Saturday, April 15, 2006
Hamburg! (Meine Perle...??)As all of you know, and as I mentioned about ten times in this blog already, yesterday I went to Hamburg!! I love Hamburg, it is such a pretty city, and so big, with so many things to see and do.
Anyway, I went with Caro, my host sister, and a friend of her's, who quickly became my friend as well, Corinna. We wanted to go with a friend of all of us as well, Sabrina, but at the last minute she said she couldn't come, which is a pity.
Caro and I had to get up at 6:40 to be able to get to the bus in time, so we could get to the train station in time. It was funny, because I left the blinds a little open, so that sun would come in and wake me up at about 6:30, just in case I slept through the alarm. I woke up from the light, and as soon as I reached up to get my phone and turn off the alarm, the alarm went off.
Did the normal things, I got up, had a shower and got my stuff ready.
Caro and I made a deal the night before, if I hadn't seen her, and she hadn't seen me before 7am, that we would go and see if the other was awake. We thought it would be so embarassing if we missed the train, especially because we told Corinna to be on time.
So, at 7:05 I went down to her room and knocked on the door, only to find Caro lying in bed, having just been woken up by me. I told her how late it was and panic followed.
We got out of the house on time though, and got our bus and eventually our tram as well. In the tram we saw Corinna, and we all sat down and talked for the whole time...tram rides are fun, if there are people you know. And a camera.
We got to the train station a little bit early, at 8:20. Our train was supposed to leave at 9:03, but we thought if we got there at 8:30, it would leave enough time to buy a ticket as well.
We didn't count on the fact that buying a ticket takes about ten seconds, and that after that we wouldn't have anything to do.
It was so funny, when we were buying the ticket, this
dodgy guy came and asked us if we were travelling to Hannover. (With the Niedersachsen ticket, which is what we used, you can travel in groups of up to five people.) He obviously wanted to join us, but he looked so
dodgy we just said we weren't.
So, we were in the train station and had nothing better to do, we looked in the shops and bought ourselves some nice baby mixture. I couldn't believe it, when they bought it, but they actually ate it all!
OK, after that we went to the platform and took heaps of photos, and waited for our train. Alot of people travel with that train, to Hamburg. I have got to say that.
On the platform there is this sign, written in German and then in English again. It says "here not get out."
OK, people understand what is meant, but it's just such bad English! The funny thing is, it is just directly translated from German, because that is the word order in German...it was funny.
Moving along now, the train ride was fun, we ate alot, talked alot, took alot of photos and saw alot of crazy little cities we never knew existed.
Then we got out in a town called Uelzen, and got into this really cool train, the Metronom. Or something like that. The train was so cool, even the toilets were classy. They had this automatic door and everything, the room was bigger than our bathroom here!
Trying to get to Hamburg...we did the whole routine again, ate lots and had lots of fun in the train. Then eventually we pulled into the train station in Hamburg...
The train station alone is really cool. It is so big and...roomy. And all the shops and stuff, I love places like that, even if it does smell like rotten eggs. Anyway.
The first thing we did is find our way to a public transport office, so we could get a plan for the U-Bahn (Underground). I wanted to go the YFU office, which was in Hamburg, and I knew where it was, and which station we had to go to, I just didn't know with what line we should have travelled. Eventually we got the plans, and took a few more than was really necessary...but it doesn't matter.
Turns out we had to travel with the...something. U3 I think, so we found our way to the platform for that and got in the train. Oddly enough, it said on the...thing, that tells you when all the trains come, that we had to change trains in the station called Berliner Tor.
Well, somehow we ignored that. Two or three stops later we realised that
when it says you have to change trains, it means that you have to change trains.We quickly changed our little problem, got out of the train and got on another one to go in the right direction. It is great in the big cities, in Hamburg comes a train every 5 minutes. I love it. So we got back to Berliner Tor and got on the right train, and three stops later we were there.
We had to walk a little bit, but eventually we found the right building and got let in, walked up the steps and found the YFU office. It was so cool, to actually there. I can't explain it. It was YFU!! (I have been going through this stage, where I am really proud of YFU...) Anyway, we went in and I gave them the two letters. Then we went again.
It was quite disappointing, I mean, I would have liked to have seen the office, maybe talked to some of the people or something, but we went away again. At least I have the photos to prove that I was actually there.
And, it just means we have reason to go back to Hamburg once again.
We jumped on some random bus that took us back to the train station, and then made our way from there out to the Town Hall.
The town hall is so cool. It's so big and...prestigious. I don't know the word, how to explain it. It is just so beautiful. You'll all just have to see it for yourself.
We looked around inside, then set off on foot towards a famous church...which I have forgotten the name of.
It was really funny, because we couldn't figure out exactly where we were, so we asked a man, who helped us and told us where we should go. The only thing was that he was wrong as well.
