-lined on three sides, with a walkway circumnavigating it, bordering by refined Classical façades on three sides, and a wide promenade on the city-side.  In the center of the lake is a fountain that shoots water upwards of 60m into the air.  The sun was pouring down on us, and a gentle, cool breeze from the water blew through my hair.  Oh, how wrong my impressions had been!  After strolling around the Binnenalster, we had dinner at a neat place called Alex on the pavilion alongside the lake.  After feeling a bit parched, the local brew, Holsten, went down like water.  We had their take on fish & chips, and it was just incredible to have seafood again!  Afterwards, we walked along a quiet street, past the university and through a lively park to a neighborhood called Schanze, a very hip area of town.  I liked the vibe of this place immensely.  It seemed as if every building housed a restaurant or a place to gather with friends for a drink.  The most astounding part was just how many, many, many young people were there.  I guess I took Salzburg for the norm, but then I realized, sitting in a café or going to the opera really is an "older person's" cup of tea.  I do love it, but it just made me realize how Salzburg isn't really geared towards the younger crowd.  There in Schanze, it was great!  We sat at a table just off the main drag and ordered a Hugo, a cocktail of prosecco, fresh mint, elderflower, and lime, and boy, was it refreshing!  The sun was still beating down pretty hard on us, and as I looked at my watch, I was taken by surprise.  It was 10:30, and there I thought it couldn't have possibly been later than 8.  I think it's because Hamburg is so far north, that it gets to enjoy the most of the sun in the summer hours, and, after my monsoon season in Austria, more sun was a welcome thing!

The next morning, I awoke prematurely at seeing sunlight peek through the window...at 5am.  The sun really doesn't fool around in Hamburg, and even though it would have been nice to sleep a bit longer, I jumped out of bed with a lot of energy, ready to take on the day.  I met Cecilia at the station, and we took the metro to the Speicherstadt, which is Hamburg's old warehouse district.  I essentially thought all of Hamburg would look like this, and from every picture I had seen of it, I didn't expect to be impressed.  Wrong again.  The old part is built almost entirely of deep red brick, and its buildings were specially designed to offload grain and other cargo from ships and store them in the facilities along the canals.  The buildings are simple, but I found beauty in that they were practical and full of history.  Today, the buildings are mostly home to museums, high end restaurants, and art galleries.  We walked a block further, through some type of charity race, to the newer part of the district, which is seeing massive amounts of gentrification and building projects.  As we walked along the canal, I noticed that most, if not all, of the buildings we residential.  Each complex was built in a rough square shape, maybe 5 stories high, and each in a different, but very, very modern architectural style.  I liked the buildings a lot, because they seemed to have gotten "modern architecture" right - they seemed very livable, and in some way, really warm and eco-friendly.  I had forgotten, most of Hamburg was destroyed in air raids during the war, and German modern architecture had really staked its claim in the city in the recent decades.  As we ended our meander through this area, we came across a truly gigantic building project, the still-in-the-works Philharmonic Hall, which is set to open next year.  I don't know for sure, but I'd wager it'll be the world's largest concert house - it really is enormous.  We then continued along the Elbe a few hundred meters to an area called Landungsbrücken where we caught the ferryboat to the end of the line, and then back.  Again, a surreal feeling.  I miss the ocean so very much being in Austria, and here we were, on a rooftop terrace with the wind blowing through our hair, seeing the riversides from the water.  A major bonus was that the ride was included in my day card, so it didn't cost extra.  We were able to see a few neighborhoods from the deck, as well as the entrance to the sprawling port of my preconceived notions.  It was a truly impressive, and totally relaxing way to spend an hour or two.  We got off at the Fischmarkt, to which we'd return tomorrow, and found a place across the street from the river for an al fresca lunch.  Cecilia said I had to try one of the Fischbrötchen, a Hamburg specialty of pickled fish on a roll.  I was a bit trepid about trying it, as "pickling" and "fish" aren't two words I would have ever put together, but it's a common thing here in Europe, and I was set on trying it.  Again, blown away.  It was, to that point, the best thing I had tasted in weeks.  The ingredients of herring, a pickle, lettuce, and a rémoulade, worked so well together, and it was the perfect size for lunch.  

The Binnenalster on a sunny summer day.

