Hamburgers in Hamburg...and more

Wow, September is here - where has the summer gone? We were feeling a little "summer" again here over the weekend with temps in the 70's and cleary, sunny skies. Loved it! We had a great time at Sophia's 1st birthday party on Saturday morning (see the sweetie below and Ben loved patrolling in the backyard), explored Amstelpark on Saturday afternoon (Ben had a great view atop Dada's shoulders), and just had some good plain fun in the sand on Sunday afternoon at Westerpark. (And, got to watch a 5 year old little Dutch boy play on the slide in the nude. All Greg could think was Ouch!) The past few days have been a bit rainy in the morning, but then cool, crisp, and sunny in the afternoons. I even saw mums at a flower stand the other day. Autumn has arrived in the Dam - bring on the apple cider!

Sorry it has taken so long to catch you up on our Hamburg trip. But, now I can also include Greg's "work" trip to Paris too. He is completely in love with that city and loves to explore something new everytime he goes. And, I am a very lucky wife because he came home with a yummy treat for me - macaroons from Laduree. How something so small can be so amazing!! Let's get started with Hamburg...

We had a great time in Hamburg a few weeks ago. We left early (and boy, was it early!) on Tuesday the 19th for Central Station to catch a train to Schipol Airport. We almost had a little 'glitch' with Ben when we checked in for our flight - as we had been told that we didn't need a ticket for him. Apparently he did need a ticket. Yikes, what was that going to cost? Well, surprisingly, only 5 euro. Whew! When it was time to board, we all boarded a bus first to take us out to our little plane. The flight was only 45 minutes, and compared to some of our lengthy train adventures lately, it felt like no time at all! Ben got to sit in his own seat, and he loved that! Got our bags quickly and grabbed a taxi (beautiful Mercedes) to our hotel. For all those keeping score at home, it is only 10 a.m. when we arrived at the hotel, and already we have traveled by train, bus, airplane, and car! If only we could have figured out a way to fit the luggage on our new bikes to get to Central Station. :) The hotel was awesome - traveling with Greg for work trips will definitely have it's perks! Who doesn't love chocolates on their pillows at night?

Ben had fallen asleep in the taxi, so we tried to all lay down for a bit. But, there happened to be some drilling (what?) above us, so Ben soon woke up. We dragged ourselves out of bed, unpacked, freshened up a bit, and headed out to grab some lunch and see the Hamburg sights.

Hamburg is the second largest city in Germany, with the second largest port in Europe (after Rotterdam). The city has more than 2,500 bridges - more than Amsterdam and Venice combined!

Here is St. Nikolai's Church, which was the world's tallest building for a short time in the 19th century. Air raids during World War II destroyed parts of the church, which was restored in the 1990's. Greg and I found the contrast between the old church and the new buildings that surround it really interesting.

Next we ventured to the old warehouse district, Speicherstadt, and the harbor promenade, Landungsbrucken. We took a boat cruise of the harbor, which turned out to be a little less exciting than we expected. We probably should have taken the warehouse district cruise instead. Old buildings seem a little more our speed than shipping docks. But, the cruise gave us some great views of the city, so definitely not a total loss.
After the cruise, we walked to the St. Michaelis church, the most famous church in the city. We didn't venture inside because Ben was getting a little antsy to get out and roam around, but a very beautiful view from the outside - even with the cloudy skies. We found some green space nearby for some running and wildflower picking, then back to the hotel for a little R&R (and for Greg to catch up on a little work) before dinner.

We got a recommendation from the hotel for a kid-friendly Italian restaurant near the water of the Binnenalster (the Inner Alster river). Pasta is always a winner with the Zabikows! On the way, we passed by the Rathaus (which Greg and I lovingly referred to as the Rat House), Hamburg's town hall. The tower is 370 feet tall, making it Europe's highest town hall. We also saw the bell tower of St. Peter's church. Dinner was very tasty, and we stopped by a little bakery that was still open for a few ginormous cookies on the way home.

Wednesday was a work day for Greg, so Ben and I went to the zoo (Tierpark Hagenbeck). Our hotel was in a great location, very close to public transportation. Ben loved getting to see and name all of the animals - he is getting quite good at knowing his zoo friends. The zoo itself was great - very large and very beautiful with lots of things to see and play areas for kids. I loved the kissing turtles and the elephant slide, genious! Ben loved the merry-go-round - a first for him, but he loves spinning in circle, so he felt right at home.

As we were leaving the zoo, a man spoke to me in German and pointed behind me. In front of me, the sky was partly cloudy...but behind me, the sky was black! Thankfully, we made it to the metro station before the skies let loose with a total downpour! Whew! Greg finished up at the office a little earlier than expected, so he was able to catch up on some "normal" work before we walked toward the Binnenalster area for dinner. We ate outside at a restaurant in the Alster Pavillion. Thank goodness for table umbrellas because it rained a bit during dinner. But, no rain could stop us from eating our hamburgers in Hamburg! Much to Greg's dismay, they tasted just like Amsterdam burgers - a funky combo of meat that is not nearly as good as burgers in the good ole US of A. Sadly, I must be getting used to them as I thought mine wasn't so bad (could be all the ketchup and mayo it was swimming in). Anyways, Greg's spirits perked back up as we happened to stroll by the little bakery again for some sweet goodies on our walk back to the hotel. No wonder we gain so much weight on these little trips!

Thursday was another work day, and so Ben and I ventured to Stadtpark, Hamburg's "Central Park". At this point, I am quite impressed with myself - getting around via public transportation in a city where I know none of the language - and with a toddler no less. (Hold your applause please.) Actually, I love how God is using this whole experience, not just our time in Amsterdam, to stretch us and bring us out of our comfort zones. The park was awesome! Lots of green space, water, and I loved the little hidden garden areas. Note the photo where Ben was checking if the flowers were "real". He loves finding flowers...well, he loves picking flowers, so Mommy had to talk him down from the ledge.

We were still at the park when Greg called that he was done for the day. His meetings went very well, and so he again was able to catch up with his Amsterdam and US colleagues before we walked toward the Alster area to see the views of the Hamburg skyline from the Kennedybrucke. You can see the Binnenalster area, as well as the AuBenalster (Outer Alster) from this bridge. Pretty low-key evening - Greg had to work a bit more, and we picked up a light dinner. At this point, our poor Ben has a fever - with a fever rash on his bottom and fever blisters in his mouth. He was pretty uncomfortable, so we didn't sleep well that night.

We slept in a little on Friday morning (since the little guy finally dozed off), and then walked to the Alster area again for a boat cruise through the Binnen and AuBen alsters. It was another cloudy day (we didn't get much sunshine on this trip), but it was still very pretty to see the views of the city from the water. Lots of sailing going on.

After the cruise, we walked towards the tall TV tower which we had read had an observation deck. We couldn't quite figure out how to access this deck, so we moved along to the Planten un Blomen park across the street. Another really beautiful park, where we stopped for some ice cream. Ben was able to roam around a little, but still wasn't feeling well, so we left a lot sooner than I would have liked - I would have loved more time in this park to walk around and see the fantastic flowers and gardens.

We made it back to the hotel and all napped for a few hours. Ben was in a slightly better mood when we headed out to the square in front of the Rathaus for dinner. There was a music festival that started that night, and we were sure we could find some tasty treats - and most importantly, a currywurst. Our dear friend, George, who grew up in Hamburg advised us that a visit to his city was not complete without trying one. So glad we did - we loved it! And, we could tell Ben still wasn't himself as he only had one bite of his Nutella crepe. (Poor Mom and Dad had to take it upon themselves to eat it all up!) We found a little spot by the water to sit and enjoy the food, music, and the view. Then, back to the hotel for packing and an early bedtime - our cab was coming at 4:45 a.m.!

Saturday morning was not great. Very early start to the morning, Ben was still not feeling well, our cabbie drove like a madman in the pouring rain (Mama was nervous because Ben was not in a car seat), and the flight home was probably the worst flight I have ever been on (lots of turbulence - you could feel every bump in such a small plane - and I am not exaggerating that I nearly slid out of my seat as the pilot was landing/braking). Not a proper ending to our visit to such a fabulous city! Hamburg had everything that we have grown to love about traveling - history, beautiful green space, water, great food. We will definitely go back!

Last week was spent getting back into our routine, and Greg left for Paris on Thursday morning. He was able to visit Chateau de Vincennes (the first 2 photos below) and Sacre Coeur, one of my absolutely favorite sights in all of Paris! And of course, he caught a glimpse of the Eiffel Tower at night. If you can see in the picture, the tower has blue and gold lights to represent the EU flag (forgive my ignorance, but apparently there must have been something EU related going on in Paris last week?). Anyhow, the lights look cool! :)

We are again back into our routine this week - Moms & Tots has started again, swimming and gymnastics lessons are going well, and poor Greg has a full 5 days in the office. Don't feel too bad for him though, we leave next Tuesday for London! I could not be more excited for this trip, as we will meet up with my Dad, Sherry, and Grandma on Wednesday. We'll all spend some time together exploring London, and then it's back to Amsterdam to show off our home, our city, and our son. I know the grandparents are anxious to spend some time with Ben, who has grown so much since they last saw him in April (or for Great Grandma, April of 2007!)

Don't worry, I have a few tidbits for Getting to Know Amsterdam:

1. Breaking news, Amsterdam will be getting a Starbucks! Currently, the only Starbucks is in Schipol Airport. Rumor has it, the coming Starbucks will be in Central Station as of Spring 2009. While I enjoy an occasional overpriced coffee, I admit that it made me a little sad. I felt kind of proud of my adopted city to have held out without one for so long - but once pumpkin latte season rolls around, I am sure I will find myself in line at the CS Starbucks.

2. We've lived here for 5 months now, and we have finally learned how to recycle plastic bottles at Albert Heijn (our grocery store). I'm embarrassed to admit that it is as easy as dropping a bottle in a hole, and then pushing a button. Thankfully we actually don't buy that much that comes in plastic...

I'll wrap it up with a few funny photos of Ben - loving his new bike helmet and his new rain boots! These are sure to make you smile, have a great week!