Fishmarket, Hafencity, and Brötchen

Location: Antwerp, Belgium (we're a day early! Can't get off the ship though, because we still have to go to tomorrow's classes.)

Hah! With this last double-post I am now officially caught up with the present. Whew.

–– Hamburg, Day 3: 9/7/13 ––

The entirety of my third day in Germany was devoted to a service visit organized by Semester at Sea which took a group of us to the small town of Dollerup (located up north, near the sea border with Denmark) where we went to a family farm that had been converted into a home for foster children. There were seven kids there, ranging in age from 13 to 20, and we got a chance to meet them and have a tour of the farm before splitting into two groups for the actual service project. One group helped build a soccer goal and played several games with the kids, while the other group (which I was in) donned plastic suits to protect our clothing and began to paint/decorate a large wall with the help of a couple of the foster girls. Most of the kids didn't speak a lot of English, but we generally understood one another, and we all had fun. It was interesting to learn a bit more about the foster care system in Germany, and nice to get out of Hamburg city and into a more rural area. The bus ride there and back took a couple of hours though, so we didn't get to stay as long as many of us would have liked and we still ended up behind schedule in the end.

When I returned to the ship it was a bit too late to go back out into Hamburg (at least to me), and I had made plans to wake up super early and meet a couple girls who were going to the Fishmarket (a Hamburg event which only takes place on Sunday mornings) the next day, so I headed back to my cabin. At that point it occurred to me that I finally had enough time to process my laundry! I had gotten a large load of darks done by the ship a few days earlier, and the experience convinced me that I had better just wash my own laundry in the future (cheaper and safer for the clothes.) I still needed to wash a bunch of lights which couldn't be put into the aforementioned load, so I got out one of the little packets of detergent that I brought from home for just such an occasion and headed for my little bathroom sink with a pile of clothes and a mission.

What I ended up with was a heap of wet (but clean!) clothes and not nearly enough room on the little provided clothes line in my shower to dry them all. So I improvised, and had eventually completely taken over the shower and half of the bathroom with drying clothes. Of course at that point my roommate returned from her trip to Berlin desperately wanting a shower. So I moved everything to hangers in the closet and just kept the closet doors open. This seemed to work pretty well, and now that everything is dried and folded, I am officially proclaiming my laundry venture a success!

...Of course, all this meant that I didn't get to bed until about midnight. Which was a problem because I needed to get up at 4:30am the next morning in order to make it in time to meet the rest of the group heading for the Fishmarket. I'd say sleep is overrated, but I didn't really get any last night because I was up writing a paper, so right now I can attest that sleep is actually quite necessary.


–– Hamburg, Day 4: 9/8/13 ––

My last day in Hamburg! I got up bright and early (though it was still dark) and managed to drag myself out of bed and to the meeting place with an unprecedented three minutes to spare. I was pretty proud of myself; I had half expected to be too tired and to decide to wait and go later by myself. Another of our number actually did just that. But I had my tea in hand and I was ready to make the most of my last morning in Germany. So off we went to go and watch the sunrise over the Fishmarket.

For those who are wondering, the Fishmarket is actually a full-blown street fair with all sorts of things for sale besides just fish. I had received an email from my grandma advising me to try smoked meat as well as some Brötchen, so I set out on a mission to locate one or both of these in the maze of food booths which occupied the nucleus of the market. Smoked meat was pretty prevalent, and I eventually settled on some smoked halibut (who could resist trying some fish while wandering around a Fishmarket, after all!) I really had my eye on the smoked eel after getting a sample and discovering that it was abnormally delicious, but unfortunately all anyone wanted to sell was a whole smoked eel, and I wasn't quite that committed.

I had a little more trouble with the Brötchen, mostly because the word would sometimes appear in conjunction with other words, and I wasn't sure it was the same thing. Also there were often there prices for large quantities but not just for a single roll. I did eventually get one though, and had a thoroughly enjoyable lunch!

Afterwards I headed all the way back to the Hafencity, because I had heard great things about the Miniatur Wunderland and was determined to see it before I left. The miniature train exhibits were marvelous, with painstakingly created terrains that sometimes reaching multiple floor. Mountains, valleys, lakes, and cities spanned wall to wall and ceiling to floor. The place was packed with people, despite how early I arrived. But once you managed to wriggle yourself into a gap in the crowd you could just stand there staring for ages, especially since the lights of the rooms change so that the scenes are always slowly alternating between day and night. The miniature Las Vegas particularly lent itself to the nighttime span, with a full complement of multicolored lights and moving elements. There are, of course, trains moving through every exhibit, but there is also the occasional moving bus, car, or ski lift as well. I will be putting pictures up so that you can see some examples.

With only a few hours to spare before I ought to be heading back to the ship, I indecisively made my toward the spice museum. Now, I'm not really sure what the deal is, but despite wikipedia's assertion that this is the only spice museum in the world (yes, I get all my info from Wikipedia - it's one of the few free sites to visit with the ship's internet, so you use what you've got), there are actually two separate spice museums right near each other on the same street. This time I went into the other museum. It was a cozy inviting little place once you got inside (the outside just looks a bit doubtful), and there are big bags of spices sitting there so that you can feel and smell them. The entire place smelling like heaven. I spent ages there, despite the fact that it was really a very small place. I think that silly spice museum was my favorite place in all of Hamburg––I just wanted to stay in there forever.

Of course I couldn't, and all the spices were making me hungry again, so I headed over to coffee shop housed in this nice big historical building. Did I mention that the warehouse district is full of beautiful brick buildings surrounded by bridges and canals? It was once one of the centers of European trade, and all of the goods were stored and traded right there. Trade still plays a large economic role in Hamburg's economy, but its center has moved to a more modern locale. There is something about those old buildings though, that lends to the entire area a deep sense of soul. I spent an hour sitting in the coffee shop warehouse, sketching my surroundings and munching on what the lady at the counter called a "Hamburger" –– in this case referring to someone/thing which is from Hamburg, rather than a sandwich with a bun. This particular dish was a tasty custard-filled dessert.

Once I had finished with my Hamburger I headed back to the ship. Since then I have been rushing to keep up with all the assignments for my classes and trying to plan what I will be doing while in Belgium!


Thanks for your comments!