Germany, Part 1: Bremen and Hamburg(er with MUSTARD)

Spring break was this week for us, already 1/3 of the way through the semester! I can't believe how fast this semester has been going already. I'm trying to get to all the places on my list before the end. Which brings me to Germany! Alex planned a little trip to see our friend Max from last semester.

On Thursday night, with Brian, we took the night train out of Paris and started our 12 hour journey to the north of Germany. The train was swell. We were in a tiny room, each of us assigned to a bed (there were 6 beds on the two walls). It was a really unique experience. Of course I wasn't tired, so I finished the Sherlock Holmes series and read a short thriller story (I will never be able to hitchhike!). In the middle of the might some old guy came into our room and lied down in his bed for just a minute then decided to get up and leave. Bizarre but what can you expect? We switched trains rather early in the morning. Some guy started a mostly one-way conversation with us. He was the type of person that is socially awkward yet outgoing- never a good combination. Without even the formality of giving his name, he quickly asked for Alex's number upon hearing she was from Toronto as he has family there and may visit in the near future. Awkward refusals wouldn't stop this guy. He proceeded to ask for my Parisian number. Absolutely not. I said I forgot my phone and said he should write down his phone and email so I could contact him. No pen. Such a shame..
We got off the train in Bremen and Max was waiting for us. Our new creepy friend introduced himself and invited us for coffee at the hotel he worked at. Hope he didn't wait too long..
We were all thrilled to see each other again and did some catching up during the drive to Jacob's University where Max attends. The town and the school are equally quaint and very pleasant. It is always refreshing to be away from the noise and constant movement in Paris.
Max was a great host; his dorm was prepared with mats and blankets for sleeping and he even let us use his extra meal credits in the dorm cafeteria. It really reminded me of life at U of I.

On our first night we went into the city center for a personal tour led by Max. The architecture of the town had the appearance of an old village complemented with detailed buildings and even modern ones. It also had cramped and narrow alleyways,

which I love to check out anywhere I go. For dinner, Max wanted us to experience a local specialty: a cabbage mix topped with two different types of sausage and a side of potatoes.

The name escapes me, which happened quite often throughout the adventures in Germany. The first few places we tried were out of cabbage. One restaurant seated us and served us drinks after promising us cabbage. We got half price drinks after they told us they had none left. At this point, Max was discouraged and especially frustrated. We dropped our objective and went to a Bavarian restaurant. What do you know, they had the dish (and we got their last table!). It was served quickly but it was so delicious. And it didn't look like it would be filling, but I had some trouble trying to finish it all. The restaurant's environment was great. The servers were dressed in stereotypical German clothes, we were seated at benches, and live German music was playing in the background.
That night, we took it easy and watched a comedy that over-exaggerated every German stereotype. Max almost died. If nothing else, he was able to disprove some of the portrayals!
After breakfast the next morning, we took a train into Hamburg, which wasn't terribly far away. Compared to Bremen, it was much larger and much more modern. We basically just wandered around the city and eventually decided to take a boat tour

of the harbor. Our guide was hilarious-according to Max. Even though we couldn't really understand the tour, it was still really interesting to see the ships and barges being loaded, as well as passing through rows of buildings. Hamburg apparently has more bridges than Venice and Amsterdam combined.
Next stop was the Red Light District, but we'll just leave it at that! We concluded the visit and hopped on the metro. We were running late to catch our train back to Bremen, but the Germans were actually late for once! We made our train just in time and didn't have to wait another hour! That night, we met up with friends of Max to explore the local nightlife. They had a bar serving 1 euro drinks--and that was

normal. Completely unheard of in Paris. After we went to a great club that played some awesome Indie music-not Rihanna or anything else from the Top 40 really. By the time we were ready to leave, the trains were not yet running, so we had quite a bit of time before the bus home. Then we saw Burger King. Win. I ordered a hamburger with ketchup only and a Sprite, so naturally I got a hamburger with mustard and a Coke. Brian didn't mind: he ate everyone's leftovers the whole trip anyways!
In the morning, we went to Max's house to have tea and homemade marble cake with his parents. It was so nice. My favorite part was being able to communicate with them across the language barrier when they didn't know the English vocabulary well enough. Even catching only one word can help you understand a foreign language, especially when mixed with body language.
The next morning, we got on the train to Berlin, but as I am tired, that post will be continued next time..