Hamburg
Sometimes the fast train turns out to be the slow train. Stuck on the ICE train on the way back to Berlin from Hamburg. Some kind of bomb scare at one of the stations along the route. So the trip that was supposed to take an hour and a half is turning into a four hour trip. That’s how it goes sometimes I guess, but the train is nice, the seat is comfortable, so I can’t complain too much. Plus, it gives me a chance to write a little about my time in Hamburg.
I arrived in Hamburg on Sunday afternoon on the regular train which took about 3 hours or so, checked into this crazy mod Hotel Side, where I managed to catch the end of a Miami Vice episode dubbed into German. It was the one with Bruce Willis playing an arms dealer. The funny thing is, I saw this same episode in the States a couple months ago on Nick at Nite or TVLand. Good episode, and you don’t really have to understand the language to follow along, which is nice. Then I met up with some of the Burns peeps for a little Bundesliga action featuring Berlin’s own Hertha BSC against a tough Hamburg HSV side. The match ended 1-1, fun to see but the outcome of a tie is unsatisfying to my American preference of a clear winner and loser.
It rained pretty much the whole time I was in Hamburg, and it has been raining a lot in Berlin, too. After the soccer match, we had to hustle back to the hotel, and get ready for dinner in the hotel restaurant. My head was hurting a little, and after the train, the rain, and the cold, it was nice to be warm and dry and indoors.
After dinner, a few of us went out to a bar, had a couple of drinks, then left and wandered over to this other bar with a geodesic dome at the entrance. The bartender, Tan, really went all out to make sure we had a good time, and I can’t speak for the others, but I had a great time. Tan made us several rounds of shots and drinks, manned the dj station, and gave us peanuts and fruit to snack on. It was very cool, and the kind of thing that I think makes for the best nights out, especially in a new town, where you just kind of wander into a place, and it turns out to be a great time. You can’t really plan these things I think, they just happen. The only thing is that the whole time we were there, there was this couple making out—and we were there for quite a while. PDA is really out of control in this country. Everybody making out all the time is kind of sickening, really. Take that back to the privacy of your own home or get a hotel room or something. I don’t know how a society can run like this…also, while I’m railing, lots of young people have some part of their face pierced…this I don’t really care about except that it makes absolutely no sense.
The next morning, I was hurting from the drinking and the lack of sleep, but I managed to make it to brunch. It was built up beforehand as “the best brunch in Hamburg”, and it may well be, but I couldn’t say for sure because it is the only brunch I had while I was there…anyway, I thought it was ok.
By the way, I have a little titillating info regarding some Burns on Burns hookup action…I live by the law of Omerta, though, so I’m not naming names. You know who you are though, you crazy kids, maybe be a little more discreet next time.
After brunch, we toured the Airbus factory, so that was pretty cool…I dig the factory tours. Apparently, the only two players in the commercial flight game are Airbus and Boeing…I didn’t even know Airbus was a company, I thought it was a type of plane. Anyway the tour was pretty cool, I got to touch some airplane fuselage and other parts in various stages of production.
After that, I had a hamburg in Hamburg, then toured around town with Rob and Sara(h). We saw some old churches and went to the port, and into a cool little bar. That was fun. It rained the whole time, though.
Back to the present, I left Hamburg two hours ago, and now I am heading back toward Hamburg, so this is turning out to be quite a long trip. They did offer a free drink to everyone when the delay was announced, but I went up there too late. Apparently there is some kind of time limit on that which I exceeded. On my way out after being rejected for the free drink, another passenger said to me, “That’s German service for you.” Also, they offered some kind of discount on your next train trip that I somehow don’t qualify for, so I’ve come up empty twice with Deutsche Bahn so far. On the plus side though, we just started moving back in the right direction. I’m sure we’ll be in Berlin in no time. Wait, it feels like we’re going the wrong way again…I’m disoriented from the motion of the train.
