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| Monika's roses bought at Lidl for 1.99 Euros. These were a week old and still looked fresh! |
I went to Hamburg for four very quick days. The main reason for the visit was to go to my cousin, Till's, marriage to Anne. |
| First glimpse of Germany from the train. |
On Thursday, I caught the train to Hamburg from Amsterdam Centraal. One change of train took place at Osnabruck. The train was late getting to Osnabruck! Shocker! That is just not a thing in Amsterdam or Germany. When the announcement was made that we would be late, it seemed like the whole train went quiet. I believe people were on their phone looking up the definition of late! Many had other trains to catch. They are so used to trains being on time that they choose transfer times of 15 minutes or less. Being late was bothersome but not the end of the world. Train tickets are open ended which means if you want to take an earlier or later train, it is possible. You'll lose your reserved seat but at least you'll be on a train.
There was a valid reason the train was delayed. Up the track from where we were a freight train had derailed. That created a domino effect. The train in front of us was a regional train so didn't travel at the same speed as us and also did many stops. So, I get to Osnabruck late to catch my next train. Round the corner and there are the nightmare stairs to climb. No pictures to thrill you with. I was in a rush to catch the train and was busy spitting fire at the steps. Did I mention my suitcase is now heavy? When I left Amsterdam, I thought it weighed more! It was confirmed when my cousin, Reinhard, picked it up to put it in the back of his car aftering meeting me at the train station. To quote Reinhard as he picked it up he said "What have you got in here? Rocks???". I didn't buy heavy souvenirs but I guess the combined total must weigh a lot! It was murder trying to get my suitcase up the stairs. I had four left of the 36 to go when I just couldn't go any further. I stood there looking at those last four steps when a large male hand reached over and picked up my suitcase. I watched the magic hand carry my suitcase up those steps when I realized I had to follow it. I was so exhausted that I struggled up the stairs. Meanwhile, I found my voice and said "Thank you so much! I couldn't go any further. You saved me!". I believe the magic hand belonged to a young man in his 20's. I cannot for the life of my remember what he looked like but I remember his hand!
I arrived in Hamburg. Reinhard is there to greet me and my suitcase full of rocks. Off we go to the Hotel Eggers where Till has organized rooms for people who were invited to the wedding. Reinhard took control of everything. I signed papers at the reception desk, Reinhard found the way to the room, put the luggage in and we were off to his and Monika's house. It was so nice not to have to do anything but play follow the leader.
A civil ceremony takes place before the wedding in the church. The government only allows a few people to attend that ceremony. It's a result of COVID. Everyone who goes has to go to an official COVID test centre and show an official test result before they can enter the government building. Reinhard and family as well as Klaus, Suzie and Julia (family friends and an amazing photographer) all went for their tests before going to dinner. The night before, I took a test in Amsterdam. Klaus was saying he hated getting those tests. Reinhard not so much either. I teased them by saying I don't want any crying when you get the test. Well, Reinhard got me back. He quietly asked the tester if I could get tested. When the fellow said yes, it was done! All of us tested negative.
Dinner was at a restuarant called Christos. It is a Greek restaurant. I had schnitzel. I met Anne for the first time. She is lovely. I am so pleased for Till. I met her family and many other people including seeing Klaus, Suzie and Julia. They are the family that organized our VIP visit to the Paulaner beer tent at Oktoberfest ten years ago. We sat with the owner of the tent. I learned what it was like to be royalty!
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| Anne and Till |
Zoh (the beginning of sentences by Reinhard), back to dinner at Christos. This restaurant is at the corner of the street in Stapelfeld where my aunt and now Till and Anne live. In previous visits, this hotel was always closed whenever I visited. It has reopened and is a very popular Greek restaurant.
The first menu I got was written in German. While I didn't know what most items were, I saw Schnitzel. Decision made. Till got me a menu written in English. I looked at the items on it but the decision was made. Schnitzel! It was delicious. I was in heaven. I also had a beer! I couldn't for the life of me remember the last time I had alcohol. The beer was called Grevensteiner. It was nice! I had one large and one little beer. It's neat that you can order just a small glass of beer.
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| Large beer. |
Dinner over and back to the hotel. I was pretty tired and glad to be able to go to bed but first, talk with family back home. I have to say that being able to Message back and forth has been a God send. As a solo traveller, I sometimes see families together and wish I had someone with me too. That quickly passes when I realize they would cramp my style and taking a million pictures style too. I would make them nuts too!
I stayed at the Hotel Eggers. A nice hotel. Small rooms. If I was sharing a room with anyone, we would have had to figure out a system to walk passed each other. The room was very compact. It worked. That's all that matters.
