Germany

OH. MY. GOD. MY. LIVER. And with these words, I know I am in Germany!

We arrived in Hamburg last night and arrived at Phil's grandmother's home at around 9pm. Nick and Jo have organised an apartment near the centre of Hamburg for the three nights we are spending here. It's a short stop, but it's lovely to visit Phil's grandmother, even for just a few days. 

Over the last couple of years, Phil has spent a bit of time in Hamburg without me (usually staying on an extra week at the end of a trip together), but we have visited Hamburg together before for a couple of days at a time.  But until today, I'd never been in Hamburg on a Sunday. 

On Sundays, the docks play host to the famous Hamburg Fishmarkt, a market that has been operating since 1703 (according to one not-very-official looking website). The market features market stalls selling fruit, clothes, coffee, meats and, of course, fish in fresh, smoked and cooked forms. Plus, in the century-old building that usually houses fish auctions turns into a hall with a distinctively bar-like vibe. There's a live band playing (ours was playing classic rock in both English and German), fresh waffles cooking and beer a-flowing. At this time of year, the market opens at 7am and runs until 9.30 am, which explains how I managed my first beer of the day at 8.30 am - wa-hey!

This is what 8.30am beer looks like!!

We arrived at the nearby train station at 7.30 am and made our way down to the market - first in a light drizzle which quickly morphed into... Snow!! Beautiful snow!! Big snowflakes drifting down - it was gorgeous. And cold. And very wet. And in fact impossible to find a spare inch of clothing (or skin) that was dry enough to wipe the icy snowflakes from off my face. Every time I tried to clear my vision from snow, I succeeded in only wiping more wetness across my face, hair etc. So we made our way pretty quickly to the auction house for warmth, seating and local beer. Ahhh... Lovely! 

Beer hall... 

After a couple of hours in the fish market, we picked up some smoked fish for brunch with Phil's grandmother and headed back home for brunch which (after a little siesta) was delicious... And followed by apple schnapps - wa-hey! Brunch down and we're already on to the spirits...

A couple of hours later, we headed into town to meet Jo and Nick for some Christmas markets, German-style. Hamburg has at least a dozen Christmas markets on, with the biggest in a square in front of the Rathaus, or Town Hall. It was absolutely packed! Five minutes in the throng and you could almost forget that it was outdoors and freezing cold (ok, not freezing, but my toes were feeling it). There were stalls with mulled wine, and more stalls with mulled wine, and more... Well you get it. They also sell Christmas tree ornaments, gingerbread, ceramic decorations, sausages of all descriptions, crepes, etc. 

The main Christmas market was so crowded, we decided to visit another one (about 150m away) located on the Alster, which is an artifical lake in the centre of Hamburg. This one was not quite so busy, so we could actually get to the stall with the mulled wine - wa-hey! We'd had mulled wine in London and Brussels, but the German mulled wine was so much tastier... I did manage to stop at one though, and after a bit more wandering, we trooped back to Jo and Nick's lovely apartment for some warmth, sitting around and sparkling wine that the apartment's owner kindly left out - wa-he.... you get it..

As I write this, I am sitting in Phil's grandmother's living room, a glass of wine in hand getting sleepier and sleepier... 

It's been a big day for my poor liver. Tomorrow, my major plan is to go to the Alster and feed the swans. I figure it might be a good day for little goals!!