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At the train station, we found a small English guide published under the Marco Polo Series for Hamburg. It suggested a few more ideas for exploring the city. When they mentioned a vegan bakery in Eimsbuttel, we were intrigued and decided to seek it out. www.biokonditorei-eichel.de It was a pleasant little place and the owner spoke excellent English, a plus since he could explain what desserts were available. It appeared popular, too. N liked the raspberry/soy cream cake, but I was not too thrilled with the chocolate cake sweetened with agave, though N liked that, too. Next door was a a fish market that served 3 or 4 dishes which were extremely reasonable and very good. For 6.90 Euro, including bread, N had 3 pieces of fish served with a lemon sauce over spinach. I opted for the very good fish soup for 4.90 euro. Eurovista, Osterstrasse 13. Not to confuse anyone, we had lunch before the desserts.

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Our train excursion to Luneburg was mid week; a 50 minute train ride. We had originally planned to visit Schwerim, but missed the train by about 10 seconds. Although listed in Michelin as a two star (recommended) site, though not in Fodor's, the town was surprisingly uncrowded. Compared to Lubeck, it felt undiscovered. The attractive brick buildings lining the streets are very distinctive with gables and occasionally twisted brick like adornments. I loved looking at them.

N spotted an audio store; and as an audiophile, always interested in stereo components, we spent some time there, getting some on the spot tourist advice and history of the town after he checked out various speakers. Luneburg's prosperity was based on salt until very recently; the salesman added that many of the older buildings had been threatened with destruction in the 70s by developers, but have survived. What a shame if they had been demolished; it's a beautiful town and one of my favorite excursions from Hamburg.

Also, enjoyed a meal at a Turkish restaurant where the waiter wearing a Los Angeles t-shirt was a bit confused when I pointed to it and said that's where I live. I'm not sure he really believed me.

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The vegan bakery recommended the vegetarian restaurant, the Hin and Weg, in Schanzentiertel. We spent an afternoon, checking out the restaurant and exploring a new neighborhood.The neighborhood reminded us of Commercial Drive in Vancouver, definitely on the counter cultural side.

Using hvv.de to get there,it was a long metro plus bus ride. The restaurant was described on happycows.com as tasty, but not very healthy, however, the fast food place appeared grungy and not very attractive.

Looking for another place to eat, we wandered into La Sepia, a very popular Portuguese restaurant. Even at 3:30 midweek, every table was taken, indoors and out. Finally, spotting a dirty table just vacated, we sat down. For 13 Euro for both of us, including a bottle of water, we had two fish dishes, including a separate course of salad or soup. Amazingly good for the price.

Later, browsing the street, we stopped two young guys, we were curious about the large graffitied structure across the street with several homeless guys sleeping against the walls. We were told it was a Cultural Center which had active demonstrations against corporate enterprises in the neighborhood and again the controversial word "gentrification" came up. These people were anarchist, they told us, however even if they smashed McDonald's' windows, they would repair any damage to independents. We were also told that La Sepia used to be a lot better!

The guys were amazingly articulate, and when I asked them how they learned English, they replied that they were movie buffs and hated to watch American movies dubbed in German; I wish I could master a second language through foreign movies. We probably spent at least an hour talking to them. They sent us to a great pastry shop down the street for dessert, a room furnished in shabby chic and very crowded.

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We picked a Sunday to visit Schwerin, a former East German town about 40 or so minutes from Hamburg. The town felt deserted as we walked from the station to visit the castle. There were a few more people about when we crossed the bridge to the beautiful neo Renaissance castle. Only a few rooms are open to the public. The parquet floors are particularly striking. There is also an interesting throne room with lots of portraits. When we stopped for a drink in the empty castle cafe, it felt like a scene out of the former Soviet Republic when the waitress banged our drinks on the table, however in her defense she did smile at us when we paid our bill.

