Author: Benjamin Trotter

So yesterday night we met up with Galya, who studied at UT with Judith, and we went to her place near the center of Hamburg. Now she had told us that it is a nice place, but you would not believe the place!! It´s brand new and the place looks like one of those rooms out of an IKEA catalog. So, we walk in, and it is beautiful. It´s 100m2 and humongous for just one person, with perfect location to the train station. It is really cool that we were able to stay here, because it´s a nice base for us to use. Today we went out to the University of Hamburg and looked at the campus. Galya is still studying here and is doing her thesis work and so she´s quite busy now. After going to the University we went to walk around the city, got ice cream, and went to a park to take a nap. The weather has just been unbelievable since I have arrived, and we´re definitely taking full advantage of it!! Tomorrow we will be getting up early to take a train to Berlin!

Judith and I started off this morning and went for a nice walk around the city seeing the sights. We had breakfast at McDonalds, and I got an elephant stuffed animal with my meal from ICE AGE. It will be fun to throw it out a train or something… After breakfast we headed for the city center and looked through the shops, finding nothing to buy. We then went to the Gänsemarkt again and had some lunch (a nice turkey curry flavored wrap). After lunch we found dessert and went to the Binnenalster which is a lake near the center and sat for a while. After a short rest, we headed for Michel which is a church with a tower that you can go up to look out over the city. Then we walked more around the city to find an internet café so I could check some mail to figure out more about my upcoming travels–(depending who’s around, I need to let people know when I’ll be arriving etc.. )

Now it’s off to dinner and meeting Galya and seeing Judith’s new apartment. (She’s moving to Hamburg in August for an internship)

So Judith and I got up early in the morning to catch a train to Hamburg. The train was nice, and the views were really cool to see such country landscapes. Anyhow we arrived in Hamburg and met Judith’s friend from school named Frauke. We arranged to stay at her place for the first night. We put all our stuff down in her Ikea furnished apartment, and went out to see some Hamburg sights. Hamburg is one of the biggest ports in Europe, and we took a ferry around the port area, and I saw an APL container! It was cool, and the scene of Hamburg from the ferry was very nice. After that we returned back to the city and went to a restaurant for some dinner.

This restaurant had a very American feel, with steaks, baked potatoes and such. However, I got a salad with my meal that was completely soaked in oil. So much so that I couldn’t eat more than half of it. After about 30 minutes after dinner, my stomach was hurting soo much that I had to run to a McDonald’s to where I ran into a babushka trying to make me pay to use the toilet, and make me also wait for the floor to dry in this dire time of need. Anyhow, all was solved, and we headed out to the Planten und Blomen water light show. It was nice, and the evening was called to a close.

Today we walked up to the castle (schloß) of Marburg and went through looking at all the artifacts. Furniture, clothing, and antiques dating back to 400BC were all very interesting. It’s amazing to think of how many civilizations were so alive and developing things before the US was even thought about. It’s really cool to just walk through this town because of all the old architecture and hills. Every road is stone laden, so it really gives an old feel. We just finished a dinner of mashed potatoes, salad, and bratwurst. Yumm. Tomorrow Judith and I will go to Hamburg to visit some friends.

Judith and I went down to the river that cuts down through Marburg. It’s a really nice and peaceful setting and they have these paddleboats. So, we rented a paddle for a half hour and started on our journey upstream. There are however lots of obstacles in the river. Shallow parts, ducks, swans, and other paddle boat drivers. The worst one was the encounter with the swans. They came right up to the boat and fluffed their feathers at us and we were freaking out. I wouldn’t have been scared except Judith had just told me a story about a swan who was attacking someone and another person came up to the swan and grabbed its neck and swung it up into the air to get it off the victim. So, I knew these weren’t just the pretty duck-looking birds that gracefully glide through the water, yet pretty people-eating animals hidden by a serene facade. So, needless to say, we arrived safely back at the dock, and are off to lunch!

So, the weather today was really not that nice. Even though it’s not cold, the skies were completely gray. So, we just walked around the town, got a Kebap (Turkish hamburger/sandwich) and sat next to the river to eat. We also stopped to get some Milka* and it was very cheap. So, I got my essentials for the day. Milka and Water. We went to the market place in the morning and that was really cool to see the way the shopping on Saturday’s work here. It was in a square and had fresh meats, cheeses, flowers, and produce, and it’s tradition. So, I took some really good pictures there, and hopefully I’ll be able to post some within the next couple of weeks. I’m looking everywhere to try to find a place that I can download my pics to! Judith and I will be going to Star Wars Episode II tonight at the Cineplex (It’s the English version, so I’ll be ok). The theater is pretty new, so it should be a nice evening. Then we’ll go to a Biergarten (Beergarden) that’s in the town and have a drink and some bratwurst =)

So after another connection in Gießen and a 10 minute delay, I arrived in Marburg and Judith was waiting for me at the station. It was really cool to see her after these few months. We went back to her apartment and it is sooo nice! It is a really nice town that she lives in, with all the traditional German architecture. Every house looks like I should be seeing Hansel and Gretel come walking out of it. We spent the day roaming around the city to the castle. The weather was absolutely beautiful and warm. We then went to have dinner at a Chinese restaurant and really were able to catch up on everything that had been going on in our lives. It was really so amazing to be sitting here with Judith and having dinner here in Germany. I am having such an awesome time getting to learn about Europe more, learn more about life, travel, and myself. Life is simply good.

This morning I woke up early to get all my stuff together for my trip to meet Judith. I got a take out breakfast from the hostel (oh yeah, the breakfasts were really good there–french toast, pancakes, eggs..etc..) and headed to the station, and had my Eurail pass validated. Then I boarded the 9:04am train (ICE) to Köln (Cologne). Of course, I didn’t know really where to sit on the train, I just knew I had to get on. As luck has it, I end up in first class =) So, I sit in first class thinking that the whole train is this luxurious for almost an hour, so I opened up my breakfast to eat. Then the conductor comes by looking for my ticket, and he explained that I didn’t have a 1st class ticket. So, I acted surprised about my foolish blunder and asked if I could just finish breakfast, and then move since no one was there. He said that was fine, and I moved to 2nd class. It was a nice train ride, but the seats all around me had been reserved by Dutchmen, so I had to listen to the beautiful glotteral sounds of the Dutch language the whole time. Finally I arrived at Köln and got out.

=) Joann and Tim you know what I’m talking about, and if Diane is reading this, she’d laugh too.

So, I get out of the station at Köln because it’s right next to a huge church next to the station that we visited during winter this year. I just couldn’t help but laugh though when I came out and saw the McDonald’s there on the corner!! haha.

inside joke–