Tuesday, July 12- Trip to Hamburg!

By:Zoe Hammis

Today the American GAPPies took a day trip to the city of Hamburg. Instead of meeting at the train station, we all met at the school, and were shocked by the first thing we saw, Zach and Jakes matching pink outfits. After laughing at them for a long time, we finally got going to the train station. We left at about nine in the morning, and the train ride took about two and a half hours. Luckily this time nobody had to sit on the ground of the train, and there was plenty of seats. And after a long ride, we finally arrived in Hamburg. There, our tour guide was waiting at the train station for us.

Jake and Zach eating

After a short break to get a snack or ice cream, we started the tour of Hamburg. The first place that we went was the City Hall, where the tour guide told us the short history of Hamburg, and we learned about the great fire of 1842.

Hamburg City Hall (Das Rathaus)

On the tour we went to many other places, and our tour guide told us a little bit about each. Most of the GAPPies thought that this was the best tour, because we went to many places, and he told us short, interesting facts each time. One of the places was the Sprinkenhof, a massive nine story office building, with a very interesting history. Right after the Sprinkenhof we saw the Chili House, the most photographed building in Hamburg. We also went to several churches, including the St.Nicolai.

The Chilihouse!

The Saint Nicolai Church

The Trostbrücke Bridge

We went to the Trostbrücke, a bridge that connects the new city to the old. The bridge was very interesting, because it had a statue on both sides. One of the statues facing old Hamburg, and the other new Hamburg. We also crossed the river, and saw buildnings on the other side. While there we learned about the famous Pirate, and the story of how he died in a last minute effort to save his men. Our tour guide had us reenact it, with Emi as the pirate, Amber as the executioner, and May and Gaby being part of the crew.

The story was the last part of our tour, so everybody clapped and said goodbye to our tour guide. After that we were given a bit of free time. Many people went to get something to eat right away, being hungry after the long tour. Others just relaxed by the City Hall, and later went to the Puma store, which was very close. Most of us did some sort of shopping in our free time, including me. I went with Emi, Nick, Erica, and Amber, shopping around Hamburg. Although nobody got to see the "Miniatur Wunderland", Frau Gierke and Mr. Harried did go to the Docks.

Nick, Emi, Erica, and I on a bridge, on a bridge

We met up again at 5:45, and went on a short train ride to the main station. Then, at the main station, our next train was delayed by a half hour. During this time we all sat in groups, talked about what we did, and had a couple snacks. After a half hour we boarded our train, sad to leave, but happy to be able to relax after a long day. We arrived in Münster two hours later, and then took one more train all the way back to Greven. When we arrived, our partners were waiting for us at the station.

I went home with my parner and host brother, and ate an extremely late dinner. Then i went to my room to start writing this blog, and download pictures to the computer. Finally, after everything was finished, i went to sleep, thinking about how excited everybody is for Happy Potter, since its coming out in Germany tomarrow!!