There is something cool about train travel, something kind of old-school, and I wish there was more of it in the States…saw a guy wearing an old hat this weekend, the old-school fedora look should make a comeback I think…the kids here can’t get enough of this electronica house club music, it’s horrible…it’s kind of hard to believe that it’s already the midway point of the fellowship…I need to find a place around here that shows American football…
I arrived in Hamburg on Sunday afternoon on the regular train which took about 3 hours or so, checked into this crazy mod Hotel Side, where I managed to catch the end of a Miami Vice episode dubbed into German. It was the one with Bruce Willis playing an arms dealer. The funny thing is, I saw this same episode in the States a couple months ago on Nick at Nite or TVLand. Good episode, and you don’t really have to understand the language to follow along, which is nice. Then I met up with some of the Burns peeps for a little Bundesliga action featuring Berlin’s own Hertha BSC against a tough Hamburg HSV side. The match ended 1-1, fun to see but the outcome of a tie is unsatisfying to my American preference of a clear winner and loser.
It rained pretty much the whole time I was in Hamburg, and it has been raining a lot in Berlin, too. After the soccer match, we had to hustle back to the hotel, and get ready for dinner in the hotel restaurant. My head was hurting a little, and after the train, the rain, and the cold, it was nice to be warm and dry and indoors.
After dinner, a few of us went out to a bar, had a couple of drinks, then left and wandered over to this other bar with a geodesic dome at the entrance. The bartender, Tan, really went all out to make sure we had a good time, and I can’t speak for the others, but I had a great time. Tan made us several rounds of shots and drinks, manned the dj station, and gave us peanuts and fruit to snack on. It was very cool, and the kind of thing that I think makes for the best nights out, especially in a new town, where you just kind of wander into a place, and it turns out to be a great time. You can’t really plan these things I think, they just happen. The only thing is that the whole time we were there, there was this couple making out—and we were there for quite a while. PDA is really out of control in this country. Everybody making out all the time is kind of sickening, really. Take that back to the privacy of your own home or get a hotel room or something. I don’t know how a society can run like this…also, while I’m railing, lots of young people have some part of their face pierced…this I don’t really care about except that it makes absolutely no sense.
The next morning, I was hurting from the drinking and the lack of sleep, but I managed to make it to brunch. It was built up beforehand as “the best brunch in Hamburg”, and it may well be, but I couldn’t say for sure because it is the only brunch I had while I was there…anyway, I thought it was ok.
By the way, I have a little titillating info regarding some Burns on Burns hookup action…I live by the law of Omerta, though, so I’m not naming names. You know who you are though, you crazy kids, maybe be a little more discreet next time.
After brunch, we toured the Airbus factory, so that was pretty cool…I dig the factory tours. Apparently, the only two players in the commercial flight game are Airbus and Boeing…I didn’t even know Airbus was a company, I thought it was a type of plane. Anyway the tour was pretty cool, I got to touch some airplane fuselage and other parts in various stages of production.
After that, I had a hamburg in Hamburg, then toured around town with Rob and Sara(h). We saw some old churches and went to the port, and into a cool little bar. That was fun. It rained the whole time, though.
Back to the present, I left Hamburg two hours ago, and now I am heading back toward Hamburg, so this is turning out to be quite a long trip. They did offer a free drink to everyone when the delay was announced, but I went up there too late. Apparently there is some kind of time limit on that which I exceeded. On my way out after being rejected for the free drink, another passenger said to me, “That’s German service for you.” Also, they offered some kind of discount on your next train trip that I somehow don’t qualify for, so I’ve come up empty twice with Deutsche Bahn so far. On the plus side though, we just started moving back in the right direction. I’m sure we’ll be in Berlin in no time. Wait, it feels like we’re going the wrong way again…I’m disoriented from the motion of the train.
There is something cool about train travel, something kind of old-school, and I wish there was more of it in the States…saw a guy wearing an old hat this weekend, the old-school fedora look should make a comeback I think…the kids here can’t get enough of this electronica house club music, it’s horrible…it’s kind of hard to believe that it’s already the midway point of the fellowship…I need to find a place around here that shows American football…
posted by Joe in Berlin at 6:05 PM
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