The last week (and final post)

We‘ve started the countdown for our return home to Savannah and are spending the final week in Berlin.  My sister, Debbie has joined us and we‘ve been to a lot of Christmas markets both in Hamburg and Berlin.  Before we left Hamburg we visited the Elbphilharmonie which is the home of Hamburg‘s symphony orchestra as well as a landmark in the harbor.  Debbie and I went up the viewing platform which is about halfway up the building and where you get a spectacular view of the

Elbphilharmonie in the background

Harbor and downtown Hamburg.

We also visited the Christmas market in the St. Pauli with was billed as x-rated.  Maybe we were too early in the evening, but it was pretty tame.  The market at the Hamburg City Hall was much better and actually had some craftspeople interspersed among the many, many Glühwein stands.

The Dom - Berlin

Our train trip to Berlin was uneventful and we‘ve been here for five days.  There are a ton of Christmas markets, although with a few exceptions, they all seem to have the same products.  We have accumulated a number of different Gluwein/Eggnog mugs which I‘m hoping United Airlines does not destroy on the trip home.

We made a trip to the wall today - it‘s still an eerie reminder of a harsh period of history.

Remains of the Berlin Wall

Bremen

The next stop on our journey is Bremen.  Fortunately our visit coincides with the beginning of the Bremen Christmas market, located just across the square from our hotel.  We‘re at the Classico Hotel and if you ever get a chance to visit Bremen, this is a really nice, small, family-run hotel.

Old Town Bremen is a maze of small pedestrian walkways that are ringed with both small shops and major department stores. The main square consists of the cathedral, the Rathaus (city hall), the regional government and our hotel.

Cathedral

The square is currently Christmas market central and full of food vendors.  We have now sampled a variety of beverages - Eierpunch (eggnog), Glühwein (both red and white), and the special Bremen wine punch which had a real kick since there were other alcohols involved.  We‘ve started a collection of commerative mugs from each vendor.

Shopping alleyway

The weather has turned colder and it‘s finally beginning to feel like the holiday season.  We‘re hoping for a bit of snow here before we head back to the semi-warm south!  In the meantime we bundled up and enjoying walking around and seeing the sights.

Thanksgiving in Düsseldorf

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.  We hope it‘s a safe and happy holiday for you.

We are visiting Düsseldorf, about four hours west of Hamburg.  Friday was our last day of class and we will be traveling for a week of so, before heading back to Hamburg.  Although it‘s not Thanksgiving here, it is the beginning of the Christmas market season and we spent the morning wandering through the streets of Old Town Düsseldorf.  We sampled our first mulled wine and eggnog, complete with souvenir mugs to take home.

Once of the many cartwheeling children

Düsseldorf is a shopping Mecca for anyone with money.  Shops range from Harry Winston, to Fendi, to Michael Kors, and on and on.   There has to be a lot of money around, because the streets are lined with Porches, Mercedes, and Audis.  There is even a showroom for a brand called Sunseeker, selling both autos and yachts.  Very convenient to do all of your shopping in one location!

The Christmas markets seem to be predominantly food related.  Lots of mulled wine, sausages, and hand food.  Since this is the first of many markets that we plan to visit, we figure we‘ll have lots to choose from.  Evenings at the market are more fun since everything is decorated and lots of people are out shopping.  The cold weather makes it feel a bit more like the holidays, although I‘d really prefer to be in some warm weather!

Mulled wine and a Christmas pyramid.  

The Christmas pyramid features figures of local VIPs (politicians, actors, singers, etc.). It‘s a fun jab at the rich and famous!  We have seen only one, slightly bedraggled person portraying Santa, so he doesn‘t seem to play a prominent role in the decorations.

The city is also known for its symbol of cartwheeling children - stamped on manhole covers, souvenirs,  and seen in several different statues.  History says that when the city of Düsseldorf defeated the city of Cologne, the children of Düsseldorf celebrated by doing cartwheels.

Lübeck

Hooray!  Yesterday was our last day of language class and for the next two weeks we will be traveling to several locations in the Hamburg area.  This weekend we are in Lübeck, about 60 miles east of Hamburg.  Founded in 1143 as a port near the Baltic Sea, it was a member of the Hanseatic League.  The city was heavily damaged in 1942 by RAF bombers, and rebuild following the war using much of the same original architechture.

Holsten Gate (Holstentor)

The old town is framed by the Holstentor, one of the original city gates.  Inside the gates are the primary shopping areas, many already decorated for Christmas.  Construction for the Lübeck Christmas market is underway with large Christmas trees being assembled and food booths moving in

We toured St. Mary‘s Cathedral (Marienkirche) which has the tallest brick vault in the world.  The bell tower was destroyed by a bomb and ensuring fire and today the bells remain as they fell.

