After Amsterdam, Lauren and I were on an over-night bus to Hamburg. The bus ride was about 7 hours long. I was a little scared it would be unbearable but it wasn't too bad. We ended up sleeping the whole way through. We arrived in Hamburg with tons of time to spare. The first day we took it easy. We got to our hostel, rested, took showers and just relaxed. We had made plans to meet up with a friend I lived with in Sydney, Australia named Veronika. We had become pretty close in Austria having gone through several ups and downs together. When we heard from Veronika, who was coming from a town about an hour and half outside of Hamburg, she would be arriving around 6 pm we decided to hit the Holiday Christmas Markets to kill some time. We went to the front desk to ask about them and they told us there were several... about 14 Christmas Markets all around town. There were a cluster of them right by where we were staying so we headed out. 
The Christmas Markets in Germany are quite extra. Everyone is out, there are so many different foods to choose from, beer, malt wine, sausages, pretzels, marzipan crepes! Anything you could imagine! It's all just so festive and the markets run for several streets, one leading right into the next! They really get you in the holiday spirit and the eating spirit. The only thing more fun than eating at the market was pronouncing all the funny German words! FLEISHSPEI(weird B)
After the Christmas market we went back to our hostel to meet up with the lovely Veronika. It was such a treat to get to see her again. When you travel so often you end up meeting such amazing people. It's so easy to get close to people yet so hard to say good bye. I often wonder why meet people if you are just gonna say goodbye and never meet again but luckily that wasn't the case with Veronika. She came to pick us up from our hostel and then we went out for a traditional German meal. Of course we all ordered beers. Some bigger than others. When I saw the size of the beers I couldn't believe my eyes! Half a Litre gets me well drunk, I couldn't imagine what would happen if I dared to drink a Litre! The best part of it all was that my friend Lauren ordered a green tea at first and my beer was cheaper than her tea!!! Germany for the win!!
After dinner Lauren and I said our goodbyes to Veronika for the second time, not knowing when we will meet again. The next morning we were up, bright and early for our only full day in Hamburg as we were scheduled to leave the next morning. We met up with a walking tour. The best way to see any city! The first thing I noticed about Hamburg, that I found particularly different from Amsterdam, France and Spain, is that everything seemed a little darker than everywhere else. Many dark brown buildings. The buildings also seemed way more modern. Way less ancient architecture yet the detailing on the building were so intricate and clean. It all felt very German, emotionless, well thought out and executed impeccably. As I am someone who loves black and everything dark I took a liking to many of the buildings. 
As we made our way through the city, there was no getting around the subject of the Holocaust and it's effects on Germany as a whole. Being Jewish, going to Germany has always been a distant desire. I finally found myself there, walking the streets where "it" all started and ended. The entire city is paved with memorials.
Although I have no idea what this plaque says, it is on the building that used to be the headquarters of Tesch & Stabenow, the company that distributed the insecticide, Zyklon B. This gas was used to kill millions in the gas chambers. The company claimed to have no knowledge of it's use on humans, but this was proven otherwise since the company stripped the gas' added odor for humans to be aware of it's presence. This building is now an apartment building and the residents of the building asked for the plaque not to be placed on the building in fear that it would lower the selling price of the apartments. The German government still required that it go up because for Germany it is important that they take every single step towards righting their wrongs.
These tiles are found on the streets throughout Germany and are in memory of those who were killed during the Holocaust. This particular one is in memory of Heinrich Mayer. A very active German citizen. He worked for Hamburg's city council and was a leading force behind the creation of Hamburg's worker's union. He worked for the state of Germany, yet when it came down to it, being a German just wasn't enough. 
The last of the memorials I will talk about is "Prufung" (The Ordeal) by Edoth Breckwoldt. It's of a young man sitting on a pile of bricks from Nikolaikirche Concentration Camp just outside Hamburg. On the plaque there is a quote by Dietrich Bonhoeffer that reads "No man in the whole world can change the truth. One can only look for the truth, find it, and serve it. The truth is in all places." I love this quote because even though this is a memorial the quote on the plaque is true to all aspects of life. We can not change what has been done or what is but we can work towards bettering our tomorrow by learning from what has been. 
Although, through out my trip in Hamburg I couldn't help but carry a heavy heart the city itself was still breath taking and beautiful. What I found interesting was it's similarity to Amsterdam. Both cities claimed to be home of the stock market and having the biggest port in Europe throughout years. One thing that Hamburg does have on Amsterdam is that Hamburg has more bridges and canals than Amsterdam and Venice combined, which came as a shock to me cause when I think canals my mind definitely goes straight to Venice and Amsterdam. I wonder why there isn't as much an association with Hamburg! I've definitely developed a love for canals. It just makes so much sense! Water is beautiful so why not have it run throughout the city! It's like being able to walk along a port but in land! It's just brilliant!
After our walking tour we stopped for lunch at the ever so famous Zum Brandanfang. This restaurant is the starting location of Hamburg's great fire of 1842. This restaurant is really cool, not only because it was responsible for burning down the second biggest city in Germany, but because the ceiling is completely covered by bills from all over the world that have been pinned to it. Legend has it that sailors used to pin money to the ceiling for good luck at sea and for a safe return home. When they successfully came home they would return to the restaurant and collect their money. Considering that, every bill you see hanging from the ceiling is a sailor lost at sea... but not really because the restaurant has continued this tradition but with travelers who give a bill from their home country to hang in from the restaurant's famous ceiling.
My favorite part of Hamburg was definitely St. Michaelis Church. Walking up to this church you would have no idea that the inside looks the way that it does. The inside is just so exuberant. This church is grand yet subtle all at the same time. It's hard to describe really, but it's gold elements combined with it's refined detailing, it's majestic organ a long side the robin's egg blue colour blocks, gives it this juxtaposition that leaves you mesmerized and wanting more. As I've said before I LOVE visiting churches but I just fell in love with this one. I didn't want to leave and the Opera/Orchestra rehearsal that was going on, on the second floor had definitely got me thinking I had died and gone to heaven, unfortunately the screaming German kids beside me reminded me very well that I was not in Heaven but in Germany.
The tower of the church is open for tourists and is definitely worth going up if you are a "view from the top" type person. The woman at the cash, warned my friend and I that the elevator was busy so if we waned we could climb the stairs. We thought we would be fierce tourists and climb the tower - bad idea. To our surprise we were the only ones climbing the stairs and to put insult to injury everyone we passed reminded us that we had a long way to go. About half way up I was ready to return down and kill the woman at the cash who suggested we climb. We eventually made it to the top and no! I did not feel good about my surprise work out.
After the church it was pretty well night time. We headed back downtown and caught the last of our German Christmas Markets! This time hitting up some new ones. They seemed less festive and a little more ritzy. I must say the Germans are good with their Christmas lights!
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