I'm Back!

My plane arrived in Charlotte yesterday at 3:30 pm. It was a long flight, but not as bad as the flight going over. I'm sure it will take me a few days for my body to get back to a normal schedule. Looks like I'll be going to be early all this week. The trip was amazing, and I am so happy that I was able to go. I will be posting more pictures this week, and giving a little more detail about where we went and what we did. Until then, It's back to work, and back to my normal everyday life.

My last day in Hamburg

Well, today was my last day in Hamburg. The day started with home made croissants and fresh fruit. Jennifer is such a great cook. Then we went for a tour of the Town Hall, known in Hamburg as the Rathause. Here is a picture of it during the day, and one of it at night. It is beautiful inside and out. The Town Hall is just a few rooms short of being as large as Buckingham Palace in London. The rest of the day was spend shopping for souvenirs and taking in as much of Hamburg as I could. Before dinner, we walked down to the Alster, a large body of water in the middle of the city. The US Consulate building sits right on the water. They call it the little white house.

We finished the night at Franziskaner for dinner.

I have really enjoyed my trip to Germany, and would come back next week if I could. This has been one of the best vacations I've ever been on. I'm so glad that I was able to come, and thankful for the opportunity. Hopefully one day I will be able to come back, and bring Andrew with me. Thank you Jennifer for a showing me around your city, and for being such a great travel buddy. You have been a wonderful hostess, and I am so blessed you have you as a friend.

Hamburg - Day 4 - Day Trip to Lubeck

Today, Jennifer and I took a short trip to Lubeck. It is a beautiful town, surrounded by a Moat. Most of the buildings and churches date back further then 1226, when it was made a free imperial city.Here are some pictures from our day. The weather was beautiful.

This is the entrance to the city

View of the water and City from on top of St. Petri Church

St. Mary's Church

Inside St. Mary's Church

Crossing the bridge to leave the city

This picture has not been touched up - it really did have that reflection on the water. It was absolutely beautiful.

Lubeck is also a major supplier of marzipan. Niederegger, one of the largest suppliers, makes the marzipan just outside the city, and sends it all over the world. We ate lunch at Das Cafe Niederegger, the cafe inside the candy store. They also have a Marzipan Salon, which was like a little marzipan museum. It showed how they make the marzipan, and had some of the older molds on display. Here are some pictures from the Marzipan Salon. All of the figures in the pictures below are made out of marzipan.

Here are some funny signs I saw in Lubeck.

This was on the Lady's restroom

This was on the men's restroom

and this was outside of St. Mary's Church

Hamburg - Day 3

Here are some pictures from Thursday. We were able to catch up on some much needed sleep, and had a very relaxing day. We went to St. Michaelis church. The sanctuary is in the middle of a major renovation, but we were still able to go to the top of the tower. The view was amazing. After that, we took a ferry boat ride to a little town called Blankenese. It was such a cute little town with some amazing views of the Elbe River. The homes are incredible. We had cake and coffee when we got there, which is very common for women to do in Germany. Jennifer cooked dinner and dessert for us, and everything was Delicious. She has been such a gracious hostess. Here are some pictures from the day. I can't believe my trip is almost over. If I could, I would stay for two more weeks. I only wish that Andrew could have come with me.

Hamburg - Day 2

This morning we woke up at 7:00 am to go to the Fischmarkt. It was cold and rainy, but we went all the way through. Here I am at the Harbor when we first got there.

I didn't buy anything at the Fischmarkt except hot chocolate and an eclair. It was probably the best eclair I have ever had. I got it from a Portuguese bakery. Jennifer got a chocolate croissant and a coffee. And believe it or not, at 7:30 am the beer was flowing. I can't believe how much beer these people drink. This is Jennifer on the way out. She was pretty cold.

Here I am after we went through the entire FischMarkt. I'm wearing my hood because it was raining and very cold.

After we left the FischMarkt, we went to the down tot he Alte Elbtunnel (old Elbe Tunnel). We got in an elevator and went 24 metres deep under the Elbe River. It has been transporting people and vehicles since 1911. They close it to vehicles on Sundays, so it was safer for us to be walking through.

On the other side of the tunnel is Steinwerder. There was a great view of the hamburg skyline. I only wish it hadn't been so foggy. That is St. Michael's Church over my right shoulder.

Here is St. Michael's church as we were walking back to the Apartment from the harbor. It is a beautiful church. It was consecrated in 1661, and has been completely destroyed and rebuilt twice (1750 & 1943). Later in the week we will be climbing to the top of the steeple. Jennifer said the view of Hamburg and the harbor is incredible from the top.

Tonight we are getting on an airplane and heading to London for a few days. I'm really looking forward to seeing everything London has to offer. I know I won't be able to do Everything, but I'm hoping to get as much in as possible. We won't have Internet access while in London, so I won't be blogging for a few days. But when we get back, I will have a ton of pictures to share.

Hamburg, Day 1

Today was a wonderful day in Hamburg. I took 78 pictures just today! Don't worry, I'm not posting a lot. I'll save them for the scrapbook. Anyway, I slept till 12:45 pm, and it was definitely needed. After I got up and got ready, Jennifer made a traditional German Breakfast for us. We had a hard roll with butter, cheese and sliced meat; hard boiled eggs, and fruit salad. It was all delicious. Then, Jennifer and I headed out to the city to do a Scenic Bus tour. Here is me in front of the bus.



The bus tour lasted about 1 1/2 hours. We decided to get off of the bus for a little Crepe Break. I got the Banana with Nutella, and Jennifer got Cinnamon Sugar. They were both great. It was a little rainy, but not too bad. Here is me eating my Crepe.

We got back on the bus and finished our tour. It was nice being able to see most of the city in a short amount of time, and getting all of the history about the old buildings. Here is the town hall, or what they call the Rathaus. It is a beautiful building, especially at night.
Then for dinner we went to the Hofbrau Munchen. It was a traditional Southern German Restaurant. This is what I got for diner. It's Pork Loin with a knoedel (Potato dumpling) and a salad. The crusty thing on top is the fried fat (kinda like fatback). Andrew would have loved it.

The restaurant had live German music and lots of beer. Not only was there German music, but they also played old American Music. So, we were able to sing along with a lot of the songs. Here are Jennifer and I outside the restaurant.

My first day in Germany was so much fun. Tomorrow we are waking up early and going to the Ficsh-markt. Then tomorrow night, we are headed to LONDON!!!

Live from Hamburg!

Well, I made it!! I got here today about 1:15 pm Hamburg time, (8:15 am SC Time). The plane ride was long and cramped. It was a full plane, so there wasn't much room to spread out. It seems like every time I get on a plane, the seats are smaller and more cramped. I only managed to get about 3 hours of sleep on the first flight, and about 45 minutes of sleep on the second flight. It is now about 10:15 pm in Hamburg, and I can't believe I am still awake. I'm headed for bed right now. Jennifer is taking me out sightseeing tomorrow, so hopefully I will have some pictures to post.