Next, we jumped on the metro and came out near the football stadium and a relic of the war, an imposing Flakturm, a fortified concrete anti-aircraft tower.  Diagonally across the street was the entrance to Planten un Blomen, one of the many parks in Hamburg.  We claimed a patch of grass on a slight slope amidst the bustling people and chatted a bit before both dozing off under the sun.  We spent most of the afternoon relaxing there.  After quite a while, we continued walking through the park, and came out near the university where Cecilia studies.  We walked along some of the streets, with their ivy covered row houses, and came to a tiny ice cream parlor to cool down a bit.  Nearing dinnertime, we headed off back to Schanze and popped into one of Cecilia's favorite restaurants, a Korean place.  Not only was it in a great area, but the restaurant itself was fun.  Its design was clean and simple, harmonious, if you will - themes that would only be mirrored in our meals.  Waiting for our food to come out, we realized that maybe the sun hadn't as happy to see us as we it, because we could really see just how red we had gotten between sitting out in the park all day, and having windswept faces from the boat.  Per usual, the watch tan line is back, as is the ridiculous forehead tan line where my hairline starts, and even more pathetic upper arm tan lines in perfectly straight lines where my shirt had covered!  We were really starving by the time our food arrived, and I was really excited, at it was my first foray into Korean cuisine.  We each ordered a main dish, and then shared three smaller dishes.  I had rice noodles with a black bean and braised pork sauce, and julienned cucumbers as my main dish, and we shared pickled eggplant, kimchi, and sweet potato glass noodles with julienned vegetables.  Outstanding!  Nothing tasted as I had expected.  I had heard stories about kimchi, cabbage fermented for months under ground and served with chili paste, from Korean friends, and I was very excited to try it.  The sweet potato noodles were outrageous, and had so many flavors going on!  The eggplant was served cold, and was extremely refreshing, and its flavors were a bit mysterious, but excellent.  It was, by far, the best meal of a weekend filled with great meals, and I just loved how clean the flavors were, and how healthy the meal seemed.  We had plans to meet a few of Cecilia's friends in the park for a light and water show, but we were so drained from the sun that we ended calling it a night.  

The iconic Speicherstadt, Hamburg's old warehouse district.

We met early the next day and made our way to the Fischmarkt for the Sunday market.  Again, we headed to Landungsbrücken and started the long trip through the various vendors, all the way to the old fish market hall at the opposite end.  Like most markets, people were selling everything under the sun, but what amused me the most were the fish and produce sellers.  They were auctioning things off, yelling at the tops of their lungs, offering the neighboring vendor some friendly competition whilst simultaneously entertaining the crowds that braved the cool overcast morning to do some shopping.  We had another Fischbrötchen for breakfast.  This time I had mackerel, and as it was my first time having fish for breakfast (as well as that type of fish), again I was a bit apprehensive, but it was just as good as lunch the day before and was a great start to the day.  We ended our tour of the market by meeting some of Cecilia's friends inside the old hall, which was a really neat place, hopping with people eating breakfast and featuring live bands.  After a while there, we headed into the center of town to grab a coffee to both warm up and wake up!  We went to a café right on the Binnenalster that offered a great view of the lake.  After sufficiently warming up, we walked through the city back to the Speicherstadt one last time.  It was very quiet on a Sunday, surprisingly much more so than in Salzburg, but we eventually settled down at a bakery with outdoor seating, taking a table in the sunlight for a few hours.  There, after lunch, I tried a Fritz-Kola, a local Coke, and a Franzbrötchen, a kind of flattened croissant with a cinnamon sugar glaze slapped in the wrinkles.  Simple, yet incredible! Sitting there in the sun for a few hours, I reflected on what a fantastic weekend it had been - we'd seen so much, we'd talked so much, and I cannot remember the last time I laughed so much.  And then, before I knew it, it was time to head back to the station to catch my train back to Austria.  It ended with a long goodbye on the platform, because we both know it'll probably be a while before we get to see each other again after I return to the U.S., but at least we parted with one Hell of a weekend behind us.  

Hamburg took my misinformed opinions and criticisms and turned them upside down within an hour of being there.  The city itself is full of life and character, and owns a cultural scene all to itself.  Its people are warm, friendly, and thankfully, speak German so articulately and correctly that it makes Austrians seem like the kid who never passed German class.  They're tremendously environmentally friendly, and it seems they've allowed the environment to integrate with every aspect of their lives.  Parks, open spaces, and greenery can be found on every street, amid every cluster of buildings.  I easily forgot that I was in one of Europe's largest cities.  It has more canals than Amsterdam and Venice put together, and has more bridges than Amsterdam, London, and Venice together.  Like the phoenix, it's a city who's been reborn of the ash of war and developed, and continues to develop, into an incredibly beautiful and vibrant home.  It has everything I'd want in a city: it's large but doesn't feel it, it's for young people, it's home to many and to many cultures, its food is incredible, its architecture remarkable, it's on a river and has beaches, and it's a city I'd very much like to visit again.  Best of all, I got to see it with a wonderful, wonderful friend.  It was a very good weekend, indeed.