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Note on Schwerin's castle: From the castle's windows there are beautiful views of of the lake and gardens. Admission 6 euro and audio phone 2 euro.

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We enjoyed our day at the Hamburger Kunsthalle (Fine Arts Museum) next to the main train station. Admission was 8.50 Euro and 3 Euro for the audio phones. They have a great 17th Century Dutch collection as well as Blaue Reiter artists like Nolde and Marc which I particularly enjoy. Because the collections are vast, you need to narrow down what you want to see, especially if you have only a few hours.

The paintings' artist information was sometimes hard to find;
sometimes it was on the wall, sometimes not. Often, you need to peer closely to find a small inscription on the frame.

The English version of the audio phone did not work on the 800 level paintings. Perhaps, it did not work on the German audio phone, either, I don't know. However, The opportunity to use it was limited, usually only one painting per room, thus,probably not worth renting. There's a pretty little cafe in which enjoy a pastry and rest for a half hour or so during your visit.

There was a small exhibition called "The Jesus Scandal" featuring one of Leiberman's painting ," which has probably just ended. Apparently in the late 1800s, Leiberman had painted Jesus as a young Jewish child in ordinary garb; the painting was accepted in a prestigious exhibition, but when viewed by critics it created intense controversy, anti-semitic comment, and eventually Leiberman changed the painting. The painting was sold in the late 1930s during the Nazi regime and repurchased from a private collection in 1989. I hope my memory served me on the details.

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Although, we love Germany's train system, they did not come through for us the day we went to Berlin, and for that matter neither did the weather. The train was late coming and returning. On the way back, it was delayed about 50 minutes. When we visited Berlin 5 years ago when we were in Frankfurt, we also experienced delays. I remember sitting midway on the track for an hour. I don't know if this is typical or not for the Berlin run.

We had spent a week in Berlin on a previous trip, but had spent little time in West Berlin; we decided to visit the Kurfursterndamm District, a famous shopping area and then walk along Unter den Linden and also see the new Holocaust Memorial. For us, at least, the shopping area was no more interesting than Hamburg's which is extensive and quite nice. We walked up Tauentzienstrass and visited KaDeWe, reputed to be the largest European department store.

It was raining when we tried to make our way to Unter den Linden, but the Berlin transit was not cooperating. We stood with a Swiss couple in the rain which was now pouring quite heavily, waiting for almost an hour for the bus that never arrived, and finally gave up and returned to the train station to return to Hamburg.

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We had two long bus rides to the very nice restaurant Esszimmer-Feinekost on Eppendorfer Weg 73 one afternoon. www.esszimmer-feinekost.de N loved his Gorgonzola ravioli and salad for 8.50 euro and I enjoyed the curried German noodles, salad and broccoli with tomato sauce for 7.50 euro. When we got off the bus, we found we were only a half block or so from the vegan bakery. It is odd, how the hvv.de web site would give us different transit directions for two places so close together. Coming home was a much shorter ride!

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We waited for a rainy day to visit the Museum fur Hamgurgische Geschichte (History Museum). The museum is three stories high, housed in a beautiful neo-Renaissance palace and well-worth visiting. Unlike the Fine Arts Museum, there is plenty of commentary in both English and German which helped this English only speaker. I believe it cost 8 euro.

There is a permanent History of Jews in Hamburg exhibit, unfortunately the English commentary is sadly lacking on what appeared to be an interesting exhibit, although there is an English book available in the gift shop that outlines the exhibit.

There is a restaurant attached to the museum lauded by one of our travel guides. It is reasonably priced, however neither of us enjoyed our meals.

