Dana’s new home city is very interesting.  It is located in the “cool” north.  Not only is  the weather cool with a constant sea breeze but the people are cool and raw as well.  The city has a completely different atmosphere than Cologne. The university district reminds me of the hippie era in San  Francisco in the 60s and very international.  Very different than in other university cities I have seen.  There is a lot to see and do.  Here are a few impressions of things we saw on the weekend we  visited Dana on her birthday in 2005. Hamburg is only 100 km from the North Sea on the Elbe River and one of the most important ports for  Europe.  All good entering Europe go through this part and are distributed from here. Interestingly Hamburg has become the most important distribution hub for tea before USA and Canada, even the British get their  tea from Hamburg. On the city side of the harbor is the worlds largest storage complex build 100 years  ago.  It is the famous “Speicherstadt” (storage city). The building are red brick Gothic with bizarre towers and windows and one would not expect that these wall protect valuable goods like coffee, tea,  cacao, spices, tobacco, computers and more oriental rugs than any where else.  Today these are museums in the rooms that ate not used for storage. Hamburg has a very international marine atmosphere, not alone because of the harbor and shipyards  but also the famous entertainment and red-light  district St. Pauli and the Reeperbahn where the traditional  “Fish Market” in front of the fish actions hall attracts early birds or night owls from the  Reeperbahn every Sunday morning 5 to 9AM since 1703.  Here you can buy everything from smoked eel and coffee to fruit, vegetables, shoes, knives, dusty porcelain tea pot to the rubber ducky. In the fish auction  hall breakfast is served to jazz or western music accompaniment. Fish Market Fish Action Hall Street musicians City side of the Elbe In the middle of Hamburg is a large lake, the Alster.  Around it is the exclusive shopping area  with arcade and boutiques.  The promenade along the banks “Jungfernstieg” was once the place to go to meet young single eligible women. Close to this area is the city hall.  This impressive Neo- Renaissance sand stone building  built 1886-1897 dominates the down town area. The weather The skyline of the city is dominated by the 132 m high tower of St. Michael’s church  built in 1641.  This is where I found out the Ansgar was the Apostle of the North.  My boss’ name is Ansgar and I wondered what kind of a name that was until then. Very interesting was the historic Elb tunnel.  It was build under the Elbe in 1911  to connect the harbor with the city so the employees could get home easier and faster and was a technical sensation. It is down 24 m and consists of two tiled tubes 6 m in diameter. On both ends there are  mechanical elevators that transport people, bikes and cars down to the tunnel and back up on the other side.  A new tunnel was built in 1975 but this tunnel is still in use during the week from 5 Am to  8 PM.  For pedestrians it is open all the time since an attendant is not necessary to operate that elevator. The image of most famous water carrier in Hamburg Hans Hummel, born 1787,  can now  be seen 100 times in Hamburg.  A 1.82 m high figure was designed for the city not only to make area more friendly but also for a good cause.  Companies and people bought then and had then painted  or decorated, often by famous artists and they were spread all over the city.  Then the were auctioned off and the proceeds were used to build a home for the homeless. The site of the trade fair is expanding and instead of tearing down this old building it  engulfed it. We did “Bed and Breakfast” and stayed in an old, typical Hamburger apt.  The guy who lived  there was retired early and rented two rooms in his large apartment to tourists.  It gave him extra money and he also enjoyed meeting people from all over the world.  It was very interesting and he always made  us a good breakfast, for me a specialty; scrambled eggs with fresh North Sea shrimp.