That, and you meet really fun people! I arrived in Hamburg Friday afternoon, where Stefanie picked me up. She was very excited to see me and I was, well, tired. We were talking our way back to her apartment (which is very cozy and neat) and got to know each other better. She works for the Green Party, as well as helping organize couchsurfing activities! She has an old cat named Maffi. And I can say old because she's eighteen! Yes, old.....
We had time for lunch (lasagna), a nap, and a shower before heading over to the couchsurfing activities for the night - a tour of Hamburg's St. Pauli neighborhood. Steffi told us all about how the neighborhood got its start and what it means to Hamburg today. I can't remember it all right now, so look it up if you like. We walked down the Reeperbahn, where all the glitzy clubs and theaters are located. It used to be run down, but since the 80's it's turned a corner and the big shows are here as well - Mamma Mia, the gay revues, etc. We walked past the place where the Beatles first played, which is now a barber shop. And we walked past Herbertstrasse.
Only men can go there... Hmmm....
Women and children not allowed. I wonder why. Could it be because the Reeperbahn is famous for its red-light district? But this is the only street blocked off like this. Oh, and curiously enough, if big groups (including women) go on a tour led by Hamburg's own well-known drag queen, they are allowed in. Cheaters.
As we walked, I got to know some of the other surfers. Maxim from Hamburg, Ano from Finland, and Julien from Reunion. (Look it up - very interesting!) Well, Julien kept borrowing my pen for God knows what. He very graciously let me have some sips of his beer in return. As he asked to have his beer back, I pretended to be deaf. You would too - don't deny it.... But as I was walking, and drinking, the beer got all foamed up. I gave it back to him and the war had begun. Snicker. The rest of the weekend was spent trying to one-up the other.
Friday went smoothly enough, so Saturday was the day of the rally. No cars. No bicycles. Just a good old-fashioned scavenger hunt through the city. On my team were Morice from Montreal, Mario from Hamburg, and Ose from Bremen (originally from South Africa). The four of us set out, on a deceptively cloudy afternoon, to figure out each question. They were nice and gave us directions, but as we all know (especially when it's warm and there's four people) that doesn't always work.
Here is my team picking some old dude's nose - it's very creepy that they're all smiling, don't you think?
Everyone got along and we had lots of fun, except towards the end of the day. Liz got really tired and lacked for water, while others on the team wanted to finish everything before going to dinner at Cafe Knallhart. Morice and I were very much wanting to skip the last question or two in order to get to dinner. I didn't care which team won or lost, I just needed to sit down and eat something!! And we all know how Liz gets when she's tired and cranky. :) Mario didn't seem to notice...
Finally, we ended up at Knallhart and ate some food! And shortly thereafter the party began. Oh yes, and which team actually won the little rally - ours!!! So, yes the party truly had started! Giggle.
My prizes! The champagne was shared by Morice and myself - neither Mario or Ose wanted any. Straight from the bottle, like champs that we are. :) The pirate flag is really the Jolly Roger flag, which is the flag and symbol of the St. Pauli soccer team. Lots of people wear shirts with this pirate symbol on them when the team plays at home.
Of course, this was a flag, not a shirt....
....but I found an appropriate place for it.
Morice and I celebrating our win!
I think Morice really likes the idea of being a pirate....
Drinking!
Frederik very kindly played some of his music for us. He's quite the talent!
Maria and I got along very well. Originally from Köln, she's studying to be a chocolatier here in Hamburg... Can you imagine knowing how to make chocolate! So glad she's my friend!
Here's Maxim giving me, well, I'm not sure what look this is. He wasn't prepared for the photo, but he looks like he wants to beat me up! :( (And all the other pictures of him aren't that great either... hmmm...) But he's actually a big sweetheart... He used to be a soccer player - like he got paid to play! Until a knee injury sidelined him. So, he went to Cali and Arizona for a school year and did volunteer work. Now he's back for...whatever comes his way.
Maria and Morice know each other from when Morice spent time in Köln. I just think this picture is so cute...
There was a group of us, who stayed up all night, went to a club on the Reeperbahn and ended up at the Fischmarkt at 6am, continuing to drink until 8am. But I was not one of them. I got tired around 2:30 and went home with Steffi. I'm really glad I did too. It meant I was not at all tired at brunch on Sunday at noon! And I had showered!
After brunch, a group of us walked to a nearby park, Planten un Blumen, and sat around in the sun being lazy. I took some great candid shots of everyone. (Hint: I badly want one of those really nice Canon digital cameras that are like thousands of dollars!)
This is Ertu from Istanbul. We dig the same music, so it was extremely easy to talk to him.
Frederik. Great guitar player, little bit of a unibrow problem. Extremely sweet though!
Here's Julien. The excellent joke teller, but unhappy beer drinker. Well, at least if I'm involved. Giggle.
Ryan from Toronto. He's doing an internship in Frankfurt, but was able to come up here for the weekend. Really nice guy... and someone I know has a little crush on him. And from what she tells me, he might have a crush on her too! Oooh, gossip!
After being lazy at the park, Maria and I went in search of some cheap yummy food. We ended up at the Christopher Street Day Parade celebrations. Hamburg's Gay Pride, so to speak.
Let's just say Maria got into the spirit of things.....
It looks real, but this rainbow stayed there way too long to be real. I found it fitting nonetheless.
And that ended Sunday. I woke up the next morning to a sore throat and a headache. :( I felt realy tired and assumed it was from the fun of the weekend. I met Maxim for an ice cream and we walked around the big lake in Hamburg. But when I got home, I didn't feel better. Tuesday, I woke up and it was a bit hard to talk. Steffi and I decided that I couldn't risk getting really sick, so she took me to her doctor. The doctor was very nice and said I had a small infection in my throat, but that it didn't look very bad at all. Yeah! She gave me some antibiotics and I spent the rest of the day in bed. Yesterday, I woke up feeling ten times better! I spent the afternoon with Alex, who is incredibly funny and has been to SF, so we talked a lot about that. Then, I met up with Steffi at a friend's place for some handmade pizza, salad, and apple pie. Everything tasted a bit burnt, but it was extremely yummy. Today - well, it's my last day in Hamburg for a while. I plan on coming back in September....
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment