Germany

I was surprised last week by being told we were going some place for my birthday. All I was told was that we were going to another country and that they would give me a hint every day until Thursday. The clues included “We can uses our Euros there”, “we will be gone for three days and four nights”, “we have never been there before”, and “it is not France”.

Finally Thursday came and they revealed that we would be going to Germany. They had been invited to a company called “Frog logic” to discuss issues with a computer documentation system. They would be busy with that for two days, but we will be staying for an extra day to go sight seeing together on my birthday. They divulged that we would be leaving Friday night, and would return Tuesday morning. I ran around packing, getting together all the travel papers, and buying film.

The next night we were off. The flight only took about an hour and fifteen minutes, so before I knew it, we had landed. Simon and Harald, who come from Germany, had also been invited to join in the discussion. Having them with us was extremely convenient. They spoke to the cab driver, and the man at the hotel’s front desk.

While the boys went to the Frog logic offices, I explored the city of Hamburg. There were many churches and towers exemplifying a broad range of architectural design. My favorite was St. Nicholas, which had been bombed in the Second World War. The city never rebuilt the church, so only the tower and a bit of wall remains today. Even though the church was destroyed, the remaining bell tower an inspiring example of rococo design.

One of the popular churches to visit is St. Michaels, which offers an observation deck atop the bell tower. You have a choice of riding in an elevator, or climbing over three hundred steps to the summit of the church. For some reason I still cannot fathom, I chose to climb the stairs. The views were amazing from any point on the three hundred and sixty degree platform.

I visited a museum that was featuring the history of image entertainment. It began with original shadow puppets from the 17th century and continued to how television and 3D pictures work. The exhibit also showed an amazing collection of picture boxes from the 18th century. In the main gallery a man was creating siluets of the patrons, not with light, but by cutting the profiles directly in to back paper. It was amazing to watch him snip the paper with tiny scissors, never even sketching an outline.

Throughout Hamburg, the city was celebrating the holiday with a Christmas market. Booths were set up in all the squares selling merchandise, food, and glugg. Glugg is a traditional hot drink served at Christmas. It is a liquor based drink, mixed with orange and a plethora of spices. Christmas music was being played in many languages throughout the markets. There were lights and decorations everywhere including large nativity sets, hand carved out of logs.

On my birthday we wondered the city enjoying the sites I had located earlier. We took a boat tour of the harbor, and adjacent channels leading in to the city. We saw the “Queen Mary Two” as well as the old brick warehouse’s that line the city’s harbor. We were also able to go to some local malls to pick up a few things. We had a great time on our second trip to a new country. It was an amazing and wonderful birthday surprise!