Blogs from Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany, Europe - page 10

Team Minimarkt Helga und Andreas so heissen die Teammitglieder im Minimarkt-Engeling am Campingplatz Imbrock an der BAB 7 Abfahrt Soltau-Süd. Die beiden haben wir in La Manga del Mar Menor/Spanien auf unserem Überwinterungsurlaub 2010 im Campingplatz Caravaning La Manga kennen und schätzen gelernt. Jetzt auf unserer Tour nach dem Polarkreis in Norwegen und Schweden 2011 haben wir natürlich hier bei Ihnen Station gemacht und sind herzlich aufgenommen worden. Wir sind uns alle einig im kommenden Überwinterungsurlaub treffen wir uns dann wieder in La Manga. A viva espana! Grillmeister Heute am 2.Juni 11 ist Vatertag und zur Feier des Tages gibt es hier Spanferkel-Essen bis zum Abwinken, zubereitet vom Meistro selbst und es ging weg wie warme Semmeln, man konnte zuschauen wie es weniger wurde. Vor der Fressorgie So sah das Schweinchen aus bevor der Meister das ... read more

A couple of months ago, there was a show on German TV in which a German and an Austrian team walked to the South Pole. One of the members of the German team had "I don't do it for the pleasure, I do it for the pain" written on his skis. I liked it and made it my personal mantra while preparing for the first triathlon in my life. I’ve been wanting to participate in one for ten years, but I never managed to start the training. After feeling like a useless cripple for months in 2009, I think I’m overcompensating now, hopefully getting fitter than ever before. Right after getting back from Asia, I started training for the triathlon that will take place in one week. It consists of 500 m swimming, 20 km cycling, ... read more

Thursday 17th to Friday 18th March 2011 Flying out of Helsinki we had a good view of the frozen bits of the Baltic (near the coast) from the plane - impressive! The day was spent in transit to Hamburg. John worked all day Friday, while Ali swanned around Hamburg (in the cold and drizzle - Melbourne weather, to all intents and purposes!). Ali was really interested to see the port area. The port is absolutely huge (the largest in Germany) - and it's been one of the world's most important ports since the 13th century. The main thing Ali wanted to see was the Speicherstadt (literally 'city of warehouses') - rows of warehouses built between 1883 and 1927, along a canal system on the edge of the port. Even though Hamburg was very badly damaged by ... read more

The idea was a Friday to Sunday weekend and due to an 'incident' stayed for an extra day. So Hamburg, what I remember and what I saw before the concussion - Hamburg is a very free thinking, liberal city. Not what I would associate as a typically German city. The city recognises and celebrates diversity, and holds its arms open to all. It has a very safe and non aggressive feeling to it. As a slightly tipsy foreign girl wandering about, speaking not a word of German except Entschuldigung, Gesundheit, and zwei ASTRA bitte I met many a colourful local, and danced the night away with a local Hamburgian who very possibly fought against my great granddad. I stood and stared at the Rote Flora on Schulterblatt. First impressions weren't good, this is a building in-between ... read more

If you didn’t grow up speaking English (or Italian), could you figure out what the word “hospital” means? Once you have a basic German vocabulary, you don’t have many problems like this. Here in Germany, if you get sick, a sickwagon will take you to a sickhouse where a sicksister will take care of you. If you eat too much greasy train station food, you’ll end up with fall-through, though that’s certainly never ever happened to me. Where on earth did the word “diarrhea” come from—and how on earth would someone new to English know it? Over breakfast this morning, I read the local scandal sheet the hotel provides for its guests. I didn’t need fluent German to be horrified that a 66-year old woman was “skalpiert” when she had a crash in her “Smart”—which ... read more