One Very Chill Weekend in Hamburg

Hamburg was a good choice. We stayed in the Sankt Pauli district, which is the Austin of Germany: a little liberal, socialist community that has, on several occasions, risen up against the mayor and won. It was described to us as having “just enough” police force, but not enough to get in your way.

On our first night, we had dinner at a little Greek restaurant on Schulterblatt. The man who met us at the door, offered us English menus, and led us to a table was the son of the owners. Our waiter told me to customize my pizza however I would like, and suggested some wines for us to try, assuring us that we could switch them out if we did not like them. Both dinner and the wines were delicious. They were followed by a shot of ouzo on the house. When we went up to pay, the son of the owner asked us if we had received our ouzo and asked how dinner was. We, of course, told him how great our experience had been. He asked us where we were from, which sparked an hour-long conversation with him and his mother about everything from Texas to St. Pauli to travel to life experiences. It was quite the place, run by people with a very unique story. I would recommend Taverna Romana to anyone visiting Hamburg.

We took a walking tour of the harbor and St. Pauli district on Saturday. Our guide took us through the red light district, as well, where he told us about the Beatles’ history in Hamburg. I did not know that the Beatles had a contract with a club in the red light district when it looked like their nascent career was about to end. They apparently earned much of their fame through their years playing in Hamburg.

We also took the opportunity to go inside a Russian U-boat that is permanently docked in the harbor. I could not imagine living in such tight quarters with 83 other people. It really was a very Russian design. But, marine machinery has always been interesting to me, and the U-boat reminded me of being inside the engine room of another massive ship: an experience that partly led to my interest in engineering. So, I enjoyed it. Even though I would have gone crazy living on a submarine that made even me feel too tall.

Our weekend was very laidback. We took our time walking through the harbor and St. Pauli. We enjoyed some long dinners and brunches in very unique restaurants. It was a great way to see the city and just what I needed after a busy week in Berlin.