Whenever I get to go on a trip for one of the websites I write for, I always try to get a flight back one day later, so I can at least enjoy the city I travel to a bit. This time I was lucky enough to be sent to Hamburg, a harbor city in Germany, where I really wanted to go as on my bucketlist it says ‘eat a hamburger in Hamburg’. Well, done! Let me tell you all about the trip.

Though many flights from Schiphol these days depart at crazy early times that no one ever appreciates as there is no public transport running that early in the morning, I was happy they had booked me on an 08:15 flight. It still meant I had to get up at 6 in the morning, but at least I could reach the place by train. It all went perfectly well, Schiphol was extremely hot as ever and before I got to the gate, I already had 3000 steps on my Fitbit. Schiphol is huge.

Germans speaking German

The flight was perfect, there was no one around me and I was on my fave seat: 23F. Yes, I prefer window seats, always. And I prefer the right part of things, always. Okay, not always, when it comes to the political, I am a weird one. Anyway, I arrived at Hamburg at 9 o clock and I took a cab to the game studio. We had a session of approximately five hours. It was great fun, there were journalists from all over, though there were also a few Germans who kept speaking German to eachother, it was as if I was in France, crazy.

After hanging out with an Italian and a Greek dude, who coincidentally lives in the same village as my uncle, which is insane, I took the subway from the airport into the city. It is a perfect 20 minute ride and it only costs about 3 euros, so that is great. It was super hot in Hamburg, as it is spring time and Holland is also very hot at the moment. So with the sun on my sweaty face I walked ten minutes to my hotel. I discovered that it was actually an apartment building, so I had to walk to a different hotel to check in. There I got the room key for the apartments, which was very odd.

S.L.U.T. Hamburg

It was very odd, cause the rooms (Hamburg Rooms it is called) are in the middle of this super Turkish neighbourhood. There were Turkish supermarkets EVERYWHERE and it was located next to a place called S.L.U.T., so that was quite funny. I managed not to buy any baklava and go into the apartment door that said Hamburg Rooms. Now it gets weird, cause where you would think it was just one apartment for me, I actually entered a hallway with multiple doors and rooms. And there were two bathrooms. Yes, it was a shared hotel. I forgot about that, but it did not bother me as I only paid 35 euros for the room and when I arrived the bathroom had just been cleaned and no one was there anyway.

What was the most surprising was how it looked. The neighbourhood was pretty rough, crowded, people on the streets everywhere, buildings not being in the greatest state, and then there was this apartment building which was not too fancy either, but in the midst of it there was this little haven with nicely decorated rooms and just an overall look that was very easy on the eye. My room was adorable and it had everything I needed (except for a toilet and shower of course): TV, free WIFI that actually worked and a cute little bag of Haribo bears on the pillows. Adorbz.

So I took a quick shower and then I went for it: my bucket list item. Of course I wanted a veggie burger and I wanted to go to a place good, so I took Tripadvisor and ended up at Dulf’s Burger at Karolinenstrasse. Well, it took awhile for me to actually arrive there, as it was a 45 minute walk and I was taking pictures a lot. Plus, Hamburger people are like Londoners: they don’t really seem to understand the idea of walking on one side of the road. Not to mention cycling, cause they will cycle on the walkway, which is extremely dangerous. Yes, I am a Dutch person saying cyclists are dangerous. In Hamburg they are. I actually saw a women on the ground next to a Smart Fortwo and a bike with bent wheels: it is dangerous people.

Dulf’s Veggie Burger

After a nice but hot and long walk, I was very happy to finally reached the place, which was packed. Thankfully there were still spots available inside so I went for Dulf’s Veggie Burger Vol. 1 with an omelette patty with mushrooms, some cheddar cheese, mozzarella, salad, tomato and guacamole. With some creme fraiche on top as well, cause that goes so well with the avocado. It was a pretty insane burger, but it was amazing. I could not even finish my parmesan and truffle potatoes, and I had a hard time with the pomegranate/mint lemonade. But it was all sooo good. I was so happy with the hamburger, not just because this way I could put it on my bucket list, but also because it was sooo good. The patty was falling apart so I at the huge burger with knife and fork, but the combination of it all was amazing. I would eat a hamburger there every day if I could. It was only 8,40 euros!

Happy and with a very full stomach I walked back on a different route, which was more in the shopping area of the city. I finally bought Elbow Grease at Lush, which is something I had my eye on for quite a while. Besides that I did not buy anything, and of course I will discuss the Lush stuff in a different blog. I walked back to my cute little room while being surprised by how much people stare at me. All day people were staring. At first I thought it was because of my height, or because my eyebrows might have looked weird, then I thought: it is my army coat? But no, I think they were just surprised to see my eyes or something, it was very strange. And it is a harbour town, so I guess catcalling is more accepted or something.

I just took another shower and tonight I will be writing writing and writing. At first I wanted to go to the famous red light district, but I am pretty knackered after the stressful Moksie-days and the many deadlines that still await me. Writing it is. I will be back tomorrow!