Ohhh Hamberg!

We checked into our 'psychedelic' hostel in Hamberg and were very interested in seeing what this place was about. We met our new friend Peter who had designed each and every one of the rooms with a different, over-the-top theme. Jim's room had one whole wall of zebra wall paper, while our room was decked out in bright pink, flowers, and beads over the window. A very fun place to be!





We then hit the streets to
explore. Unfortunately Mother Nature wanted to rain on our parade. With umbrellas out and rain coats on, we headed down to see the harbor. We decided to sit on one of the floating docks under cover and have some fish and chips (we were told that we needed to try to seafood). Pretty delicious.



Once the rain calmed down we walked around the city and found a 'beach party'. Since it's cold most of the time and there aren't to many beaches found in Germany, they like to recreate the beach scene in the center of town. They have music, lounge chairs, and little cabana bars posted up in the center square. The funny thing about it was..right as we were going to sit down and enjoy, a torrential rain storm came up! So we retreated inside.

The next morning we went downtown to explore some of the things our travel book told us not to miss. One of them was the in the Platz der Kinder, 'The Bullenhuser Damm Memorial', which is a rose garden planted in honor of children who were subject to medical experiments during WWII. The designer of this memorial did a great job putting up plaques in honor of each child as well as a description of who they were and where they came from. It was a very sad memorial, but opened our eyes to the injustice that was happening. It was kind of surreal because there is a playground located right behind the memorial, so as you are walking through you hear children laughing in the background and playing. I think it is a sign that gives us hope for a better future.


We also visited the 'Planten un Bloomen' which is the biggest Japanese Garden in all of Europe. The rain held off just long enough for us to enjoy and then we headed off to our last stop BERLIN!!!



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Location:Hamburg,Germany

We're on a boat...in Köln

First of all, we must discuss the hostel that we stayed at in Köln. It was situated in the middle of a community living building, and each room was designed by a different young artist. We were cool enough to stay in the 'tree' room. We had large pieces of bark painted all different crazy colors hanging on the wall and on the opposite side, petrified wood went from ceiling to floor with an interesting 'forestesque' background. Quite interesting, and a really nice place to stay!!


While driving into town we saw a breathtaking view of the cathedral and knew that that had to be our first stop. We headed down to the 'Dom' and tried to take in the massiveness of this place. It was so beautiful. We took a self guided tour around the inside and reveled in all of the stained glass windows that surrounded us. The pipe organ also accompanied our visit. Very pleasant indeed! As we walked out the other side, we finally found a view where we could try to capture the whole thing in one photo (still very difficult to do).


After that we walked down to the river where we met up with the Rhine again and decided to take a little boat cruise. We really wanted to get some views of the city from the water. I really liked the way the harbor was lined with both new and old architecture. My favorites were these buildings that literally hung over the water and as you went up the elevator you could see out over the entire river.


Right next to those were old warehouses that were converted into luxury apartments. Very cute!


As the boat turned around at the other end of the river we also got amazing views of the cathedral and downtown Köln. Thank you sun for coming out during our boat tour so we didn't freeze to death!



Oh yeah and p.s. this how Jim likes to sightsee!! Just kidding! He was just taking in some much needed rays of sunshine!!



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Location:Köln, Germany

Location:Köln, Germany

Off to Heidelberg

So I think we all agree that Heidelberg is one of the CUTEST cities we've ever been to. It's right in the Rhine River and almost all of the houses are over 300 years old. It was one of the only cities that was not destroyed during the war because all of the bridges were blown up so that the enemy could not get across to the city.


We climbed to the top of the city where we toured the famous Heidelberg castle and took in some amazing views of the city. Inside the castle was one of the biggest wine barrels ever made. In it's working days it held something like 220,000 liters of wine. This was made yearly for whoever lived in the castle at the time.


There were ballrooms and bedrooms that were decorated to the 'T'. My favorite was the one with the mauve spiral staircase going throughout (pictured here).


Our hostel was perfectly positioned in the center of town and we could walk to all the sites. They even had a deal on 'schnitzel', and we really liked it! I would say the first day of our tour was quite a success!

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Location:Heidelberg, Germany

Starting our tour in Frankfurt

Jim and I headed over to Frankfurt Sunday afternoon to check into our first hostel. Kelley was expected to come in that following morning early so we decided to pick her up there and start on our way. We didn't have too much time in Frankfurt, but we were able to head down to Altstadt 'old town' to get a glimpse of what the town used to look like. The set up was really quaint and we decided to stay down there for dinner.



I woke up early the next morning and walked down to the 'Haufbonhof' (main train station) to wait for Kelley. Her plane got in early that morning and we planned to meet at the station. So after she showed up we headed back to the hostel to pick up Jim and we were on our way to Heidelberg! We decided we wanted as much time there as possible so we headed out early. It's about an hour and a half south of Frankfurt so it was a quick drive (probably our shortest we'll have all week). The tour has officially begun!

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Location:Frankfurt, Germany

Erlangen Fest!!

Well I will have to say that the Erlangen fest was an unforgettable experience that I hope everyone gets to experience at least once in their lifetime. I had always heard about Oktoberfest and what a big deal it is and how crazy it is but I think the Erlangen Fest takes a close second.

You start by climbing up a huge hill (it is hidden away back in trees and you might miss it I you don't know it's there). But you can't miss the music from 10 different band and all the chatter from the thousands of people that are there. If you are lucky enough, as we were, you can share a table where you can park yourself for the rest of night. Don't even think about moving bc your seats will be snatched up in a heartbeat.


So I learned quickly that this is no game, you will be drinking one liter beers for the rest of the night. You better hope you work out your biceps before you come because the stein alone ways a good 6 or 7 pounds! But we seemed to handle it...


After a couple of hours of getting to know your neighbors, you notice that some crazy people are standing on the chairs and tables singing away to the music of the nearest band. What you don't know is that you will be one those people all too soon!



Mother nature was nice to us for most of the day. Showers kept threatening, but held off almost long enough. At about 11 or so, it started to rain, we were kind of sheltered by a huge tree so we stayed...but by 11:30 it was pouring! But the band was still playing so..we stayed! As well as everyone around us.
At midnight the bands finally came to a close and so we, drenched as we were, sloshes down the hill in the rain and the mud and found our way back to our hotel. Oh what a night! A night to remember!! :)


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Location:Erlangen, Germany