Hamburg: no, no hamburgers yet, but plenty of currywurst!

7 April 2020

“Time flies by fast during adventures!” In her second blog, Sara talks about the Hamburg weather and what to do in the city with the most bridges in the world!

Time flies by fast during adventures! No wonder it took Ulysses 10 years to get back home… Bad jokes aside, exploring a city for the first time is such an exhilarating yet terrifying experience, that my advice is: try to do it with someone who is as lost as you are, ideally even more! Here are some of my general musings, findings and facts about The Pearl of the North:

The most important thing you ought to know about Hamburg is that their residents believe wholeheartedly that theirs is the most beautiful city in Europe. Whether this is true or not has no bearing: because they think it is beautiful, Hamburgers (I had to, sorry not sorry) take care of it as if it was, and you end up with a gorgeous, exciting port city that really manages to be posh and hipster, Jungfernstieg and Sternschanze, at the same time. I personally give the city a strong 9/10 in aesthetic pleasantness.

With a yearly precipitation of 738 milimeters (London: 583.6 mm), wind, rain, fog and what we call in Colombia ‘espanta bobos’ (a light drizzle that makes weaklings take out their umbrellas while the rest of us machos brave on) are a constant feature in Hamburg. However, the grey skies are compensated by, no exaggeration, THE most intense sunsets I have seen in my whole entire life. Also, the bad weather is an amazing conversation starter because everyone, and I do mean everyone, feels personally offended by it!

To orientate yourself, I would say there is one key to the city: know your waterways. Hamburg is the city in the world with the most bridges (more than Venice and Amsterdam!), so you’ll be surrounded by water, and the Alster (central lake) and the Nordelbe (central river) are the best points of reference. I actually cannot wait for summer to get that lake life going. It should also be noted that Germans truly have mastered the art of public transportation.

In terms of student life, Hamburg is not a very student-dense city, with around 10% of the population being students, and the international student community is even smaller, only around 6% of students, so, yes, I feel like a magical creature! This makes the international student community very cozy and welcoming, and I have to strongly recommend the Erasmus Student Network and PIASTA events. However, because there are so few international students, there really is no excuse to not practice German with the other 99ish% (can you tell I can’t do math?) of the city.

So far, favorite places are: the grunge-y Schanzenviertel with its iconic Rote Flora, Katze, shops and cafés/bars. The Altstadt neighborhood does not get enough recognition for how pretty and historic it is, while St Pauli truly is as cool as the internet paints it and it’s Hamburger Dom is just terrific, like Winterwonderland but without the need to take out a mortgage to enjoy it, and the Grindel (University of Hamburg’s main campus) just gives me nostalgic vibes because it looks exactly like the poshest parts of London without the painful price tag. If you haven’t gotten the idea that everything is cheaper here, let me assure you, it is. I should clarify here that the Humanities Faculty is in Winterhude, a beautiful, albeit far-from-the-city-center park.

What’s to come, you ask? Christmas Market season, I scream at the top of my lungs! I’m so excited to eat every single roasted almond, buy all the Lebkuchen and taste as many Glühweins as I can manage before my blood sugar spikes. Wish me luck!

By: Sara Cordovez