Hamburg!

So for day 6 and 7 we went into Hamburg and stayed at a youth hostel! It took a 2 hour train ride to get there and despite it being kinda foggy the view was really interesting. Between passed out college kids and the farm land it was neat to see the transition for Berlin to the more industrial based Hamburg. So the little green thing that is going to be in some of these photos is my traveling hippo named Rupert. My friend made him for me in high school and he travels with me where ever I go!

Rupert and I waiting on the train to Hamburg with my hippo shirt on!

Rupert hanging on out the train

Sleepy roommate is sleepy

Nap time is the best time

It was interesting to see houses as we were going through because they would either be really nice and really large, or very small and shackish with a thrown  together roof. There didn't appear to be a middle ground.
The train station in Hamburg had absolutely beautiful architecture!

We took a bus tour around Hamburg to see some of the big things. 

It was really interesting but what I hadn't realized was just how much money was in Hamburg. Some of the flats started between 15,000-17,000 Euro and had no upper limit. The architecture around the entire city was absolutely beautiful!

After this we went and took a boat tour around Hamburg.

Captain Rupert Ya'll

 We sat on the outside of the boat and it was in all German so we really couldn't understand that much, but I have never seen one of those freight boats that close before. We were able to see some of the lifts working them, and also went through a canal. A lot of the shops along the water also had a spot where you could unload equipment to them from the water.

Then after this we went into the tunnel underneath the water. The city realized that instead of building a bridge over the water they could building one underneath the canal so that big boats wouldn't have to worry about a bridge, and cars and pedestrians could get across. It was really cool. However. The first time we went down we took the stairs and if you've ever seen National Treasure it was very similar to that set up. The metal stairs rounded down the side of the walls. I'm not a fan of heights, but I'm even less a fan of falling. 

A big thanks to my friends who didn't laugh at me too hard as I kept three points of contact at all times. The tunnel at the bottom was totally worth it. It was really really cool to see the elevator that lowered the cars down to the bottom.

And for those who are wondering walking back up the stairs was just as scary as walking down them. 

After this we went to the hard rock (pretty proud of my Hamburg pin) and then went back to the Hostel to get settled in.

It was like a larger, brightly colored dorm room.

It was the first time I had ever stayed in a Hostel, and it was really nice system. The only flaw is that the bathrooms are motion censored and don't pick you up if you're in the shower, so hopefully you don't shower too long! they had a really nice breakfast laid out for us in the morning before our second day of adventuring! 

We saw a lock bridge where people whisper a wish or hope then lock it up and throw the key into the river.

Past this our day was filled with churches. Honestly, a lot of the names ran together but the stained glass in all of them was gorgeous! 

Then we went to the St. Michael's Church. It was absolutely stunning. Words can't describe how beautiful and intricate it was. 

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Please take into account the back bend I did to get this picture.

Later that day we also saw a flash mob which was really awesome to watch!

Hamburg was a great city, but I am glad to be finishing our trip off in Berlin where I can catch up on the sights I wanted to see.

It also isn't right on the water, therefore less cold.

-C