Germany, Part 1: Hamburg's fish

Ah, the holidays (two weeks plus 2 days of them) are nearing to a close, and I've been remiss in telling you what has kept us busy since the return trip from Edinburgh. We got ourselves back, cleaned out the suitcases just in time to fill them again and rented a car (Mercedes C class Diesel 180) with GPS then were off like a herd of turtles to the East and North to Hamburg. On the navigation computer the distance was 596 kms and knowing that there aren't speed limits in Germany's autobans, we thought that would be a nice round 6 hours, if considering stops for snacks and stretching.

Well, we didn't count on traffic jams, construction, a vomiting kid or bickering children ("Don't make me stop this car--just try me, I'll do it!"). We were late getting going Saturday morning, so when noon arrived and we were just getting into the car, we knew it would be a long trip...both ways. We arrived at Sevie's and Max's just a little over 8:00 p.m. exhausted and hungry but happy to be there.

Sevie looks just radiant. She's started her "mother leave" which requires that she finish work 6 weeks before the due date, and not return before 2 months is up...this is fully paid by her company and the remainder of the year should she choose to stay off is covered by the government. She and Max had a lovely supper waiting for us when we arrived, and Max is very sweet doing all the cooking and looking after his dear wife and daughter-to-be. We had a great night of catching up and learning all about their eco-conscientious house (roof solar panels and internal vents collect heat for the heat exchanger that warms radiant floors and the water heater for the house...the triple glazed windows let in light without loss of internal temperature...there was lots more but I was getting tired by this time.

Both Max and Sevie with her dad came to Canada 18 months ago for a canoe trip to the Algonquin interior so there was lots of reminising and memories to recount. We went to bed late, but got the next day planned which included an aquarium (a new part of the Hamburg Zoo) a trip up St. Michel's (Lutherin) tower and a stroll down the harbourfront for a fish bun and people watching.

The aquarium was a bit costly, but not too bad now knowing all the lovely things we saw when we were there. It was very attractively laid out with tropical plants, temperatures and equatorial fish, lizards, snakes, bugs, slimy and scaly things and a few birds, rodents and the like all in authentic and natural looking habitats. For example, the black python from India was curled up in a Tuk-tuk (three-wheeled bicycle taxi) "parked" outside a shack's veranda...the tarantula was nicely nestled in a glass terrarium that looked exactly like the last Mexican outhouse I visited.

Interesting as all this was, it was all just the appetizer for the grand sight we saw in the tanks...here are some spectacular shots taken with Sevie's new camera by Max...I don't think they require words as they're so beautiful.

The best part by far was the three storey tank at the end with two sharks, a grouper and thousand of other fish that were just being fed as we arrived.

The kids and adults alike just loved it and I for one could have stayed for a long time looking up into that world.

Lovely.

The snacks were running out so we headed downtown to the harbour for a fishbun. This was an interesting fast food item--nothing like the fish burger some North American burger joints try to pass off as food...this was a real piece of just-caught fish battered or pickled, peppercorn'd or dolloped with curry-mayo stuck between the freshest kaiser roll in the world. I'm not a fish fan (shell fish are my exception) but this was really yummy. The boys had bratworsts but we had the real thing: M's smoked mackarel looked ready to swim away! of course, it came with beer--this in a country where the pop bottles (plastic 350 ml ones) get you 10 cents back but the beer bottles don't. Hm... I've yet to figure that one out!

Now that we had some fuel in our tummies, we headed up the city streets into the area where St. Michel's church is located. It was one of the few tall buildings to survive the air bombs of the second world war, so shows its divinity through an 8 euro trip up the tower complete with pictures of the surrounding areas during that time and after. The boys hoofed it up the stairs, but I kept the pregnant lady company up the elevator. The first picture you see is a view of the inner lake where people can sail boats (real sized and model) and the remarkably modern buildings that make up this city's skyline.

On our way down we stepped into the santuary to say we did (my mom says my kids are now part of the ABC club, which came from a remark I made as a child during traveling with them to other countries, as I was heard to say, "Aw, not Another Bloody Church!"). Not that I'd admit it then, but this one would have shut my mouth as a kid...It was all white with gold trim, art nouveau wood carvings, a circular balcony around three-quarters of it and a choir practicing up there. The light was perfect, the sounds inspiring and the feel very welcome. M lit a candle for his grandpa and we sat and enjoyed the echoing sounds of the choir. Wow.

This was enough for the day, so we headed back to our host's home and enjoyed another great meal cooked by Max. He had some international nannies as a child and a mom who loved to cook, so we were generously served meals of Spanish, Chinese, and Italian cuisines...not a "worst" in the lot of them! Our expansive breakfasts of fresh seedy rolls, salamis and ham, boiled eggs, many cheeses and several spreads made up for that, as this is a typical German beginning to the day...though I think a bowl of bran flakes would have done just fine for me. Here's a picture my youngest took of Max having fun in the kitchen--looks like dinner's ready!