Friday Night
It was the end of our first week in Hamburg and it was time to celebrate with weekend full of outings with the group! We met up before the soccer game and went to a few bars to pregame. Once we got to the station where the stadium was located, we found a number of food/beer stands and we all bought some kind of bratwurst, and it was delicious! It was finally time for the game and even though it was really cold, we all had a great time and Hamburg's team won the game right towards the end.
Saturday
We didn't let a cold, rainy day damper our spirits and headed out for a walking tour of the beautiful city of Hamburg. Our UNC cohort met up at Hauptbahnhof, which is the central station and very busy, where we met our tour guide for the afternoon. Here are a few things we learned on the tour:
After two hours of walking around the city, we caught a train to St. Pauli to attend a meet and greet with everyone's host families at a cafe. While we were there, we got to eat desserts and drink tea and coffee while getting to know other host families and some Hamburg University students who joined us for today's activities.
- If the chandelier light is on at Town Hall (Rathaus) that means the mayor is available to hear peoples' questions or comments. Hamburg is a city-state and inside Town Hall, one side represents the city and the other represents the state.
- 70% of the James Bond movie, Tomorrow Never Dies, was filmed at the Atlantic Hotel in Hamburg. Rich and famous visitors choose this hotel to stay at while in Hamburg.
- Hamburg is the European city with the most millionaires at 42,000. There are also 10 billionaires that call Hamburg home. There is a building just for these rich people and in order to get in, you must know at least two people personally for an invite.
- If you are caught feeding a pigeon in Hamburg you will be charged 35-40 euro. Swans are the only birds you are allowed to feed.
- The spire of what remains at the Church of St. Nikolai is the tallest building in Hamburg at nearly 500 feet. This made it an easy target during World War II when air raids occurred.
- The Rolling Stones were banned from the Four Seasons Hotel after ruining one of the suites; Mich Jagger paid for the damage in cash.
- Nivea was created in Hamburg and there's a whole store full of it's products and there is even a spa.
After two hours of walking around the city, we caught a train to St. Pauli to attend a meet and greet with everyone's host families at a cafe. While we were there, we got to eat desserts and drink tea and coffee while getting to know other host families and some Hamburg University students who joined us for today's activities.
Saturday Night/Sunday Morning
Ever since we arrived in Hamburg, we have heard all about Hamburg's night life and the Fischmarkt (yes, that's how you spell it) that opens Sunday mornings at 5am. Our group decided we should stay out all night and go to the Fischmarkt like all the other Hamburg residents.
First we decided to go bar hopping in Sternschanze before we went to Reeperbahn to experience Hamburg's red light district. The first bar we attempted to get drinks from was a bust so we visited a convenience store and bought our first drinks and stood on the street because it's not against the law here. We tried another bar, where we got to watch some of the final four match-up between Wisconsin and Kentucky.
We finally made it to the Reeperbahn around 1am and still had four hours to kill before the Fischmarket opened. The bars here are so much crazier than any bar I've been to in the U.S. and it was almost overwhelming. We didn't visit any dance clubs on this night, but there were plenty to choose from. In Germany, bars don't stop selling alcohol at 2am so it's like the party never ends. We stayed an some Irish pub until it was time to walk to the Fischmarkt. By this time, we were all beyond tired and delirious from our extremely long day that began with our walking tour.
Everyone has raved about the one thing you must buy at the Fischmarkt: a fish sandwich. Unfortunately, I haven't eaten fish since I got terribly sick after eating some when I was still in elementary school, so I didn't try it. After the long day I had and staying out all night exploring, all I wanted was a bed and some sleep. Some of us waved the white flag of surrender and finally called it a night; I'm sure we all looked like zombies walking to the train station. I got 'home' around 6:30am and had a few hours of sleep before we had to meet up again for our trip to the Concentration Camp Memorial.
First we decided to go bar hopping in Sternschanze before we went to Reeperbahn to experience Hamburg's red light district. The first bar we attempted to get drinks from was a bust so we visited a convenience store and bought our first drinks and stood on the street because it's not against the law here. We tried another bar, where we got to watch some of the final four match-up between Wisconsin and Kentucky.
We finally made it to the Reeperbahn around 1am and still had four hours to kill before the Fischmarket opened. The bars here are so much crazier than any bar I've been to in the U.S. and it was almost overwhelming. We didn't visit any dance clubs on this night, but there were plenty to choose from. In Germany, bars don't stop selling alcohol at 2am so it's like the party never ends. We stayed an some Irish pub until it was time to walk to the Fischmarkt. By this time, we were all beyond tired and delirious from our extremely long day that began with our walking tour.
Everyone has raved about the one thing you must buy at the Fischmarkt: a fish sandwich. Unfortunately, I haven't eaten fish since I got terribly sick after eating some when I was still in elementary school, so I didn't try it. After the long day I had and staying out all night exploring, all I wanted was a bed and some sleep. Some of us waved the white flag of surrender and finally called it a night; I'm sure we all looked like zombies walking to the train station. I got 'home' around 6:30am and had a few hours of sleep before we had to meet up again for our trip to the Concentration Camp Memorial.
Sunday
The Neuengamme Concentration Camp Memorial opened in May of 2005, but exhibits of the history have been held here since October of 1981. Neuengamme was established in 1938 and existed until 1945 and was the largest concentration camp in north-west Germany. Over 100,000 prisoners from all over Europe were imprisoned in the main camp and 86 satellite camps and almost half of them died by the end of the war. In 1948, the camp was turned into a prison, which recently closed in 2003.
It was hard standing where so many people lost their lives and hearing/reading more about it made it even harder. Our tour guide told us that 20 children ages 5-12 were brought here and infected with tuberculosis so they could be used for drug testing, and after the experimentation was over that they were taken away and hanged. It's unreal how sadistically cruel these people were treated, including children.
Lastly, I just wanted to bring up something that's important to me as a Native American. Most people tend to forget about Christopher Columbus and his mass genocide of Native Americans or Andrew Jackson and the Trail of Tears, but I think these parts of history need to be remembered just like the Holocaust or slavery.
It was hard standing where so many people lost their lives and hearing/reading more about it made it even harder. Our tour guide told us that 20 children ages 5-12 were brought here and infected with tuberculosis so they could be used for drug testing, and after the experimentation was over that they were taken away and hanged. It's unreal how sadistically cruel these people were treated, including children.
Lastly, I just wanted to bring up something that's important to me as a Native American. Most people tend to forget about Christopher Columbus and his mass genocide of Native Americans or Andrew Jackson and the Trail of Tears, but I think these parts of history need to be remembered just like the Holocaust or slavery.