July 1, 2017
Our second and last day in Hamburg, and to me, today is by far my favorite
day in Germany. It was still raining in the morning, but gladly it was Seattle
rain instead of what we experienced at Orianburg. The beds in the hostel were comfortable
and everyone seemed refreshed after good sleep. Julie and Manuela brought us
pastries and after breakfast we headed towards the symphony hall.
Taking escalator up to the Elbphilharmonie Plaza we enjoyed the 360° view of the city and the harbor. The plaza serves as the junction
between the old harbor warehouse and the modern glass structure above it. A
look from outside was enough to amaze us, and the view looking out from the
platform was more eye opening.
The tour afterwards was wonderful. We met our tour guide Fouad at
Gaensemarkt where we saw two big murals on the gentrified building. The one on
the left with a sphere shape indicates the unity of nature and mankind, and the
right one with a big saw represents the gratitude to the labor force. Then we
walked in the neighborhoods of Schanzenviertel, Gaengeviertel, Rote Flora. We
saw many bright, bold and creative murals and graffiti, such as works from the
famous Oz, the resistant from the pirate, the girlfriend series. This side of
Hamburg that displays its resistance and activism really impresses us. It would
be a great honor for an artist in that people mourn his death by re-painting
his work of smiley face with crying eyes. And paying respect to the pirate also
indicates this city's rebellion spirit. As I learnt from Dr. Viola's lecture,
Germany is a country that remembers. I can feel Hamburg carries along with it
the history, the memories, but also a sense of recreation and freedom. The
bunker being rebuilt as a creational place was very interesting. When we went
to the underground tour back in Berlin, we were told that there are only three
places that have the bunker remains: Berlin, Hamburg and Vienna. I was excited
to see a bunker of such a great scale. The guide explained that its existence
is because that it is so hard to tear down the bunker. It would take too much
effort to blow it down, so instead people of Hamburg recreate it to be a bar.
It was weird to see a palm tree on top of a bunker, but this is the style of
Hamburg, that no division and border exists to separate the city. Like in
Berlin, gentrification is common in Hamburg. We passed an alley where on the
right side is a clean, modern, tall residential building with big windows, and
on the left is a deteriorating, rusty old living area with walls covered with
graffiti. It reminds me of the topics of “Borders” in Dr.
Markus Heide's lecture. Borders exist not just in terms of nations or regions;
sometimes they are just a distinction between two kinds of living
patterns, of social classes, of beliefs and religions. We were also
inspired by the recycle place in the community garden where things are put
aside instead of being thrown away.
Afternoon was free for us to explore so I went to check out the McDonald
with bulletproof glass after a nice lunch at a Mexican place recommended by
Fouad. Clayton and Justin went back to the currywurst restaurant we discovered
yesterday because that place has the “world’s best French fires”.
People came back gradually to the hostel to grab their bags and we headed
for dinner at five. The place, Frau Möller, was close to the hostel and it was
about fifteen minutes’ walk. Dinner was fantastic and many of us had the
Schnitzel, which I believed was fried pork, and others had salad or sandwich, or
a bread-pizza as Zosia and Katie had. The best part was the last round of
dessert, and both the apple pie and homemade Tiramisu were super good.
Everyone was satisfied with the dinner and we walked leisurely towards the
central station. The sun was coming out as I reexamined the beautiful and
peaceful architecture of the station.
Back to Berlin it was ten at night, and everything had a surprising
feeling of familiarity as we went back to the hostel. Good night, Berlin.
--Ying
Lunch at Hamburg
Work of Oz
In memorial of the death of Oz
The pirate
The girlfriend series
Schnitzel for Dinner
Central Station of Hamburg
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