In which Hamburg is occupied.

Everyone loves a good protest, especially when they have the charming atmosphere of a Sunday afternoon picnic in the park. I was curious as to whether or not Hamburg was participating in the occupying frenzy this afternoon, so I put the question out to the world wide web and instantly discovered that the Occupy Hamburg event did exist and was officially starting in two minutes. Despite the fact that I'd already spent my morning frolicking in the sunshine and had intended to get some bookwork done, my shoes found their way back to my feet and twenty minutes later they were strolling across the Rathausmarkt toward a mighty swarm of merry protesters. The square in front of city hall is the perfect place for a protest with its convenient public transportation locations, lots of space to crowd without disrupting traffic, ample gastronomical possibilities, and a scenic backdrop.

I must say, the whole thing was positively pleasant. There were many, many bodies, and though I'm sure some of these bodies were wearing Polizei uniforms, I didn't see any. Young people were there embracing the opportunity to don Guy Fawkes masks, parents were skipping along pushing a stroller with one hand and hoisting a protest sign with the other, elderly folks were out and about with signs of their own, well-trained dogs meandered with great agility through the labyrinth of protesting legs, and everyone listened politely to each speaker as they expressed their discontent with the banks, with the rich, with the Euro crisis, with the life in general. A couple people even sang protest songs, for old times' sake.

"Occupy the world":

Sniper photographer aims for the 99%:

I particularly enjoy the shadow of the photographer's head in this one:

"Laziness for all":

And, of course, the all-purpose protest slogan:

This pessimistic umbrella sees no help for the euro. (Though I would also be pessimistic if my sole purpose in life was to get rained on.)

On the other side of the Rathausmarkt, life continued as normal. The sun shone brightly (...abnormal), the tourists nourished the Alster's most arrogant feathered creatures, buses bussed, bakers baked, bankers banked, and I went home and occupied myself with this blog post.