Adventures in Deutschland

As you can see from the new pictures, Emma and I recently had some wonderful adventures in Germany. So I will briefly give you a tour of some of our highlights, (and maybe lowlights) of the four day trip.

Day 1: Brussels to Cologne.

Friday was a rough day at work, and so I was the last one out of the office, I didn’t finish all of my work, I knew I was going to have to find a computer and do some work over the trip which was a bummer, and worst of all, everyone else in the office left me alone so they could go to the pub and drink. Needless to say our trip did not start on a very high note.

So I finally get out of the office, I feel crappy and I just want to get on the train and go…unfortunately our train was delayed by about an hour. In addition it was WAY overcrowded as two trains sort of merged into one, and people were sitting in our seats. Luckily Emma and I grab two seats by a table and set up camp, and as we got closer to Deutschland, the train emptied out.

We arrive in Cologne (or Köln in German), and as we exit the train station, we are greeted by an awe inspiring Cathedral. The Dom.

The Dom is Cologne’s claim to fame, as it is the largest Gothic church in Northern Europe. Ready for a day ahead, we hopped onto the trams, got to our hostel, appropriately named “Black Sheep Hostel”, and went to bed early.

Saturday, our day in Cologne was a whirl of museums and churches. Our greatest feat for the day was tied between our climb to the top of The Dom, it is about 150 meters (just under 500 feet) high, and finding the most delicious bratwurst EVER. (It was from a street vendor and when you bit into it, there was an explosion of delicious meat flavour in your mouth…SO GOOD).

Day 2: Cologne to Hamburg

After a great day in Cologne, we picked up our bags from The Black Sheep, and hopped onto the train to Hamburg. The train ride was about four hours long, and we arrived in Hamburg at about 1 AM.

The next day we woke up to grey clouds and chilly weather. We went down to breakfast, and the woman working at the hostel said we MUST go to the fish market, except it was already about 9:30 AM and it finished around 10. BUT WAIT…(someone from another table announced)…the clocks went back last night, it is only 8:30 AM! So Emma and I ski-doodle out of the hostel, hop on a tram and make our way to the Sunday morning Hamburg Fish Market. The vendors sell their wares at this market by shouting as loud as they can. I’m not 100% sure what they were shouting, (as it was in German), but they either sounded really scary/angry or really, really excited about their goods.

We make our way down to a big old warehouse, and inside is a sign that reads “Oldies are the goodies”. It is a great hall full of people, the average age is about 65, it is still about 10 AM, and everyone has beer, and oh yeah, there is a REALLY bad cover band of Billy Joel, playing VERY loudly. But when in Hamburg…so we buy a beer and take a seat.

From Hamburg!

Due to the awful weather, after a few hours of wondering around the city, and going up the tower at St. Nicolai’s tower, Emma and I decide to venture out of the city and go to what was described in the guidebook as a “Swamp house museum”. It was about 30-45 minutes away by metro.

WOW. We got off the metro and found ourselves in the BURBS, we could have been in Upstate New York or Connecticut by our surroundings. It was raining and we were cold, so we found a wonderful coffee shop (as you do in the suburbs) and warmed up. We then asked the girl at the counter (she was really nice) if she knew where the swamp museum was. She looked at us strangely and we knew we may be in for a surprise. “Swamp museum?” she asked, “Do you mean the Museumdorf?” …”Sure…” we reply hesitantly, and she gives us directions, and even draws us a really cute map. Warm and replenished, off we go to the Museumdorf.

We arrive, it’s still raining, and the “museum” is basically a historical society type set up with a bunch of old houses (they’re actually new, but they were recently made to look like old houses) in fields. And oh yea, the museum is closed. So we’re standing around, looking at the houses, I’m obsessively taking pictures, and Emma is trying to find something to read when an adorable old man comes up to us.

It turns out he was the volunteer who worked at the museum that afternoon, he was supposed to have a tour at three, but no one turned up. He graciously reopened the main house for us. He then talked to us about the “drive through house” where farmers would have two huge doors at the front and back of their house, once they were done in the fields they would drive their horse and buggy in through one door, unload, and drive it out the other side without having to turn around or back out. He also explained the “Aunt Emma” stores to us, which is basically the equivalent to old Mom and Pop stores in the US, but were run by old ladies or “Emmas”…haha.

After a great tour and look around, we bid our friendly guide adieu, and made our way back to the train.

Day 3: Hamburg to Lübeck

At the beginning of every Disney movie, there is a blue screen, a white entranceway with flags on it, and Walt’s signature, along with Tinkerbelle. We’ve all seen it, however, I now know where the inspiration for that entrance drawbridge came from. The entrance to Lübeck, a small town north of Hamburg.

Lübeck is beautiful. Emma and I spent the day wandering the streets in awe. We ended up in a bar around 2 PM, which proudly advertised that smokers are welcome. We walk inside and near the door are three older ladies (about 70 -80 years old) and at the table next to them two men of a similar age. They look as though they had been there all day, and every 10 to 15 minutes, another shot is poured. They smoke like chimneys and are in every way an institution. It was wonderful. To everyone’s (especially the two old men’s) delight, Emma asked the bar tender for two shots of vodka, we downed it, paid up and peaced out.

I had to take a quick work break, so we searched for an internet café. Of course the first two computers I sat at did not work, but after about an hour, my work was finished and we explored the streets for dinner (I forbid Brat, while it is delicious, we basically have had it for every meal since we arrived in Germany).

Back to Hamburg that night, up the next day, we walked along the boardwalk a little, before boarding a train back to Cologne, and then back to Brussels.