I have reached my first destination of my wanderwochen, Hamburg! The second largest city in Germany certainly has a lot to offer, and that is clear after only being here for a couple hours. My hostel happens to be only a block away from the bus station I arrived at, so I was able to get situated quickly and meet my hostel roommates. There are a total of eight of us, 7 were present when I arrived, and 5 of us went to go get something to eat together and my request and at the recommendation of the other two. These guys said they had, only an hour or so earlier, eaten hamburgers that were really good at a place nearby. Burgerlich it was called. I hesitated to believe them, knowing full well the reputation that burgers have in Germany. But I thought, if any where in Germany was going to have good hamburgers, it would be the place with its name in the food. They put the Hamburg in hamburger.

Caspian, Ira, Colton, Shelby and I walked through the heart of downtown Hamburg for a couple blocks to get to our destination, when we got there, we were in for a surprise. At this restaurant, all of the ordering was done through tablets that popped up from the table in some crazy new age fashion. It was wonderfully convenient and a real treat. As a bonus the burgers were actually amazing. Expensive and small portions, but they didn’t spare in the taste. It was fantastic. Because it was so small though, I decided that I would need something else to tide me over. Ira told me that there were many places to get Doner down the street next to our hostel. So sure, enough, when we got back, I decided to wander down the street to take in some Hamburg and eat some chow.

Berlin has spoiled me. One of the first things I have come to realize about Hamburg, and I’m sure this will be the same for a lot of places in Germany, food is much more expensive here. For example, in Berlin, I have found Doner for as cheap as 2.60. However the average is no more than 3.00. Here in Hamburg, at least down is street, all of the Doner places cost 4.50!?!? I wasn’t about that and decided to keep walking further to get a better deal. My search was a success as I found Haji Baba on the corner, next to a wonder World of Sex store, (sorry, extra little detail maybe not needed), and Doner was 3.60, by far the cheapest I could find. Saw I got some chow and headed back to the hostel. Now I’m doing work that needs to finally get done, so I can prepare for a fun day of more Hamburg tomorrow. I will spend another night here tomorrow, and leave for Düsseldorf on Wednesday, today is Monday.