Beavers Abroad: March 2013

The 2nd weekend in December Lloyd and I ventured over to Hamburg, Germany for a visit with my friend Mareike from University. Mareike and I went to TCU together and were in business classes together, and as a blonde she's practically a 3rd daughter in the Beavers family. Hamburg is located in northern Germany and is a port city, making it an international transport hub and one of the most affluent cities in Europe. When we got into Hamburg we met Mareike at the airport, picked up her keys and set out to explore!

Hamburg had a mixture of old & new architecture and I later learned that was due to the frequent bombings experienced during WWII. The Allied bombing of Hamburg during WWII included numerous strategic bombing missions and diversions/nuisance raids. During the war Hamburg was a very important city to the German forces because it was a large port & industrial center, it contained shipyards, U-Boat pens, and it was the source of several oil refineries, so it was frequently attacked.

Everything looked so pretty covered in snow!

The Old Hamburg Opera House

Our first night we walked over to a Christmas Market and the lights and snow made Hamburg look simply picturesque.

Christmas Market

Mareike & I enjoying our Gluwein

Hamburg was freeeeeezing but we warmed up with some freshly made Gluhwein! Roughly translated as 'glow wine' from the hot irons used in mulling in the old days, Gluhwein is prepared with red wine, heated and spiced with cinnamon sticks, star aniseed, cloves, citrus and sugar. This was prepared in giant vats at the Christmas market and the smells were intoxicating. Also adding to the taste of the Gluhwein was the rum-soaked sugar loafs that were set on fire and dripped into the vats of the wine. Delish!

Video of the Christmas Market

Hamburg's main square

More Christmas Carols

Carnival in town

Delicious Dinner with Mareike & Richard

One of the things we found most interesting about Hamburg was the amount of graffiti art located all over the city. Mareike said that there is so much that many buildings don't paint over it because they'd just have to paint over it every few days.

Hamburg Police Station

The Reeperbahn is Germany's red light district, and is a street in the St. Pauli district that contains a slew of restaurants, bars, nightclubs, and discos.

Entry into the Reeperbahn - No females allowed!

The other side of the wall into the Reeperbahn

Mareike & Richard took us on a tour of the city and there were great views from the top of a hotel near the harbor.

Looking down into the Reeperbahn

Brrrrrr!!!

We also stopped by the Old Elbe Tunnel, created in 1911 and was a technological innovation at the time, as a vehicle and pedestrian passageway. The tunnel is 480m long and located 80ft below the surface and was the first tunnel of its kind that connected Hamburg with the docks and shipyards on the south of the river Elbe. The tunnel had beautiful stone craftsmanship and was pretty cool to see.

Louisiana-Style paddleboat on the Elbe!

We took a ferry down the river and it was soooooo cold!!!

Check out the ice...

Lloyd, Jen & Richard

Standing on a beach in the middle of winter!

Snow on the Beach! Such a strange sight

Peeping Santa?

Pretty little courtyard leading to the cute restaurant where
Mareike & Richard had their first date.

The nearly-completed Hamburg Opera House

Looking down one of the canals

The opera house is beautiful and will be a landmark on the Hamburg skyline. Read more about the innovative construction here.

Interesting pic in the bathroom...

Mareike liked this bridge, as it connected old & new parts of the city.

Mareike & Richard

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Walking to the town square

Mistletoe!

Lloyd being silly while drinking his Gluhwein

Prost!

We went out in the Reeperbahn after going to a Christmas party with Mareike & Richard's Germany friends and although it was snowy and cold we had a great time. We found a bar that was playing some American classics (like the song 'Tequila) and danced the night away! The bars in Hamburg stay open very late so we decided to venture over to the Fish Market...that opens at 5am! I was shocked it was actually that late but we were able to navigate through the blizzard, see it quickly, and then get back home before the sun came up :)