A Weekend in Hamburg

Last weekend I was headed to Hamburg! I was very excited to be going there, because my mom lived there with my grandparents and her siblings for a year when she was 12, so I was pretty pumped to check everything out.

But first, the FlixBus there. I think I briefly explained what FlixBus was in my Brussels post, but essentially it's the cheapest, nicest, and most convenient way to travel to places that are a relatively close driving distance. There's free wifi (up to like 200 MB or something), plenty of leg room, and its incredibly cheap, so I try to take it whenever it makes sense. Had to get up at like 6:30 (ew), successfully made it to the bus in time (tbt to last time when I almost missed it), and was comfortably sleeping. And then we stopped at the first stop and a family (children older than I am) got on. And continued (oh yes, they were already drunk at 8:30 AM) to pound beers and be rowdy. So that's when my sleeping stopped. The bus driver literally had to come back at each stop and tell them to calm down or he was kicking them off. So yeah, FlixBus ride from hell. On the plus side we stopped at a rest stop (which I truthfully didn't expect to exist here for some reason) and I got a really yummy bagel sandwich. Fun fact about me: I have an unhealthy (like legit) bagel obsession. Pavement is bae 💕

After 5ish hours, I was in Hamburg! I had gotten some awesome tips from my coworker that had lived there for awhile, so I was ready to go. I checked into my hotel (no hotel breakfast this time-- too expensive 😕), and was super excited to find out that I got a free pass for public transportation that lasted the duration of my stay! WOOHOO! Walking is an awesome way to get to know a city, but sometimes stuff is just way too spread out.

My first mission was food. I don't suuuuper love eating alone at restaurants, so I was hoping to find something quick and simple, and boy did I find it.

My late lunch-- Bratwurst, roll and a Coke

And then it proceeded to hail. In the hour I had been there I needed an umbrella, and then sunglasses, and then protection from little balls of ice. Oh, Germany. You really just have to laugh at the insane weather sometimes. I hid from the hail in a bakery and got a Franzbrötchen though, so that was pretty okay.

My Franzbrötchen! It tastes basically like a cinnamon bun.

I then did a little shopping on the beautiful Möneckebergstraße, and explored through some of shopping districts in the city, and the gorgeous waterfront areas near the city hall. 

Hamburg Rathaus (city hall)

Hamburg Alster

I really just thought this building was pretty, idk. 

I eventually made my way over to the port, which is a super important part of Hamburg's history and culture, and got myself onto a boat for a port tour! The Supply Chain major in me was probably a bit too excited to see the giant shipping liners with the containers on them. And the TJX logistics co-op in me was probably too curious about whether any of our goods were in those containers. 

Port/bridge entrances

Some of the machinery used to move around the containers

Container ship from the second largest shipping line in the world-- The China Shipping Line

I had seen on TripAdvisor that the Hamburger Dom (a fair that happens a few times a year to celebrate the change in season) was ending that weekend, so I decided to go check it out and see what it was all about. So basically, picture any kind of fair you've ever been to. AKA, there was food and rides. So much food. I ate a lot of food. Currywurst (naturally), fries, Gluhwein (hot, spiced wine) and these little pieces of fried dough covered in Nutella (yes, they were as amazing as they sound) called Schmalzkuchen. Wow, just looked up what Schmalz means (Kuchen means cake) (Germans love to just shove two words together to name things) and it means lard. Yum. 

The entrance

My Currywurst 💕

The Schmalzkuchen!!

I was then officially exhausted/too full to move, and headed back to the hotel.

The next morning I got up, got a croissant with cheese and ham (one of the best bakery items in my opinion) and went over to St. Michaels Church, forgetting that it was a Sunday. Therefore, no church tour for me, but it was definitely still beautiful from the outside!

I'd been wanting to try this place I'd seen in a couple cities called Joe & the Juice (I think it's actually an American chain????) and went over there to get a quick 'lunch' and kill time, seeing as my church touring plans didn't work out that well. AND WOW YUM. I'm a real sucker for anything that's considered in the least bit trendy, so this juice place was amazing. And, I mean, I do like juices and smoothies too. Here's my ~artsy~ pic:

And then, the highlight of my life thus far, a chocolate museum. They had English tours offered twice a day, and I was told it lasted about 90 minutes, but honestly past that I had no clue what to expect. But basically, our awesome tour guide took us through all of the steps of how chocolate is turned from beans grown in the jungle to the wonderful goodness we all eat. AND we got to taste it at each step. AND we got to make our own chocolate bars and put whatever toppings we wanted on it. So, yeah, this was heaven.

The entrance

My chocolate bar!! I went for dark chocolate, with coconut, coffee beans, amaretto cookie crumbles, and a shake of orange flavoring. These are honestly all of my favorite flavors, and this is truthfully the best chocolate bar ever.

The chocolate making station with all the toppings!!

I still had a couple of hours left before my bus back, so I went to one of the top rated museums on TripAdvisor (honestly, please use TripAdvisor when you travel, it's SOOOO helpful), the Museum fur Kunst und Gewerbe (Art and Handicrafts). Definitely did not disappoint. Not too expensive, absolutely massive museum, and really interesting exhibits that explained about the history behind everything, and not just the pieces themselves. It really reminded me of the MFA (which I also love), so that was pretty cool too.

This trip was really awesome, not only for all the cool stuff I did, but also because my family had done a lot of it too when they lived there. It was really neat to hear my mom talk about the Hamburger Dom and what the port was like when she lived there, and compare it with my experiences now. I also think that it's really important to get to know all the different parts of the country you're in while you're abroad, and not just jet out of the country every weekend. Each country has so much history, and each European city has their own really unique history as well. Another wonderful trip for sure 😄

My next adventure is being a host for the next few weeks. The BF (Dana) is flying over tomorrow/Monday (time difference lol) (!!!), and my dad, stepmom and brother will be coming towards the middle of May. I guess you could say I'm a biiiiiit excited. (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)