Harburg Rathaus

First report from Hamburg! First impression ... COLD. After the wonderfully warm sun in London, Hamburg Germany just seems to take the heat right off you! It ranges from 4 to 8 degrees over here but its around 3-4 degrees during the day and only at night does it get really cold.
Lemme tell you abt my journey to get here. Set off at 2 am from Passfield with Sherwayn's gigantic pack strapped to my shoudlers and my crumpler bag strapped to it AND a big Primark bag stuffed with the trench coat I brought for Liangzhu. I only reached Victoria Coach Station after a very very excruciating 55 min trek ... arms were numb after that and my shoulders felt like lead! All to safe 70p?!! But no I like walking anyway and I dun regret it except for the slightly aching shoulders. The bus set off and the exhaustion kept me asleep right through the 1hr 30 min ride. Checked in my luggage and slept AGAIN at the airport till my flight and then SLEPT AGAIN in the plane straight through. Stepped out into a solid blast of cold air!
Was kinda exhausted when I finally reached LZ's place but he whipped up this wonderful cabonara pasta (that he says is standard fare for him). Heh it seems living by yourself (and w/o catered food) really does wonders for your cooking skills! After 40 winks he brought me out to Hamburg proper where I had an introduction to some German, learning for example Haben Zie Heinen Stadt Plan (or smth like that) - do u have a city map? and nischt ist unmoglich (from a u-bahn advert) - nothing is impossible! Well the peeps here if not as friendly and accomodating as the Danes are pretty nice in their own way as well (although not as well versed in English) and definetely more welcoming than the Parisiens! Saw a few things which struck my eye - Der Konig Der Lowen (i.e. Lion King) and Mamma Mia both play in Hamburg, the Raffles hotel has a branch here. Oh yah the pastries here are lovely! And I love pastries! First night we had dinner at this Portugese restaurant and it was so big both of us had trouble finishing the combined mixed grill fish dish (that's saying a lot when both of us have one of the biggest appetities I have ever seen! got pics of em!). Learnt later that night that someone pua tohed again! Sheesh.
Next day (Sunday) we went to this place - St. Pauli Fischmarkt (which as you can tell is supposed to be a fishmarket) - and wow! Its a riot of color, sounds and commotion I have seldom seen in Europe. Wads queer in this fish market is that (1) fish mongers are in the minority (2) sellers (especially those of market produce) seem to have the market power here not the buyers - they dictate a basket of goods (seemingly constantly changing) and customers bid for them (3) there is this large hall where tired shoppers (or marketers?) go to chill out; there was this rock band (at 0900???) jamming to the sounds of German rock and Queen's Radio Gaga; and Germans of all shape and sizes slurping away at coffee (vodka and beer as well! those nutters!) and munching into breakfast! We had breakfast - chips and sausages! Now I know why the German sausages are famed! Have decided to bring some home to London! *yum*
Well after that we made a couple more stops, the most interesting of which is this Church - St. Michaelis - where there is a tower stretching up ten stories! The view from above is panoramic spanning almost the entire Hamburg (ian?/ er?) skyline. The city although with a population similar to Singapore's is really low-rise (haven't seen anything above 7 stories) so the view basically captured everything the city had to offer! Heh luckily we were early cos we found out later there was a long queue for the lift. On our way down we saw families climbing up the stairs and there was this little girl (very cute!!!) mumbling to her mum in German (via LZ's translation), "Mama I'm dizzy!" Oh yah LZ's German really astounds me! His really good at it - which you'd probably expect, since he's lived here for some time already. Haiz reminds me of my dream to live someday in France (kinda tainted after I met some of the ruder Parisiens and read about Japanese migrants having trouble assmiliating).
Back home later that night we watched this black and white, 1930's show Top Hat. It was suprisingly good and very funny! Gonna recommend it to everyone when I get back! Hehe. Well ... one problem though ... LZ left for work this morning with the message that I meet him at one at the Hauptbahnof (Central Station) BUT guess wad the door was locked FROM THE OUTSIDE by his flatmate Felix! So I can't get out! Hence my blogging now ... SIGHZ. Justin's Luck hehe! Ah well its given me the chance to compose my thoughts so I guess its a good thing. He should be back in ten ... so my next entry will prob be back in London! Hope to regale you all with tales from Berlin and Munich!