One of the perks of having ample visitors is the ample experience I get tourguiding it up around the city. Sure, there is potential that boredom might sneak in after having done my favorite tour route for the umpteenth time, but it doesn't. I guess that's why it's my favorite. Newness is always right around the corner. For example, one HHayday started smack dab in the belly of the city, only to find that there was a giant triathlon in motion. Thousands of little spandex-cladden Menschen were bobbing across the Alster to the Rathaus, where they popped out and started running. Bikes were also involved, as well as a surprise absence of functional roads throughout the entirety of the city. An later excursion through the Speicherstadt put us on the front lines with an army of kayakers. Everywhere we looked, people were on the move. And they were all smiling.
One of the most prominent landmarks on the HH skyline for me is the Nikolaiturm, all that remained of the giant Gothic church after the bombings in 1943. The steeple has been restored and fitted with a glass elevator, while its crypt houses a gut-wrenchingly important documentation center about the city's destruction in Operation Gemorrha.
Speaking of which, there many walls around Hamburg that sport plaques saying "Destroyed 1943 : 19XX Rebuilt". Many of them are unnoticeable now, having chameleoned to the bricks around them or wrapped themselves in cocoons of vines or spray paint.
[Other unexpected sights.]
This spring and summer there was a pretty excellent art installation going on in the Deichtorhallen, one of the many art spaces around town. It consisted of an enormous, shiny platform hanging many meters up in the air in an old warehouse. The artist decided at the last minute that it should be free to play on, so all you had to do was sign a waiver blaming any injury on your own stupidity and leave your shoes in the shoe playpen. I can here a couple times just to sit, hang out, and see how people reacted to the space. Some danced, some slept, some held deeply intellectual conversations, some gekuschelt, some ausgeflippt, and some just kinda shrugged and exited. The atmosphere was positive and refreshing.
Perhaps Hamburg's most popular attraction after the Reeperbahn (literally) is the Fischmarkt. If you're young and spry and want the real deal, you party all of Saturday night and then hit the fish market on Sunday morning when it opens at 5 or at 7, where you eat hot fish sandwiches and drunkenly mingle with locals and tourists alike. Of course, there is also the sleeping and waking up early alternative, which enables you to chuckle at the nuttiness and still have a Sunday afterward to do with what you please.
This market is kind of like the bulk foods store of markets, only with a whole lot more pep. And auctioning. This Blumenkönig had more energy than I had every experienced in any greenhouse before and was auctioning off various collections of flora, calling out, yelling, screaming wildly at the crowd. My favorite part was when he shouted, "WHO DOESN'T HAVE ANY MONEY?!" and started hurling random plants into the crowd for people to either catch or catch a free concussion.
Ten euro can get you a lot at the Fischmarkt. More specifically, it can get you a giant basket of beautiful, ripe fruit. In fact, some of it is so perfectly ripe at that moment that it is too ripe by the time you get it home. It's a great deal if you've got someone(s) to share it with. Just to make sure everyone's clear on the content, many vendors fill up the baskets right then and there with a running commentary about the ingredients. Once complete, they throw their arms out and call for moolah, at which point people flock toward the front of the crowd with little pink or green bills dangling from their fingertips. This tradition is not only good for fruit, but also for bulk bags of pasta and chocolate.
If you've still got energy after rocking out to the live band playing "Born To Be Wild" at the Fischmarkt at 8 a.m., you can toodle underneath the Elbe to peek at the market from the other side.
Or you could go looking for sunshine and other summery scenes (which may require leaving the city altogether).
At first glance, I really liked this particular scene. It vibed of whimsy and adventure. Coming across the photo of it later, however, gave me a bit of a shock.
That's absolutely terrifying. But then again, the kids on the swings don't look particularly terrified, so I have decided that it is a whimsical adventure after all.
The day after getting home from vacation and the day before starting my new job also happened to be the last day of the Alstervergnügen, and a beautiful day at that. For those of you who don't speak Hamburger, "Alstervergnügen" translates into, "Ooh, we have a lake! Let's party!". It was at this very festival
three years ago that I feel in the love with the Hamburg for the first time. Live music everywhere, food, drink, merriment. But there's more-- the city takes entertainment to a whole new level. The city chess club was there with a very quiet tent that reeked of concentration, there were people golfing toward a make-shift island (first spelled "eyeland"-- fingers? Everything okay?), a wetsuited man was doing tricks on the water, you could get your nose pierced or your tummy tattooed in the makeshift parlor, or leave your gaming-enthused teenager in the PlayStation exploration center while tracking down your daughter in the flock of blondes outside the kissing booth. Or you could do what I did, which was chill out by the water and do some hardcore peoplewatching while nomming on
Schmalzkuchen. A fairly decent reintroduction to German culture if I do say so myself.
A couple weeks later, I awoke to find that not all hot air balloons had drifted to Albuquerque for the International Balloon Fiesta.
On an unrelated note, some people from my salsa class decided to reserve a room at the Uni once a week so we could keep up on our moves during the semester break from our regular course. We assembled, moved desks, and taught ourselves new tricks with the wonders of technology, hips, and happiness. Boom. Nowadays I go dancing two or three times a week. All these hours spent in front of a computer have to be shaken off somehow, and I can't think of a more amusing way to do so than being flung around the dancefloor by compadres and strangers alike.
I tend to get off work just as the sun is setting in this northern land. As the location is deliciously central, I like to stretch out a smidge after the workday with a quick stroll to the Binnenalster when the weather is nice. And when the weather is nice, it is so nice.
That's all for tonight, folks.
