April 22, 2004

In-Laws in Hamburg: The Last Day

Yesterday was Gary and Shirley's last day in Hamburg (and in Germany, if you don't count their 5 AM trip to Hamburg Airport this morning).

We tried to start out by taking a tour of the Rathaus (the city hall, ornate home to Hamburg city and state government), but they weren't offering any tours until Saturday. So, we settled for lunch in the restaurant behind the Rathaus instead. (The restaurant shares the same building as the Hamburg Stock Exchange; you'd think that in the middle of a workday, the exchange floor would be used for trading -- but no, it was hosting some kind of light & sound [& beer] show, featuring musical selections from The Lion King. Strange.)

After lunch, Shelby was still tired out from yesterday, so she went home for a nap, while I went on with the in-laws to Miniatur Wunderland Hamburg. They were properly dazzled by the intricacy and detail of it all, while I continued to notice details I'd missed on my previous visits: a UFO that occasionally descends from the ceiling over the German countryside during "nighttime", or a dog kennel with a yard next door where little HO-scale dogs were going through agility training.

After Miniatur Wunderland, we walked to St. Michael's Church (der Hauptkirche St.Michaelis, or "Michel"), where we paid 2.50 Euro each to ride the elevator to the top of its tower for a fantastic view over Hamburg:


Click on the image for a much larger version of this panorama picture
(but be warned, it's huge -- roughly 800x6000 and 860 KB!)

. . . after coming down, that was pretty much it for the day. We headed home again and met up later for a low-intensity dinner at Block House (a German steakhouse chain about on the same level, food-wise, as a Black Angus in the USA). Then it was back across the square for one last drink at Gary and Shirley's hotel, after which we said our goodbyes -- we headed home, and they headed back upstairs to pack.

A great vacation -- but sadly, now back to real life!

Posted by Kevin at April 22, 2004 08:42 AM
Comments

In searching for average living costs in hamburg, I stumbled upon your VERY amusing site. I'm an American recently accepted to a school in Hamburg (for advertising). I haven't yet decided, though, if I'll accept and leave Miami because I'm not sure about living expenses (I won't miss the humidity and heat at all). If you wouldn't mind, I would GREATLY appreciate any input you might have: avg. cost of rent, groceries, public transport, etc. The school is located on finkenau, just in case you wondering what part of hamburg I'd move to. Thanks in advance Kevin, Shelby and Scout...

Another American hoping to study in Hamburg

Posted by: charlie at April 22, 2004 10:44 PM
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