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We waited for a Sunday to visit Planten un Blomem, a lovely city party next to the Stephenplatz metro stop. It is similar to the Palmengarten in Frankfurt or the Tete d'or in Lyon. We loved walking around all three. Unlike the city parks in Lyon and Frankfurt, Hamburg's beautifully landscaped park is free. There is a large bandstand and that Sunday there was Dixie Music playing with a large appreciative audience of all ages enjoying the music. Nearby was a huge pond with ducks and geese. The landscape is well maintained with flowers and shrubs. Lots of benches for relaxing and cafes scattered about for light snacks and ice cream. A very pleasant way to spend one of our last days in Hamburg; and the weather cooperated, too, though overcast and a threat of rain, we only had a few drizzles, not enough to mar the day.

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Visited the University of Hamburg area one day, lovely buildings, both old and new. Lots of pre WW11 bldgs. A local told us that the area had escaped much destruction. This area had formerly been a Jewish area - we walked down Hallerstrasse (I think that was the name), a beautiful tree lined street with large old art nouveau apartment bldgs. In front of one, there were brass plaques in bedded in the sidewalk, probably each one about 2x2 inches with some one's name that had died in a concentration camp. You can only imagine the scene, these lovely bldgs with high ceilings, parquet floors, gracious rooms that once were these people's homes.

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We took the train to the Main station one Saturday, only to find ourselves blocked from taking a bus. There was a gay and lesbian pride parade. A huge event in Hamburg and very well attended; the crowds were thick. It seemed timely to us, since only 3 days before California had revoked Proposition 8, the anti-gay marriage law and that Governor Schwarzenegger had asked for the resumption of gay marriages. Unfortunately, gay marriages are still on hold.

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One of the pleasures of Hamburg was always looking up and seeing interesting architectural details. From a bus I saw a concrete elephant standing on the balustrades of a balcony. In the St Greorg area, I saw two concrete statues bending under the weight of holding up the building. All very amusing. And then there were all the faces, some sad, some grotesque, some just plain weird interspersed between windows. Never a dull moment.

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A few more remarks and minor observations: Although, we did not speak German and many people did not speak English or only a couple words, people without fail, always helped us. They would ask people near by for the help we needed. Nein did not mean the conversation was over. I would show them our destination (written on a piece of paper) and with hand signals or occasional taking us by the arm and showing us, we always found the places we needed. A smile would always surface and when asked where we came from, they always appeared delighted to find we were Americans. We always felt welcomed, but because we did not know German, we missed many opportunities to have conversations with locals. Those who spoke English always seemed to have all the time in the world to chat.

I did not relish shopping at our nearby Real Market in Farmsen. Once you were in the market, you were trapped if you decided not to purchase anything, you needed to have someone open the gates to let you out, it was sometimes a lengthy process since it did not appear you could walk out through check out lines. I was stopped once and told to go around to the end of the store. The produce was not great, but it was our closest market. We walked occasionally into other markets and their attitude seemed much pleasanter.

We reveled in the great breads, pastries, ice cream and pretzels. Even the market bread was better than anything I can buy at home. I wondered why Nestle's Movenpic, a lowly market ice cream, but so very good, has not entered the American market, but why compete with Dryers and Hagen Das, which I have just learned are also Nestle products?

Hamburg transit was wonderful; we used it everyday. We bought passes and entered the buses and metro like locals. It was wonderful not driving a car for 5 weeks. Admittedly, we did miss our car was when it came to food shopping, keeping us at Real, since we hated carrying shopping bags full of groceries long distances. For long excursions, the Eurail pass worked for us and since a lot of the small towns and villages were easily accessible from the train station, additional transportation was not needed. We could walk from the station into town. This was particularly true in Lubeck. Luneburg, and Travemunde.

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The smoking drove my husband crazy and irritated me. It was hard to escape it outdoors since we were frequently downwind of cigarettes. Eating indoors was a respite from cigarettes, but it seemed a shame to sit indoors when it was very hot or when the weather was pleasant. We were told 30% of the population smoked, it felt like 75% at times. We were amazed to still see large cigarette bill boards advertising cigarettes at bus stops and metro stations, though one local said that was coming to an end soon. We never saw any evidence of an anti-smoking campaign, but the same local told us that there were anti-smoking commercials on TV.

