The Final Weekend

Grill @ Elbtreppe, Frei.21.05.2010:

 

 

 

Sam.22.05.2010:

Champions League Final: Bayern 0 - 2 Inter,

Shisha @ Morange Bar with Daniel & Alex,

Beer @ Yoko Mono,

just about to hop onto the U-Bahn @ Feldstrasse and go home when...

...Kasia & nino fortuitously stop me in my tracks & save the night!

I can conclude that there are no coincidences in life.

Kulturhaus 73: 60s / Motown / funk / (and some dirty electro),

Disgusting Dürüm Döner,

Long journey home,

Home @ 0530hrs...

Rowing on the Alster, afternoon of Sonn.23.05.2010:

 

Grill by the Alster, evening of Sonn.23.05.2010 (photos courtesy of Kasia!):

I'll be lucky to have another summer weekend as good as this one...tschüss bis zum nächsten Mal Hamburg!

The End

I finally received my April wages today after a protracted negotiation with my former employers, a matter into which I will not delve into and best left to the past. Instead I will conclude this Hamburg documentation with a few photos and notes of what happened during my final weekend here in Deutschland...

Stillness

Weds.05.05.2010:

 Am Strand, Blankenese

Alster lake

Wasserlichtkonzert, Pflanzen und Blomen

End game

I went to work on Monday with a view to enquiring about my already belated April pay after making amendments to a private house which I was drawing up for a planning application. The weather was pallid and rainy. The skies seemed to brood throughout the whole day. Five o' clock arrived at once and so did my boss as he returned to the office from a typical day of late involving scurrying to all the project building sites and meetings to ensure that things were not going to slip behind schedule even further. He called me out for a stroll along the beach and a chat. I sensed that this was going to be one of those conversations. I did my best however to mask any anxiety by looking out to the Elbe.

Half an hour later the news that I had been expecting for about a month was revealed. I was told that this would be my last day at the office. My Hamburg dream was over. The reason imparted to me was that I was too young, too inexperienced and that they needed someone who could take over projects completely, such is the daunting workload the practice faces at the moment. So much so that my Indonesian colleague, a diploma-qualified architect who has worked here for a month, also got told to leave. Whatever the reason and despite my anticipation of an end point it still did not cushion the blow which I am still reeling from today.

Thoughts have been scrambling through my mind since then and the redundancy I am currently experiencing has come as a result of swallowing a bitter pill. One only hopes that this setback is a bittersweet one. With time the sweetness should come, but for now I'm left to fill my empty hours enjoying Hamburg (money permitting) and devising a plan to return to London.

The dream may have come to a sour end, but with loose ends still to tie up, the farewells to follow will provide much optimism for my next venture...

Fr: -iday/-ivolous/-olics

So, last Friday night...
cocktails @ Gansemarkt with Sebastien & Fred
back to Seb's flat, the night of mess begins,
met up with Daniel & Alex on the Reeperbahn,
then Sommersalon, then to Sternschanze,
met with Kasia & Nino in Haus 73,
crazy riots/protest in front of Rote Flora, 
bonfires, missiles thrown, vandalism, street fighting, police in riot gear,
and messy journey home...

(A few notes from last weekend)

Friday
Aurel, Ottensen with Sebastien & Fred
then Sommersalon, Reeperbahn,
then a surreal wander through the red corridors
then back to Sommersalon
then KFC
then S-Bahn, fell asleep, ended up in Elbgaustrasse, back to Altona, fell asleep on wrong platform, feel asleep on S-Bahn & almost missed Othmarschen
home 0530 or something...

Saturday
recovery
drew the Head of Madonna from La Pietà by Michelangelo

Sunday
met up with Kasia for a cultural crawl in the city...
Julia Stoschek "I Want To See How You See" @ Deichtorhallen.
an outdoor rave/after-party by the river (?!)
Körber-Foto-Award 2010 / Michael Schirmer @ Haus der Photographie
browsing through photos in the bookshop
McFlurry
beer at Saal II, Sternschanze, watching the girls, boys and couples go by

Frühling Friday Lunchtime

Vanilla milk drink in right, Berliner in left
Fri.23.04.2010