American x 2

So last Friday my German life crossed paths with Melinda as she makes her way around Germany and Austria studying opera. It was definitely nice having some one around my age who spoke English to do things with. Friday evening we just relaxed and watched the first game of the World Cup, Germany v. Costa Rica. Then things got a bit crazier when we left at 5am Saturday morning to catch the train to Amsterdam. Our train ride was plagued by delays, but eventually we made it there. I really didn’t know what to expect in Amsterdam, since I didn’t know much about the city other than its policy on drug use. I’m still not quite sure how to describe it. It’s not exactly beautiful, just unique and kind of chaotic. We started out in the Heineken brewery, where you get three ‘free’ beers along the tour.



Then we had to go check into the hostel. Amsterdam was also crowded because of the World Cup, so basically we had booked the only reasonably priced place we could find. It turned out our hostel was on a ship, and involved taking a ferry just to get to it. Seriously, the ship in the middle was my hostel. And the smaller boat attached to the side of it was the ‘breakfast boat’.



The hostel was definitely one of the more memorable parts of the trip. The next day we just walked around the town and then saw the Van Gogh museum and hung out in a park. We also went to another art museum, but it was mostly under construction. By the end of the second day we had had enough of Amsterdam, and were glad to make the journey back to Hamburg.

So having some one around got me to do things I probably wouldn’t have done otherwise. We went to the Hamburg Fan Fest for the World Cup and watched Brazil v. Croatia on a giant screen with gobs of other people. I got a hair cut by a stylist that couldn’t speak any English.



I admit it’s not exactly what I wanted, but I was pleased considering the difficulty of communication. Plus, like 50% of the women my age have this hair cut here, so it’s kind of what I expected anyway.

We finished of the week with a trip to the Opera to see ‘The Marriage of Figaro’ and then to finally see the Reeperbahn. The Reeperbahn is the red light/club district in Hamburg. We didn’t really go anywhere since we’re not very good at partying, but I did learn how to recognize Hamburg prostitutes. In Berlin they always where really high shoes and corsets, but in Hamburg it’s fanny packs. I guess that where they keep the money.

So now Melinda has continued on to Dresden, and I’m still in Hamburg trying to figure out what to do with my life.

And just because...



I want to spread the asparagus/safe sex message.