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Published: December 14th 2008
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Hamburg!!!!! November 3-9, 2008
“Hamburg is as watery as Venice and Amsterdam. Three rivers - the Elbe, the Alster, and the Bille - traverse it, as does a grid of narrow canals called Fleete…Hamburg, In the mid-19th century an admiring Glaswegian treasurer described Hamburg as the worlds “most mercantile city”. So much history has taken place here and 80%!o(MISSING)f it was in rubble after World War 2. “ Germany tour book.
On November 3rd we left Freiburg in the very south of Germany to travel all the way back up to northern Germany to Hamburg. After a long almost ten hour bus ride we arrived at our hotel. I was soo exhausted I pretty much passed out the second I made it into my room. The next day though a few girls and I took the metro early in the morning to get into the center of Hamburg as our hotel was kind of on the outskirts. We went to the station right outside Hamburg’s baroque Rathaus which is an absolutely beautiful building. Then we wondered around marveling at the various sites and of coarse shopping. We stayed around this one canal and found all these swans
and ducks and pigeons and various birds. At first they were all circled around this one little boy that was feeding them but as soon as we were spotted by the canal all the swans came swimming at us excepting a meal. Nina went and bought a baguette and the chaos began. We were absolutely swarmed by birds of all sorts and those swans were pushy and mean! they’d yank the bread right out of your hand and parts of your fingers with it! It was so fun taking pictures and we were laughing the whole time. I even have a little video for you all! After we all kind of split up to do our own thing. I went off to take a few pictures and actually got pooped on by a bird while taking a picture! I couldn’t believe it, I was at this park and everything was so beautiful and as I raised my camera I felt something drop on my hand and it was bird poop!!! Thank god it was just my hand and not my camera or my hair or something and it was easy to remove with a tissue but still!! Oh well, they
say it’s good luck and I better be getting some good luck after being pooped on.
Anyways the next day it was back to the rink for rehearsals and by Thursday we were getting ready for our world premier. The place we were performing at was an actual arena so the stands were endless and opening night was a full house. A few hours before that though we had to do a little demo for the press so our director decided to show them the principle group number and then the whole finally piece. The beginning of the finally piece starts out with me and two other girls just doing a little step out so when that time finally came and we stepped out from behind the curtain all I could see at the end of the ice was a sea of cameras. It was so exhilarating and they were just clicking away as we skated by. But at 7pm the “curtains were drawn” and we were released to the world. I personally had a great show and managed not to trip or anything haha. It was a very large arena and it was completely pack with people dressed
to the nines in tuxes and gowns. I just remember being out there and thinking to myself, “wow, this is my job? I get to travel Europe and see all these amazing places while doing exactly what I want, ice skating.” Nothing gives me pleasure like performing for an audience… except for maybe a new pair of shoes.. Just kidding J Well the only thing that would be better is if I were performing as a principle skater instead of being under a zebra head but being a semi principle means I have to partake in some of those crazy numbers that may sometimes be embarrassing but never the less are really fun sometimes. I’m ok with where I am this year even though it may not be my ideal but I know where I want to be with my skating and for now this is an incredible experience. So opening night the best was at the end when we hit our final pose and the whole stadium jumped to their feet in a standing ovation. I will always remember that moment and cherish it. After that the whole week was show after show. Friday we did two shows, Saturday
was three shows, and Sunday was two again. I was so physically exhausted by the end that I could barely shimmy my shoulders in our salsa number haha. Oh well, it was worth it and I’ve decided that at this point in my life this is the best job I could ask for.
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Marianne
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Merry Christmas!!!!
Caroline, What fun to read about your travels and experiences!! And the pictures, wow!!!! We love you and wish you the best!! Marianne and all the Stroms'!!!!!!