Essen wie ein Deutscher

A bit more from Hamburg: eat like a German.My first tip is to be ready to consume large amounts of meat. They do eat fruits and vegitables (Früchte und Gemüse) but be prepared for a lot of Fleisch. A Brötchen, pretty obviously, is a little sandwich and in a port town it's easy to find them with fish. Schinken und Käse is ham and cheese.

Which reminds me - it's time to go to dinner here. Heading for the Bremen Ratskeller.

Two Harbors And A Camel

After the exhausting Fischmarkt in Hamburg on Sunday we took a harbor tour boat ride. Same thing today in Bremerhaven after visiting the superb museum of German emigration, the Deutches Auswanderer Haus. I had no idea that there was ocean shipping on such a massive scale in these northern German cities. Hamburg is some distance from the North Sea but the Elbe is navagable a long way inland.

The first two pictures are from Hamburg. They may have stolen the second boat from under the Arch. The third, fourth and fifth ships are in Bremerhaven. All of Mrs. C's great grandparents left for America from there. We think the last of the ships has something to do with North Sea oil drilling. Note the helicopter pad.

The last shot has to do with an observation. More ordinary middle-class people in Germany seem to smoke than in the US. That's a surprise, what with national healthcare and all that. People smoke at will in outdoor restaurants and there are cigarette vending machines back by the toilets. Unheard of in the U.S. They do have warnings on advertising. The text in the bottom pic translates literally as "smoking can make you dead."          

Hamburg: Bratwurst And Johnny Cash For Breakfast

What an exhausting day. We got up at 4 to get an early train to the big city of Hamburg, home of the Fischmarkt. It runs on Sunday morning from 5:00 to 9:30 AM. We got there about 7:30 and it was in full swing.

It's nuts. Yes, they sell fish (watch out for the eel lady below) but it's also a big farmers' market, flea market and beer bar rolled into one. And, yes, the locals were knocking them back at that hour. We still needed breakfast, so when in Hamburg . . .

Loud bands took turns at the ends of the long hall. When we arrived one of them was playing Johnny Cash and June Carter's Jackson (video clip below).

It was about this time that I started feeling very disoriented. I had only the most general idea where I was and not a strong grip on what I was doing there. Everyone was speaking German, drinking and dancing to country music, all early on Sunday morning.

There was more of interest in Hamburg. Who knows when I can get the pix edited.