Weather:
Just to make everyone jealous, the weather in the North of Germany has been a lovely warm 28 - 30degrees all week. It's a little humid but happy to live with that.
Geothe Course:
I've been studying German for five hours a day at the German language and culture school. People from around the world are studying German here. There are people in my class who have lived in Germany for 10 years and still don't know the grammar! The group is diverse to say the least. There is a Korean elderly man who I found out is a Professor of International Law teaching in Korea. There is a Turkish school teacher who until now, aged nearly 40, had never been on a plane before. He had been teaching German in Turkey for 20 years but never formally learnt German so the Turkish government sent him. We have some Russian girls who seem to be collecting languages presumably to take over the world. Some can speak 6 languages! Then there is me struggling along trying to fix bad habits.
Hamburg:
Hamburg is beautiful and strikingly hugely diverse. Hamburg has everything from the rich suburbs of the bankers and merchants to the more alternative areas such as St. Pauli (The famous Reppebahn is like a super charged Kings Cross - also where the Beatles were first uncovered!). Walking the streets of the city you will see the finely dressed business men in sharp looking suits walking alongside punks that look as though they hadn't changed out of their clothes in months. The drunks that lie begging on the streets also like to take it to the next level by ensuring that they piss their pants to highlight their misfortunes. Hamburg has a certain energy that you won't find in Adelaide!
Photos:
As always my photos are posted here on my Picasa Album or on Facebook.
Reppebahn:
Worthy of a special mention, the Reppebahn really pushes the boundaries of vulgarity. Clearly i've lived a pretty sheltered life! After you have walked past the 50th sex shop and the 100th filthy bar along the Reppebahn, you can find a side street that allows only men to walk down it. Any female seen will be spat on, shouted at and promptly escorted away! Being a harbour city, the sailors wanted their private space away from the hustle and bustle of a male/female community!
Suellberg:
I'm not sure when i'll get tired of riding through tight knit fachwerk villages but again I was riding along the Elbe and found myself in such a village - Suellberg. It is home to Hamburg's biggest mountain; about 100m high! I climbed it a couple of times in training for Mont Ventoux! Suellberg is to Hamburg, what Victor harbour is to Adelaide; only probably twice as old as Australia!
Bremen:
This weekend I visited my Godfather David in Ottersberg, just out of Bremen. He had a busy weekend already planned so it was great to follow him around to see his folk band play (he plays the accordian), help him renovate his cellar and take his goats into the fields to feed. A very wholesome and typically German weekend!
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