Stairs, Stairs, And More Stairs

Germany is one of the coolest countries in the world.  I just spent 4 days in Hamburg, Germany, and I don't even know where to begin retelling my stories.  There's so much that I did and so much that I want to write about, that my time in Germany is probably going to be split up into a few different blog posts!  I hope you don't mind!  So, my first day in Germany was spent exploring (on foot) the city of Hamburg with Nicole, Morgan, Andrew, Tommy, Lyle, and Sean, all people I've met and become friends with on Semester at Sea!  Our first stop was St. Michael's Church, where you could go to the very top of the church to see out over the whole city.  For some reason, I thought it would be really cool to take the stairs all the way to the top, instead of taking the convenient and comfortable lift.  Why?  I'm not really sure.  Maybe I wanted the "full experience" or maybe I thought that the 462 STAIRS wasn't going to be that bad.  Either way, I was wrong.  I was sweating the whole way up those stairs...but I am VERY proud to say that I did, in fact, make it all the way to the top without giving in and taking the lift.  I'd also like you to know that I climbed each and every one of those 462 stairs in boots.  I know you're all impressed.  And even though I thought I was going to die the whole way up, climbing up the stairs was definitely worth it when I reached the top and could see over all of Hamburg. 

After our morning exercise, we then headed to a local German restaurant for lunch.  Naturally, I chose to order dessert.  I REALLY love German desserts.  My meal was a delicious pancake rolled up with warm fruit inside and topped with ice-cream and powdered sugar.  I'm 100% confident it was better than the burgers and beer that everyone else had!  After lunch, we headed to a nearby park, found this huge statue that had to be important and played a card game on the statue stairs.  Let's just say this card game included jumping over hedges and dog poop stuck on shoes.  Enough said. We then checked out a small German grocery store, which was strangely very similar to an American grocery store, and headed back to the ship for dinner. 

Around 8pm, I headed back out in search of a light/water

show that would be taking place in a nearby park with a few other girls.  The show didn't start until 9:30pm, so we figured we had enough time to get there.  Well, the park ended up being HUGE and after getting lost multiple times, it took us almost an hour and a half to reach the show.  And, the show had started at 9pm, not 9:30pm, so after walking all that way, all we got to see was the 2 minute finale!  But hey, finales are always the best part, right?!  And the night ended up being pretty fun, since we were all lost on an adventure together.  However, if you're ever in Germany, I recommend not to walk through the Planten un Blomen Park in the middle of the night, especially if you don't speak German and don't know where you are going.

Fun Facts:
-The designated bike lanes on EVERY road and sidewalk in Germany are no joke.  If you're walking in them, bicyclists will run you over.
-If you have to go to the bathroom while walking around Germany, expect to pay about 1.5 Euros to use a glorified porta potty that may get you wet with automatic cleansing solution used on the floors and walls when you've finished