June 27th, 2012

Day 39: Copenhagen , Denmark & Hamburg, Germany

This morning we were up and out of the hostel around 9am and on our way to the train station for our 9:45 train to Hamburg. We would be getting into Germany around 2:15!

We ended up sitting in first class with this adorable Turkish family. A mother and son, they had been on holiday in Copenhagen and were now headed to Hamburg for a few days before they went back home. We spent some time chatting with them, and each took a short nap!

About halfway through the train ride, we were told to get off.  What? Turns out the train had pulled onto a ferry that would take us 45 minutes across a body of water before we were back on the tracks again. Um… okay! Stephen and I were slightly baffled by the fact that this ferry had train tracks on it, but we got out of the train and spent some time on the upper decks of the ferry  (which semi-resembled a cruise ship). After our short stint on a boat, we were back on the train for another 2 hours to Hamburg!

When we got to Hamburg, we stupidly asked for directions to our hostel that was located across the street. Oops! We got here, checked in and got settled into our room. After a while, we wandered down towards the bar to get a few drinks during their happy hour before we wandered the city. When we made our way outside, we got on the train to find our way over to Reeperbahn, the Red Light District of Hamburg. Over in that general area, we found an outdoor seating area that had 2 stages, a bunch of food stands and bars and a whole lot of televisions showing the Semi final EuroCup match between Spain and Portugal. We sat down to watch the second half of the game there and enjoy the atmosphere! We also sampled the local cuisine, getting 2 large bratworsts at one of the stands:

U-bahn in Germany

He's confused.

Dinner!

Outdoor strip in the Red Light District to watch the match!

After the match, we walked through the area that was quite alive at this time of night. Tons of bars and clubs (both regular clubs and strip clubs) lined the streets. Throngs of Spanish supporters celebrating and Portugal supporters sulking were everywhere. It was a lively atmosphere, but we only stayed for a bit and then headed back to the hostel to get to sleep!

Favorite part of the day: The match- it’s exciting to be in an atmosphere where everyone is so involved in watching soccer (football). It’s not like this at home!!