ANZAC Day ....we do need to remember our soldiers......and also Dazza's birthday...so we call Australia and chat to Gary's brother who was celebrating with his family in Port douglas for the weekend.As we left our street we discovered that the main street was closed due to the Hamburg marathon....and when we arrived closer to the waterway....our timing was impeccable as the leaders...who all appeared to be Kenyans....passed beneath the bridge we were crossing....I was impressed!
The St Pauli suburb...of which Reeperbahn is a small area....boasts a thriving market every Sunday morning from 6am - 11am...When we arrived it was alive with vibrant colors, music, sprukers competitively selling their wares, people bargaining to get the best prices...and many people, like ourselves loving the atmosphere and energy enveloping the precinct....During winter the stalls are held inside an enormous Hall but when the weather improves...as it had...the caravans and sellers position themselves outside along the watesredge...consequently the Hall takes on a very different scene during Spring and Summer! We entered this Hall about 9am expecting to wander between more stalls of produce only to be treated to a live band belting out Rock and Roll....revellers dined in the upstairs section and in the lower section people lined the tressels....singing, laughing, drinking and dancing in the aisles and near the stage.....We were stunned at the scene as it was something you might expect maybe, late afternoon or evening but here we were, in the early hours of Sunday morning, stunned and amused......We decided that... when in Hamburg, do what the Hamburgers do....so we joined Travis and Twilla and their friends and treated ourselves to a champagne!!!!...and toasted our ANZACs as well...! So much for the nourishing breakky I was ready for....! It was lots of fun but when we left an hour or so later, I needed some food.... but the only sustenance I could find was a large coffee....Gary took a picture of me just moments before I spilled half its contents down my front....No....I had only had ONE champagne but didn't realise that the lid wasn't secured....So much for wearing white pants...and it was only the start of what turned into another wonderful adventure!
Travis had driven from Holland for the weekend in a hire car so we took a drive out in the country to a little town steeped in history, Luneburg. We were challenged getting
there due to road closures for the Marathon and roadworks on the main drag out of Hamburg....We thought it was going to take all day to do the 50 minute trip....we had heaps to chat about so the journey wasn't wasted. Central Luneburg provided us with a 
large boulevade designated to wining and dining either El Fresco or indoors...The many, many little cafes and restaurants which lined the streets were varied and intriguing as each one seemed to have a unique purpose for existing...not just for its hospitality. Our choice was a brewery, Malzer, with a long history,...The dining area was about 50metres from the actual brewery and set outside and in front of a grand building...sunshine, friends, beautiful wine and food....superb!
Our walking tour took us down quaint little alleys and finally to the original watertower which we climbed to get a bird's eye view of Luneburg.
Returning to Hamburg, we chose to walk the waterside wall from Baumwall back around to St Pauli with 100's of other pedestrians lapping up the warmth and taking the opportunity to bask in Hamburg's waterside beauty. An evening cocktail at the Hamburg Del Mar....'a beach bar by the sea' where people were spending a PSA in beach mode......then back to home base via the little back streets full of ecclectic character..... to reflect on the unpredicted adventure we had enjoyed!
