Hamburg

A ship being repaired in the harbor in Hamburg.
An old fire boat.
Hamburg central station.
Old Hamburger architecture, with Michels in the background.
One of the Alster's aggressive swans.
Planten un Blomen, one of Hamburg's extensive parks.
Michels.
On a harbor tour, going through the Speicherstadt.
Hamburger Rathaus (town hall).
Hamburg Harbor. The hostel I stayed at had a great view of it from the dining hall.

A dried out canal in the Speicherstadt.

Blankenese, the stair quarter, a small fisherman's town built into a hill outside of Hamburg on the Elbe. In most cases, the same families still live here that lived here generations ago when it was founded, not millionares.

Grüße aus Berlin!

I've been in Berlin for two days now. Berlin is one of the most awesome cities I've visited. The youth hostel I'm staying at is right next to the Tiergarten, which is a giant park (practically a forest) in front of the Brandenburger Tor. Unfortunately, it's slowly being closed off in preparation for the Germany-Turkey semi-final on Wednesday. You can't even stand under the Brandenburger Tor (reminiscent of the Cold War?).

The new U.S. Embassy looks great, in case you were following the construction going on at Pariser Platz. It's almost finished now. Besides walking past the embassy (and around the city for hours on end) I've also fisited the Pergamon Museum, Checkpoint Charlie, and almost went inside the Berliner Dom until I learned that you have to buy a ticket to go inside (at least I got a peek...it looks beautiful at a glance!).

I also spent two days in Ravensbrück, a women's concentration camp about 80 km north of Berlin. I've been there before with AFS, but I decided to go back again. When I was there in the past, there was an inspirational display about what the women who were imprisoned there did after the camp was freed in 1945. Unfortunately, the display has been replaced with a new one (I suppose they put up fresh displays every once in awhile) but there were a few other new ones up, too, including more information about Uckermark ('Youth Protection Camp') and youth in concentration camps.

Tomorrow I go on Berlin's 3.5 hour free walking tour (I've been doing Berlin a little backwards). Also, look for pictures at some point tomorrow!

Grüße aus Lübeck!

Lübeck is a relatively small town that was recently named a UNESCO world heritage site. And no wonder. It has several cathedrals that are still (mostly) original (i.e., not destroyed and rebuilt, though a couple were). It's built on a piece of land completely surrounded by water. The city's architecture style is breathtaking: facades, brick or plaster. But, as I said, it's relatively small and there isn't that much to do. So tomorrow I leave for Ravensbrück (North of Berlin).

I was in Hamburg for three days. Now that's a huge city (Unfortunately I can't upload pictures on the computer I'm using right now, but hopefully at some point I'll find one that allows me to share some). The youth hostel in which I stayed had a clear view of the harbor, which was even more breathtaking that the houses in Lübeck, if possible. I'm clearly going to be left short of oxygen for most of this trip.

Most of the time I've been walking around the city/town I've been in. Why pay for a bus, S- or U-Bahn when you have all the time in the world and could walk through the city park instead? At this point, though, I feel like I'm going through band camp, except carrying a Sousaphone instead of a piccolo.

From Ravensbrück I plan to go on to Berlin. Hope to post more soon from there! Bis dann!

Movie Park Germany and Sarah's Abitur

Wilkommen in Movie Park Germany! This is one of Nordrhein-Westfalen's themeparks, which I went to for the first time with Sarah and Barbara on Wednesday.

We went to a stunt show around lunch time, which was lucky, because it started to rain. The show went on, though. Some of the car stunts were fun to watch.

Barbara and Sarah on one of the spinning rides. I was feeling a little ill after spinning around on a few rides (which is why I was able to take these pictures).

Do lions (and zebras) have bellybuttons?

A shrek in '4-D' show, which started off with the three little pigs and pinnochio chained to the wall in boxes. Interesting...

But not nearly as interesting as the 4-D glasses.

On Friday I went to a strawberry festival in Wesel. The Heimat Verein with their wooden shoe dances were fun to watch. How they can dance in those shoes is beyond me.

Die Abiturienten. Saturday was a big day for Sarah. In the morning was her Abitur church service, which she helped organize (She also spoke and played flute), and her equivalent of a graduation ceremony. At night was the Abiball.
The Abi Wall, a tradition for every Abi year. The theme this year was Diabilus (play on the words Abi and a certain play) between heaven and hell. Not only did the Abiturienten just finish the 13th grade, Konrad Duden Gymnasium (the school) is celebrating its 666th aniversary this year.A small classical piece played by one of my friends Veronika for the graduation ceremony. She'll be doing her Abitur next year.
Sarah getting her certificate from Dr. Schott, the school principal.
With the graduate and her certificate.
Sarah's Abiball!

Sarah dancing with her father.
...and her brother.
They dance really well. Apparently disco fox is a big thing in Germany. Luckily its really easy to pick up.
Frau Quast (left) and the Quasts' family friend from Australia. She's been in town since Tuesday night, so I've had lots of time to practice my English.
The food at the Abiball was great, but I didn't try this specialty, which was mostly raw meat. The salmon (served from a whole salmon) was delicious, and they roasted a whole pig, too!