Spring Came to Hamburg

A week ago I went for a run and was pleasantly surprised with how nice it was outside. In the week earlier flowers had started popping up from the ground and blooming, but on Sunday the sky was perfectly clear and the temperature had risen to a nice temperature in the mid-forties.

The first flowers I saw blooming.

Flowers!

Can't wait for this view to be green

There were so many people in the park. Couples going on walks or sitting together on benches in the sun, parents with children, people walking their dogs. Despite having to run around large groups of people clogging the paths, it was one of my favorite runs. It was so nice out that I saw people with ice cream cones on my walk back to the apartment. Of course, that inspired me to get my own ice cream cone and enjoy it next to the small lake.

My beautiful ice cream cone

Unfortunately, the next day dawned cloudy and cold. And every day since has been cold and windy, with some sprinkling of rain. So spring came and went in one day, but the glimpse of it was nice and promised nicer days to come. I just hope they come soon.

Traveling

I've finally managed to get out and travel around Germany a bit more, going to Luneburg and Bremen for a day. I've had such a great time and am planning several more short trips. Also, please excuse the lack of umlauds in this post.

Bremen has a section of town that is filled with old buildings. I have a great love of old buildings, one that I never realized I had until I came to Europe. It is incredible to see all that history in one place and that's something we don't really have, even in Philadelphia and D.C. we don't have building that compare to the ones here. We spent some time walking around the altstadt, the old part of the city, and appreciating that old building before we headed to the art museum. I was expecting Bremen's art museum to be small and inconsequential, once again I was incorrect. The building did indeed look small from the outside and the first floor seemed to confirm this. And then we went to the second floor. Room upon room on the second floor was filled with amazing art, works by both old masters like Picasso, Monet and Vermeer, and some interesting more modern works. I don't normally like spending large amounts of time in art museums, but I was really pleased by the one in Bremen.

My trip to Luneburg was a lot different than my trip to Bremen. I went with a group from my school, rather than a couple of friends and it was rainy and windy all day. Of course my umbrella broke shortly after was got there and I didn't have a hat or a hood, so I spent the whole day getting rained on.It actually ended up being a ton of fun, even though my hair was soaking wet by the end of the day. We went to a salt museum, because apparently Luneburg is an old salt mine city, as well as a chocolate store and a candy store. The chocolate store made the whole day worth it. They had fantastic hot chocolate and all the chocolate was very high quality.

Photo time!

Example of the architecture in Bremen.

One of the statues in Bremen.

The Bremen Cathedral.

Another statue in Bremen.

A building in Bremen,

More Bremen architecture.

This is a famous Bremen statue.
Apparently there is even a story about it. 

View of  Luneburg

One of Luneburg's old churches.

Holidays in Deutschland und Amsterdam

So this post is three weeks overdue (whoops), but here are some pictures of winter/Christmas time in Hamburg and of New Years in Amsterdam! I hope these hold you over until I manage to write another post. Enjoy!

Holidays in Hamburg

Holidays in Amsterdam

Updates

It's been awhile since I've posted anything on here and for that I apologize. A lot has happened in the two and a half months I've been living in Hamburg. I've grown and learned so much, not just in my German language abilities, but also as a person. For all intents and purposes I stared my life over from scratch last November, more completely than if I had gone directly to college, and I'm still figuring out how to deal with that. I go to class five days a week, spend some times with friends, spend more time relaxing by myself, and don't spend as much time exploring Hamburg as I want to. In some ways it sounds a lot like how I lived back in America, but on the other hand, it's completely different. I spend four hours, five days a week speaking German with six other people, none of whom are from the same county. I hang out with a lot of (French) Swiss people, some from Turkey, and the others from all over the world. I listen to German music, watch movies in German (not very much) attempt to read a book in German every few weeks or so. And throughout it all I am surrounded by the wonderful city of Hamburg.

Part of the Wonderful City of Hamburg from the top of St. Micheals Curch

The First Month

I've already been here for over a month, and yet it feels like I just arrived a week ago. It's amazing how fast time has gone and how much fun I'm having. I've met a group of great people who I enjoy spending time and going out with.

The winter is one of the best times of year to be in Germany, especially in Hamburg where everything is so beautiful. At the end of November loads of tents and booths went up in Christmas markets all around the city. The Christmas spirit here is so amazing. Besides the beautiful Weihnachtmarks (Christmas markets) there are lights up all over the city and I live right in the center of Hamburg where I see all the beautiful lights every time I go out the door. Living right in the center of town also means that I can go get Gluhwein (hot, spiced wine), bratwurst, or crepes from one of the many Christmas markets. Honestly, that is probably my favorite part of the Christmas markets here: the food.

I'm very excited for my parents and brother to come visit me in just two weeks. I can't wait to show them all of the best places in my new city.

Hamburg by Night

Christmas Market

Christmas Market

Christmas Market

Rathause

 Berlin