Germany update...

On the 21st...

I forgot to mention that after we got back from Bremen, I had zero energy and thought I'd take a nap... I fell asleep for 7 HOURRSSS. Unreal. I felt like I had fell asleep for like an hour or two, max. Guess I was THAT exhausted. So after I woke up, I sat and watched some TV with Matt and Kelly for a bit, but then had no problem getting right back to sleep for another full 7 hours.

On the 22nd...

On the morning of the 22nd, I went into the city of Hamburg with Matt when he had to go in for work. He showed me how to use the U-Bahn train system and how to get around. He was weary to leave me stranded in a primarily German-speaking town, re-asking me if I was okay and reiterating that if I needed any help, that most people my age can speak some English. He also gave me his business card in case I needed to come find him. Thanks Matt, for all your help :]

Once I was by myself, I just wandered for awhile through shopping areas and then along the Elbe. I had a croissant and a diet coke here:







After walking around for probably about 2 hours, I desperately tried to find wifi to find out what exactly I could do next. I even asked several people... NOWHERE IN HAMBURG HAS WIFIII. How do they live?!

I soon decided to head back, but stopped at one of the stops on the way back (there were probably 15 stops on the way to the central station from the stop where they live). On the way in that morning, Matt had mentioned that this one stop, the Reeperbahn, was a trendier area where a lot of younger people are. The redlight district is there, but there's also just really cool nightlife, etc. So I stopped in on my way back to Matt and Kelly's to check it out. Upon exiting the U-Bahn, I was greeted with a strong odor of marijuana. I didn't think much of it, there's a lot of things in Europe that are legal that wouldn't be in the U.S. So I continued up the stairs of the train station, only to find myself consumed in an area with flashing signs of women's legs, breasts and illuminated signs flashing, "GAY HOMO SEX," "LIVE SEX SHOWS" and other welcoming signs of this nature. I walked awhile and it never ended, so I was like, "where the HELL am I!?" and I headed back to Matt and Kelly's.

We had decided to go back into Hamburg for dinner. I told Kelly about my experience at the Reeperbahn stop and she reiterated again how cool the area actually was. So she actually took me back through the Reeperbahn on our way in to dinner. Apparently I hadn't traveled far enough into the area to see areas other than gay homo sex. I see the potential for how cool it actually could be for a nightlife area... Just not by myself :P A bar in the Reeperbahn is actually the first bar the Beatles ever played in! Here is an image of the Beatles tribute:

After being poured on walking around the Reeperbahn, we found our way downtown and had dinner at a restaurant... Can't remember the name. I'll have to ask Kelly. :P It was a really great pizza/pasta place and Kelly thinks there is one in Rome too! After dinner we walked around Hamburg a bit, to the St. Nikolai church, which survived some serious bombings back in WWII. It's really beautiful, despite its charring, which almost makes it more charming in a way. We visited a few more sights before heading home for the night.

*I apologize for being horrible at posting... I still have several more days of Germany to blog about + a few days in Austria now!

Xoxo

Paige