(Obligatory shot out of air plane window. YES- it was freakin' cold.)
Fortunately, most of the natives we approached spoke English, and on top of that they were incredibly kind and welcoming. Since Tracy also had some solid German vocab tucked away in her head, it only took about thirty minutes of wandering in a circle to find our hostel, the "Jugendherberge Auf dem Stinfag" (haha, it was located literally two minutes from where we'd stepped off the subway).
However, even though we were pretty much drunk on exhaustion having had to travel literally throughout the night, it was 11am and check in *sob* wasn't until 2pm!
So, after freshening up and manning up as much as possible in the hostel bathroom, we hit the streets for a few hours, seeking food and an epic (preferably warm) building to explore.
The first thing we stumbled on was this guy (...to be honest, the very first thing we found was a sandwich place across the street, but the cathedral was also incentive to stop).
This is St. Michaeliskirche (St. Michael's Cathedral). And, rather than try to explain how cool it was to see this building in person, let me instead offer this photo:
Yes. We were standing in, beneath, and on top of the building on the back of the €2 coin. Oh! And just in case this is not convincing enough, they also keep Bach in their crypt:
Just sayin. This place was pretty epic.
*Interesting fact: The signs in the crypt explained that normally the dead were simply buried just underneath the church floor itself, which (understandably) caused all sorts of rather disgusting problems. It was very appreciated that the dead could be buried in this crypt beneath the church instead.
On the opposite end, we also took the lift to the top of the twelfth tallest church in the world. Needless to say, the view was incredible.
Inside, there was some kind of a service going on in German, but they still allowed us in for some pictures--the interior was stunning. Although it was first built in the 17th century, due to a lightning bolt and later to fire, this place has been rebuilt/reconstructed about three or four times. It's the largest church in Hamburg (which is very impressive--this place is full of enormous churches). Outside and above Tracy and Judy is St. Michael being his badass German self, slaying the heck of the devil.
Finally, it was time for check in! After a short discussion, we opted for a nap, and then...
...dinner in the hostel. I'm not sure what the meat was, but I can tell you it was absolutely delicious. All this for €7? A VERY good deal. As it happened, that evening at dinner a student visiting here from Switzerland heard us speaking English, and actually came over to join us. Since Yves (sounds like "Eve") had already been there a few days, spoke German fluently, and was incredibly cool, he offered to show us around his favorite Christmas Markets. I managed to shoddily film a few magical moments. The enormous castle in the background is the "Rathaus" (yup, pronounced Rat-house), which makes Buckingham Palace look like a charming doll house.
Yves explained what everybody was drinking was "Glühwein," which translates to "Glow Wine," and is as lovely and warm and delicious as it sounds. Essentially, it's a mulled red wine with spices- perfect to warm up with after a chilly night of German Christmas magic.
Highlights:
First paper came back! At first, I was like, holy crap, a 70%?? Well, apparently here that's actually a very good grade- a really solid A. Hurrah! Hopefully grad schools in the States will understand!
"What the heck" moment of the day:
At the bus station in London--you have to PAY to use the bathroom???
Um...the Bach you think of is buried in Leipzig. CPE is one of his umpteen sons.
ReplyDeleteI remember having to pay for bathrooms in Vienna.