Are People from Hamburg called Hamburgers?

Getting our hands on the car was a pain in the ass that I won’t even get into, but we finally got it. We finally got moving, but we didn’t really know which way. I hadn’t even thought about the fact that you can’t read signs in foreign countries while driving. You can obviously figure out the numbered highways (when you can find them), but we didn’t know the words for north, south, east or west, and really had no idea where we were. We both got a little wound up trying to figure out where to go, and ended up going back and forth on one main road. When we finally got it right, we saw this fantastic grafitti that reminded us of what it’s all about (If you can't read it the spraypaint reads 'RELAX FUNS').

We drove for a few hours before reaching Germany, where we decided to stop for some food. It didn’t occur to us until we entered this diner that neither of us knew a single German word, not please, thank you, water, or anything else. In Amsterdam everyone speaks English without fail, so it wasn’t an issue. Not so in Germany. We sat down at a table and glanced at the menu, and tried to sound things out enough to determine what we might get if we ordered certain things. When the waitress came we tried to order water, and after a bit of confusion she left and came back with 2 glasses of sparkling water. Close enough. We ordered safely, soup and a salad, and got back on the road.

When we were in London my friend James’ girlfriend Sely recommended that on our way we stop by her hometown of Hamburg, so that’s where we were headed. We didn’t have a hotel booked or any idea about the city, so we were a little nervous getting there. We drove through the center, which is just gorgeous, and ended up in the equivalent of a Motel 6 on a quiet corner. It was pretty stressful navigating through a strange city with no idea where we were going, so we decided from now on we’ll have our place to stay decided before we get there.

We got in pretty late so we laid low that first night, but the next day we set out for some sightseeing. We walked quite a bit, passing cathedrals, beautiful lakes, and tons of beautiful buildings. A lot of the architecture is pretty old, though there were parts of the city that were completely destroyed in WWII and had to be rebuilt. We went to the top of the steeple at St. Nikolai, which is now a memorial for the war, and were able to see photos of what the area looked like before the bombings. It’s been really fascinating to see the toll the war took on different areas in Europe. I didn’t see much of that during my last visit, so maybe it’s just more apparent in Germany, but I guess we’ll see as we continue. Only 10 more weeks! :)

Hamburg is a beautiful city, fairly small, but a lot of cool things to see in the little area. We were only there for one full day, so we probably could’ve seen a lot more, but we were just stopping by on our way to Berlin.