Fri.04.12.09: The whole weekend was pretty spontaneous, as we friends like to keep it. Shortly after arriving into Hamburg we fortuitously met up with a couple of my friends here, Nino & Kasia, and took a stroll (if one can call it that) along the Reeperbahn (red light district). Seeing as it was my friends' visit, we decided to have a ganders in on of the sex shops - intriguing if a little unsettling...We headed back to Kasia's flat for a few rounds of Polish Wodka, a drink which takes some getting used to, for the next morning we were feeling a little rough...
Sat.05.12.09: We decided to move into a hostel on Saturday, as the house would be overpopulated for the weekend - and it worked out for the better. We were booked into different rooms for the first night and met a variety of characters as is per usual but no sooner did we move in that we were out again ready to scurry into the city. After having some scrumptuous crepes at a Breton Creperie we hit the Hamburger Rathaus Weihnachtsmarkt - the atmosphere was buzzing: traditional German market stalls, everyone huddling and shuffling like penguins, glühwein (mulled wine) and bratwurst aromas in the air, there was a genuine feeling of Christmas festivity about the place. There's nothing like sipping on the mulled wine with a bunch of others at a German Christmas market. So much so that we walked to Gänsemarkt Weihnachtsmarkt, which in my opinion, was even better - the stalls were selling more unique items and was also less crowded.
All this trekking around meant that our tanks were nigh on empty and it was only pretty late on in the night that we somehow (and I repeat, somehow) mustered up the energy to go out to the alternative district of the Schanzenviertel for a drink or two at Kulturhaus 73...we also invited along a roommate from the hostel who was from Singapore, who was travelling on her own throughout Europe for 2 months. Funk & soul grooving through the bar area, old skool hip-hop pounding in the basement club below. A last gasp party proper in the city proved to be worth our while in the end, though the bartenders served us their own versions of a Jägerbomb much to our amusement...Sun.06.12.09: We were determined to have an early day so that we could walk around the city properly and despite our intentions (and our shenanigans the previous night) it was already past noon before we did so. We ended up 100 odd metres high up St Michaeli's Tower with one of the best views of the city (and a view of a topless man in a flat below as spotted by Alvin) which only whetted our appetite for some German cuisine. Käsepfalzer with Sauerkraut, Schnitzel, and Winzersteak all went down a treat at a candlelit dinner Hatari/Pfalzer Restaurant on Schanzenstrasse...and for dessert? A 100km/h, 47m high ride at the Hamburger Dom (fun fair). Then the heavens opened up, we got drenched and headed back to the hostel to play card games...
Mon.07.12.09: We finally did get up early enough to enjoy the morning on my friends' last day in Hamburg. I wanted to bring them to a cafe looking over the River Elbe near where I work in Blankenese, the "Treppenviertel", which ultimately we couldn't find. Nonetheless a stroll along the beach and steep ascents and descents amidst the quaint houses upon the hills of this suburb of Hamburg showed my fellow Londoners an idyllic side to my second home...
It was soon the end of my friends' brief visit but we managed to squeeze in another Weihnachtsmarkt this time at Ottenser Hauptstrasse, with a final Currywurst/Schwarzwälder Schinkenwurst with Glühwein & Amaretto/Heißapfel & Mandeln drink...cheers to those who made it over to German soil and experienced a North European Christmas culture!
Pictures to follow...
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