The next morning, was when Till and Anne had their civil wedding ceremony. I didn't go to that because of the limited number of people allowed to attend. Instead I headed into town on the regional train from Rahlstead to Hamburg Hbf. I'm very familiar with taking that train because I've been to this area several times. I had help getting a day ticket at the automated machine where you buy tickets. An older lady saw me struggling so asked, in German, what I was trying to do. I answered in German. She said let me do it for you. She stood in front of the machine and looked puzzled. She said "No wonder you can't figure it out. This is English!". Without laughing, I said "I'm Canadian so wanted the English instructions." She looked at me shocked and said she had no idea. That was good for my ego. Zoh, with ticket in hand I head up to the train platform waiting for the train. Looking around I noticed people taking face masks out of their pocket. Oh, masks on all trains required? No problem, I brought six with me. I look in purse for a mask. Not one with me. They are in my backpack which is in my room. Oh oh! I decide to risk it. I get on the train, pull the collar of my jacket over my face and pray no train conductor comes along and makes me get off. Luck was on my side. That didn't happen. 23 minutes later, I'm in downtown Hamburg on the main shopping street called Monkenbergstrasse. I'm excited to go to my favourite store, C&A. I need two tops for tonight's dinner and the wedding tomorrow. Why? Because I forgot my good tops at home!
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| Monkebergstrasse, Hamburg |
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| Donairs, anyone! This kiosk has been at the exit of the train station for years. I've never had a donair there. |
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| C&A all closed up. |
As I walk up the street toward C&A, I keep looking for the large sign that hangs from the side of the building. I keep walking and walking but don't see it.
I get to the point where I know, I missed it because I'm now at an area that is found after the store. It's at that point, I realize the boarded up building with the fence around it, was C&A. I was so disappointed. No, it can't be. It's the only store on this street I can afford to shop in. What will I do? I go to another store called Karlstadt. It is a pricey store that carries designer brands. I start roaming around first looking for something in my price range that I like. My God there are some ugly designer clothes that people buy. Second, I hope to find my size. Long story short, I found two tops. One I wouldn't have bought had I been home but I had to do something so I didn't like the poor relation wearing the same top to two different functions one being the wedding. To dress up the plain black top, I bought a cheap long fake gold necklace. I was presentable.
For lunch, I went to the spot to buy bratwurst in Hamburg. In the summer, it is so busy that there is a line up a mile long. In October, there was only a couple of people in front of me. Ordered the bratwurst. That first bite did not disappoint. Oh yes! I am having a real bratwurst.
A couple of hours later, I went to Europa Passage (a shopping mall) for spaghetti ice cream. Whenever I'm in Hamburg, this is a tradition for me. What is spaghetti ice cream? Sounds awful. At least that's what I thought for years. I know different now. It's actually vanilla ice cream squeezed throught a Spaetzle maker so that the ice cream looks like strings of spaghetti. It's topped with strawberry sauce to look like spaghetti sauce and topped with flakes of white chocolate to look like Parmesan cheese. I went to where the sit down L'Italiana Gelateria is located. Got there and it is boarded up! Nooooooo, what is happening to my favourites places. Is the world ending?? I then remember there is a kiosk at the enterance to the mall with the same name. Calm down. Deep breathes. Walk don't run to the kiosk. I get there; ask about spaghetti ice cream. The server says she doesn't know what I'm talking about. Nooooo! The blood drains from my body. I feel dizzy! Her boss comes over and says everything is okay. My server is new. She doesn't realize it is another dish they serve. I get my ice cream. All is good in my world.
Time to head back to Rahlstedt. I did buy a mask at a drug store. Bright pink! Europe recently changed the rules for mask. You have to have a FFP2 type masks. The surgical type masks are not accepted on trains.
Dinner that night was at the hotel. It was a buffet type with a choice of ham soup (I think) and boiled weiners (Frankfurters). It was good. I met so many wonderful people. I got the feeling that good people surround themselves with good people. Everyone was so friendly. They stopped by to say hello and welcome me to Hamburg.
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| Looking into the restaurant where we had dinner. |
The next day is the wedding. It was beautiful. It all went off without a hitch Even the rain stopped long enough for everyone to get to the church without getting wet. The wedding ended and the rain came down. No biggie! Instead of drinking out glass of champagne outside the church with the bride and groom. We drank it inside. Felt weird drinking in a church.
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| Till and Anne |
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| The groom, Till. My cousin. |
Off to an amazing wedding receiption. It was like being at Oktoberfest. Amazing celebration. Lots of people. I left at 12:30. My cousin Reinhard and other friends closed the place at 4:30 when it ran out of booze! They felt very rough the next day at breakfast.
Dinner that night was back at Christos. Again I ordered schnitzel. Just as good. Had leftovers to take on the train the next day on my way to Copenhagen.
My last day in Hamburg came quickly. I went to breakfast at my cousin's home. It was a typical German breakfast topped off with a glass of Prosecco (A popular drink in my German's family. It's an Italian sparking white wine). We toasted to family being together again. Time to say goodbye and head for the train station. I loved every minute with my family and meeting new friends. I was, however, ready to wind down and be on my own again. If you can believe it, I was tired to talking!!!! hahaha
Arrived at the train station with loads of time to find the train platform where I would catch my train. The train arrived. I found the car where my seat was and climbed aboard.
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| I found an elevator! I didn't need it because the escalator was working to take me down to the the train platform. Go figure! |
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| Hamburg Hbf. With an average of 550,000 passengers a day, it is Germany's busiest railway station and the second-busiest in Europe after the Gare du Nord in Paris. |
So long Germany. Until next time!
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