Marienkirche

We also took a boat tour around the old town and got to see all of the old sailing ships and yachts moored in the harbor.  One of the products being shipped out were gigantic bases for the wind turbines that you see all over Germany.  There were lots of people out in shells and canoes, even though the temperature is only in the low 40s.

Last night I tried a new drink - Marzipan liquor.  It‘s tastes strongly of almonds as you would expect, but with an alcoholic kick.  It‘s like drinking an almond flavored Baileys.  We had dinner at the Ratskeller and were extremely pleased that the waitress could understand our German!

Sailing ships in Lübeck harbor

Miniature World

One of the must see sights in Hamburg is Miniature World.  Located in a three-story building, the miniature scenes are primarily of cities and towns in Europe (plus Las Vegas and Miami Beach).  Trains run throughout the villages, buildings light up, and every 15 minutes the lights are dimmed and you see the scenes as though it were night.  I don‘t think I‘ve ever seen anything on this scale with such attention to detail.  Las Vegas at night looked just like you see on the Strip.

Click to see Las Vegas at night.

I particularly liked the Hamburg airport, complete with a Lufthansa jet taking off from one of the runways.  Also notice that the Millennium Falcon from Star Wars is parked on the tarmac.  Next month Santa Claus will start popping up in some of the scenes.

Millennium Falcon

Here is the Neuschwanstein Castle in southern Germany.  It served as a model for Disney‘s Sleeping Beauty castle.  Paul and I visited here a couple of years ago and it‘s a beautiful location on a lake.

So many things to take in!

Die Donaudampfschiffahrtsgesellschaftskapitansmitze

Yes, that really is a word.  Roughly translated it means the Danube steam shipping company Captain‘s cap.  Our substitute teacher threw that one at us this week.  Mike is an interesting guy and as he told us, he generally teaches more advanced German students.  That means he speaks a lot faster than our regular instructors so we really have to concentrate to understand him.

There was a holiday on Wednesday and it wasn‘t Halloween.  It‘s Reformation Day, marking the beginning of the Lutheran restoration by Martin Luther in 1517.  This is only the second or third year it has been a holiday in Germany and it‘s observed only in Northern Germany as Southern Germany is primarily Catholic.  Most people seemed to treat it just like a regular day off.

The number of people who ride their bikes here is pretty amazing.  There are special children’s seats mounted on the back that prevent them from being injured in case of an accident.  Rainy weather does seem to cut down on their numbers, but we have seen hardcore riders in full wet weather gear who still ride.  So far (fingers crossed) we have avoided being run over by a bicyclist on the sidewalk.  The sidewalks have designated bike lanes and you‘re taking your life in your hands if you walk there.  Even worse is if you are getting off of the bus, or coming out of a store and you inadvertently step into the bike lane.  My head is constantly on a swivel to make sure we don‘t get hit.

Brrrr.... it‘s cold outside

Winter has arrived.  It was 32 degrees when we got up this morning with an expected high of 45.  We knew it was coming, but we went from pretty nice weather to yuck in just a couple of days.

We have finished Week 5 of our language class and it was a busy week.  On Wednesday, our landlord Bernie invited us to meet his family and cooked dinner for us.  It was a fun and relaxing evening.  Then on Friday after class, we went with our classmate Justin to a local brewery, the Altes Mädchen.  Justin is from New Zealand but has lived here with his German girlfriend and son for the past seven years.  He showed us around the district near the old slaughterhouse, the Rindermarkthalle which has been converted into a food shopping area.

There‘s a craft brew store next to the Altes Mädchen with primarily local beers, but a few from the US as well.  I found a caramel chocolate beer that I‘ve brought home to sample the next time we‘re feeling adventuresome.  These are the kind of places that don‘t show up in the tourist books and why we like to live in places a bit longer.

I have successfully ventured into a beauty parlor and had my hair done with no major issues.  Paul had an interesting trip to the barber.  His hair looks good and the barber also offered to remove hair from his nose and ears.  Paul felt something warm on his ears, and found the barber was using fire to singe the hairs off.  It works!  Then came the nose hair removal.  Paul described it as two sticks with some kind of substance shoved up his nose.  Occasionally the barber would feel them to see if they were ready.  Then when they were ready to go, he quickly pulled them out.  Paul said there was no pain involved and the hair is gone.

Time to get back to the books ....