Ich bin ein Hamburger

Last week, while the weather was still primo, my work sent me to a weeklong German-American seminar on the outskirts of Hamburg. The seminar was a good mix of history, politics, and economics, and the diverse crowd kept discussions interesting.

Molly flew up later in the week and we painted the town (to include the Reeperbahn) red.

Although Hamburg is considered a city and a state, the most fascinating part for me was the fact that it didn’t even get a mention by Rick Steves. Despite being heavily bombed in World War II, the city is gorgeous – built on sprawling canals with its back up to two lakes, the inner and outer Alster. With loads of trees and parks but still a grungy edge to it, it feels like the lovechild of Berlin and Amsterdam. 

Before Molly arrived, I visited the Minatur Wonderland, which is the world’s largest model train. I never really built model trains growing up, but this place was ridiculous. I don’t even know where to begin – the excruciating (and sometimes hilarious) detail was insane. This video is a good summary and the narrator rocks (thanks, Manute!)

We stayed at the apartment of Molly’s friend Courtney, who moved to Hamburg nine months ago from St. Louis. Unfortunately, we never had the chance to hang with Courtney because she was back in STL for the entire week, in part filming the ultimate 2011 winning 48 hour film project movie. 

We totally dug her 'hood though, which she said the residents bust bottles and keep it just dirty enough to keep the rent low. (genius!)

In addition to cruising through a few flea and farmer’s markets, we caught some live music at the Cotton Club, did some urban hiking in the warehouse district and soaked up some much needed sun. 

We can now say we're Hamburgers, have been Berliners and by next Friday, we'll be Frankfurters. 

Delicious.