As you may have already read this old post here, you’re probably wondering why it took me so long to get onto this one (a little over a month to be more precise). Well, it’s all to do with the fact i’ve been a very busy boy and that the internet seems to be rather spiteful towards yours truly. Shame, shame, shame. Anyway, I left you when we had just stayed the night in Wolfsburg (quite a memorable evening). So I think we should continue with the next day…
After waking up early [again], scoffing down our breakfast, and loading our suitcases onto the bus, we drove onwards a short distance to the Autostadt, where all the industrial magic of Wolfburg’s car industry can be discovered without the need to inhale toxic fumes or enter noisy overbearing factories. We arrived with great anticipation and were all excited for the day ahead. We went on a guided tour through the complex and learnt numerous things revolving around the car industry and its significance to the world and its economy. We had some Italian for lunch… At least I believe we did. All I remember is that we all ditched Torrington so he could eat his noodles. Soooo Lustig.
Audrey and Lil in front of our group motto.
This may have looked good. But the boat tour was terrible.
Excuse the colouring... It was taken through a blue-glass window.
We went on a boat tour that sailed down the canal parallel to the Autostadt and drew nothing from our experience except how to use the multiple functions on our cameras. So when it finished, we piled off the Schiff [Ship] and bought some ice cream, to which Lily and I began another tradition of ours- ‘Lol-ing’. The Finnish girl seemed upset we wouldn’t share our ice cream and Lily said, as she walked along, “Reatta stared off into the distance dreaming of ice cream… Lily and Ryan lol’d”. Good times.
My two favourite pictures however, would be of the shiny new car below, as well as the fluorescent light display.
What do you get when you cross me with a sexy car? Unrealistic love.
See what my magic wand does? I'm the next Dumbledore.
As we prepared to move onto our next city, we got even more and more excited as we drew closer to Hamburg, the first of our major city stops. Next place to see: World Heritage Listed Lübeck. Here we come.
On arrival, we were all worn out, but upon seeing our flashy hostel and the cityscape in the background, we warmed up to Lübeck almost instantaneously. Think the Rocks in Sydney, switch the sandstone with red-brick, mash it together with capitalism and you’ve almost got a perfect description of Lübeck. Being one of Germany’s main ports, it’s one of those cities that seems to draw numerous parallels to the city that I (up till this year) called home.
During our night out, as per usual, the english speakers stuck closely together out of comfort. On this occasion however, we discovered we weren’t the only ones out for a stroll through the old town centre. We overhead a conversation between some Canadian teens about finding a toilet, to which we gladly chimed in with an answer. I assume they would have been a little taken a back, so after much chit-chatting we wandered onwards and found a second group that belonged to them. It turns out they were pirates. Looky here. Here’s some of us with their ship.
Yes it's dark. Squint and you'll see the ship.
Okay, so they weren’t real pirates. But they’re the closest I’ve ever come. Mainly from Canada and the US, these ‘pirates’ were in fact on an exchange voyage around the world, that is, they studied, ate, slept and dusched (showered) all on this ship, as if they were normal high school students. Strange huh?
After defiling an alley in ways you can not possibly imagine, we returned to the hostel and woke up eagerly for the days exploration ahead. It was certainly nice to see the sights in the daylight.
Lübeck's old draw bridge tower.
Lübeck's church.
Lily in front of Lübeck's main attraction. Graceful as always.
These below are some other photos that might interest you. (Just some other odd sights in the city).
Oh Look guys, it's our pirate friends!
One of the girls did dirty things to this poor corridor.
Play Mobil? Kind of sketchy if you ask me...
Following the walking tour, we went to the Lübeck Marzipan Museum and learnt how to make a rose. I failed tremendously. Just thought you should all know. There was also something rather humerous with a display:
Just notice the postitions of the statues... it's sexual.
As we rapped up our tour in Lübeck, we were at last on our way to Hamburg, but of course we made a stop in Germany’s “best” beach- Travemünde. Quite humorously, the weather wasn’t super, the water was cold and there were no fish and chip shops. Quite miserable if you ask me. But we did enjoy having a stroll along the promenade. Not to mention getting our feet wet.
Just a tad bit nippy.
When we all dried off and piled back onto the bus, excitement was growing even more ferocious and as we finally pulled into Hamburg, we couldn’t help thrill with delight at all the bright lights and cultural sights. Truly the most amazing city we saw. On that first drive in, we drove past a large Folk Festival and through the Reeperbahn (sounds like Raper-bahn), which is the centre of Hamburg’s red-light district. It got us prepared for the nights ahead. So much so, that we were in fact off to the festival that first night and had bundles of fun going on all the rides and eating chocolate covered fruit. Yummo. :]
Was a little jealous I didn't get in on this photo 
What an amazing first sight.
Just a fraction of the festival.
Once the evening had begun drawing to a close, we met up and headed back to the hostel, eager to continue our night-time tour of Hamburg, but alas, we were made to sleep. Early the next morning we headed to one of the city’s more memorable sights, the Fish Market. Reeking of the fresh stuff and filled with hundreds of stalls selling various knick-knacks and souvenirs, it was surprisingly one of our favourite spots. In fact, one of the cooler things about it is that the old warehouse had a live gig…. in the fish market. Strange huh?
(The fish market entrance)
NB: there's a live band in the background.
Fruit baskets are soooo lecker.
We made a tour of Hamburg by foot and boat that day, stopping every so often to take pictures with interesting memorabilia and sculptures on Reeperbahn.
So this is how our government spends their tourism advertising money.
So Hamburg was well-known for being a city that promoted the careers of the Beatles. Cool to know.
Just in case one has late night cravings. :p
Most famous religious landmark in the city.
A silly Canadian at the Town Hall
As seen from our boat tour.
This is one of my favourite shots of Hamburg!
After we finished with our boat tour we had free time for about four hours. Cue* shopping spree. :] We had some fun. Although I’m still majorly regretting one purchase that seems to be a waste of (much needed) money. Oh well. Life’s all about learning…
As the girls scanned up their items and paid, we slowly wandered over to Reeperbahn for a more detailed look at gifts and souvenirs. I must say, one of my best friends will be very happy with what I got him there. 
Or at least I hope so. We finally got back to the hotel and freshened up for a night out on the town. Most enjoyable. We found a groovy bar that I instantly fell in love with, and I vouched to return in the not-too-distant future (Promise kept; we went back the very next night). We ordered our drinks from a lovely drag queen and let the night flow, often having to use the porn-covered bathroom.
The next day saw us once again rising early to get some travelling done. We drove to Buxdehude, a small village on a lake just outisde of Hamburg’s metropolian area. There were rolling green hills that seemingly melted into the shorefront. It was a lovely sight.
(in Buxdehude)
We then returned back to the city for another lazy afternoon… or so the english girls hoped. I dragged them into coming back with me to the bar form the prior evening. It wasn’t my fault they were too tired the day before to go. Successfully I got them up and moving, but to my disappointment the atmosphere wasn’t as thriving as the night before. We did however still have a really good time. Cheers to that place for putting up with us!
Leila, you troll!
I loved the walls of this fine establishment.
It was an amazing time in Hamburg. Simply wunderbar! But we couldn’t stay forever. We were off to our next stop in this long haul trip- Bremen (famous for Beck’s Beer). But I shall not be telling you all about that just yet. You’ll have to wait till the next post.
Until then people, stay wonderful. Keep safe.
Peace Out.
Ryan :]
*I couldn’t spell this word as my english skills are currently awful. Cheers to dictionary.com