There were many things we missed. We visited the Reeperbaum one day, perhaps we should have returned in the evening, but it just felt raunchy to us. We were told it was a whole different scene at night.

We visited the Port several times, again we never quite got it. We understood it was a strong focal point for Hamburgers. Perhaps, because in LA and San Pedro, two ports close to us that are just not focal points for Los Angelenos and are not weekend or tourist destinations, we confused the issue.

A very, very minor observation that some what balances Europeans' attitudes of overweight Americans. Although, we saw few really obese Germans, we were surprised at how many overweight people we did notice. Not surprising when you consider how wonderful the German cuisine is and how there are bakeries on just about every corner.

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We returned home via Swiss Airlines and had only one delay of twenty minutes in Zurich. From home exchangers' home to our house, it took 23 hours. It was long and exhausting, but Swiss Airlines is still the best economy flight going. They were unfailingly polite and food service seemed to come along every couple hours or so. We were lucky to have had two assigned seats on the side of the plane with no third in our row.

We returned home to find our house in order, roses on our coffee table, two bowls of fruit, a Hamburg coffee mug, some chocolates and a very nice thank you note from our exchangers.

All in all, though we can hardly say we explored Hamburg thoroughly, we did get a sense of the city, and felt once again, that we were lucky to spend an extended period of time in so interesting a place.

Kristinelaine

Enjoyed reading your report. We were in Hamburg, Berlin, and Lubeck last year and really enjoyed the areas. My entire background is German, so perhaps that explains my love of it. Thanks for taking the time to give so much detail. I am surprised that you found so many places to eat that were not at all expensive.

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Thank you, Kristine Elaine for following my trip. I enjoyed writing it; always hard to know if anyone is following along when you get so few responses.

It really was not difficult to find reasonably priced restaurants once you get away from downtown and the Rathaus. Except for the Fischerhaus, which did not live up to its reputation, we stayed away from highly touted restaurants. We are not foodies, pretty much vegetarians with an occasional piece of fish, so we were better off in small places. By the way, we did not find it difficult to eat vegetarian at all in these small independent places or healthily for that matter either. Always, lots of salads and vegetables. There were usually at least 2 or 3 vegetarian choices. The key, I suppose was eating in a neighborhood.

We liked the Donner fast food eateries, too, but stayed away after watching some of the health practices. Many people would probably find us fastidious, but I could not get over watching someone prepare a falafel sandwich, take money and make change, not wash his hands and then handle food again and again. Apparently, this did not bother a lot of people; though maybe it may have cut down on their customers, I'll never know. Same with the ice cream cones, the servers handled money and then would grab a cone, so to overcome that less than healthy situation, I ate my kugel in a cup.

surfmom

thanks for the great report. The fun thing about your trip is that you had time to "live" there while most tourists barely scratch the surface.

(side note: another Philly resident here... altho I live in the Western 'burbs. Loved the rowing connection - boathouse row is beautiful at night - when we are in the city and on the way home, I like to be passenger in the car to enjoy the view!)

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surfmon: Driving on River Drive looking at boathouse row was always a highlight for me. In my mind's eye it is always one of my favorite memories. I love the River Drive and driving on Wissahickon Drive, too, especially as you say if someone else does the driving.

Thanks for picking up on the boat plaque. I thought it very odd to see it there. The captain told me the boat was built in Hamburg; I thought maybe it was an old boat that had been renovated. I never did get an explanation for a U of P plaque cruising the Elbe.

For years, I searched for Philadelphia cheesecake in Calif and found the real thing 4 years ago when we were in Frankfort. Found it again this year in Hamburg. Exactly, the taste I remembered from childhood. I loved the Hamburg pretzel, alas they did not taste like Phila pretzels, a whole different taste, but I managed to eat quite a few of them, too. I didn't know growing up in Phila that so many of my food tastes were German foods.