So we were walking along this street, with the map guru (me) looking for where we actually were, when we suddenly see this church.
We went there and were like, yea, cool. This is it.
We looked around, it really was a beautiful church, really was. Then we read some sign and saw something about a church called St. Nikolai.
We thought it was a little bit weird, but eventually we got the courage to ask if that was even the right church.
It wasn't even right.
But to look on the bright side, we saw another beautiful church, and got directions to the right one.
We walked there and went up to the top of it, to look over Hamburg. From the top, Hamburg is really pretty. It's not too shabby, not too shabby at all. It as cold, and just a little bit windy, and hey, it only snowed a little bit, but it was really nice. I am guessing it would be alot prettier on a nice warm summer day though...
After taking numerous photos, we went down again and set off in direction harbour.
For me, the harbour isn't really that interesting. You know, I have been in Sydney many times. And Sydney is alot prettier, especially when you're on a yacht, and steering the yacht is even better. But, it is a famous thing in Hamburg.
It was a little cold, especially as it was raining, but it doesn't matter. We may as well have jumped into the water though.
We walked along the water front for a while and then went further "inland" to find somewhere where we could travel back to the train station.
We had to cross a pretty busy road, to get to a bus stop, but somehow Corinna and I acheived it. Caro didn't though.
And then the bus came. She ran over the road, and we got on the bus. OMG, the bus driver was crazy though.
We were driving down this road right? And all of a sudden he just starts screaming, oncoming traffic and stuff, swearing his head off at some person. And then he was fuming the rest of the ride.
We were happy to get out of that bus and step into the cold.
We found somewhere to eat, namedly McDonalds with their 1€ menu, heaps of things are 1€, and we sat down and ate some lunch, just before we went back to the train station again.
We were at the train station alot actually. Somehow it was just easier, because we could orienteer ourselves from there out.
I had organised to meet Hilary, from Passau, she comes from the USA, and we waited for a little while, and then I saw Hilary.
It was so cool, because I hadn't seen her since August, but we talked and talked and talked as if we saw each other every other day. Maybe we just had alot to catch up on.
Anyway, we walked around for a little while and did a little shopping, but none of us found anything anyway. Hilary and I were talking the whole way, and it was funny, because we kept on swapping between English and German the whole time. We then decided to go and sit down in a café somewhere, because we had so much to catch up on.
We chose a place called World Coffee, and picked out our drinks and sat down on these really comfy chairs. It is like Starbucks and things, but a little more...classy, without the whole plastic cup thing.
We sat there for about an hour and exchanged stories and things, it was great, because everyone just got on so well. It was really pleasing.
When it got to about 6pm we decided that we should get going, because we didn't want to miss our train. So we wandered towards the train station, stopping numerous times to look in shops and things. We eventually got to the station, and yes, we were a little early, but we looked around, made photos and bought post-cards. =D
We were looking around and all f a sudden we all saw the Subway sign...and all shouted and were really excited. Subway is so nice, I love it, but I haven't eaten it since I was in Munich sometime in August. They are not so common here though, so it is a big thing when we found it.
I love Subway...it tasted so good.
Eventually we had to say goodbye to Hilary again. We hugged and said goodbye, then she walked off. Somehow this time was easier than when we all left from Passau. We were on the same train and when we all said goodbye it was soo hard. I cried.
But this time I didn't cry.
We went to our platform with the masses of people who wanted to get on our train, and waited for it. I ate my Subway, and then the train came. It was good timing.
We had to get on the train really quickly if we wanted to be able to have a good 4-er place, and we were the first two or three people on the train, so we got our choice of pretty seats. =D
The train ride back was a little more boring, we were all exhausted and tired, but we still managed to make good conversation and have lots of fun with our cameras and the baby food.
We got to Hannover, where we had to change trains, and then we had to wait 40 mins. We looked around, bought some food and drinks, and got on the next train.
This one was empty, it was heaps good, but there were two couples who were making out the whole time, and that was really disgusting. We could see one of them and hear the other. Ewww.
We ate our biscuits and drunk our iced tea, then we eventually pulled into Braunschweig again.
We walked into the parking lot and got driven home.
When we got home we ate some more, and looked at some photos from the day, and then I called it a night and went to bed. I was so dead.
That was my amazing day in Hamburg. It was so much fun, I love Hamburg, and it would be so cool if we could go back, but I don't think we will. It is cheap, and lots of fun!! But anyway, that was it.
Yesterday we went for a massive walk, into the "woods" and then around Geitelde, my suburb, and then we came home. Spent alot of the day relaxing, or bumming around doing nothing, we were all so tired. Plus it was Good Friday.
And now I am here, isn't that weird?
Well, Happy Easter everyone,
Vera was here at 9:33 PM
