Having never quite made it out of town again, I was determined to see something of the town where I'd lived for four months before I soon quit it. And hang out one last time with some of the friends I wouldn't get to see again for a long, long time. Last week there was the harbor "cruise" with one of them, Saturday I had gluehwein and a nice German dinner with another, and then on Sunday another friend came over to cook dinner - the dinner she hadn't been able to make the night she hadn't been able to find my party... Monday also afforded the chance to catch up with still more people, leaving just Tuesday as the last opportunity to do so.
In the morning a friend met up with me at my place, and kindly mopped my kitchen floor. Then we went to Wal-Mart, where I astounded him with the magic of American consumerism: the ability to return things (an otherwise foreign concept in Germany, but no problem at all at Wal-Mart). After that it was off to school to give back my locker and building keys, and then it was time to see the sights. Well, actually it was time for lunch. But after that it was time for the sights.
The first stop was the museum of Hamburg history. We managed to both get in on student rates even though I'd just turned in my student ID card (it was also my building key): my friend showed his Bucerius card, and I showed them the Bucerius sweatshirt I was wearing.
Once in we spent many hours there (it was a big museum). I was disappointed that the exhibit on history from 1860-1945 was closed for renovation, but there was a nice exhibit on the Jews of Hamburg. I had not before realized the influence of Sephardic Portuguese Jews on the area.
Even though it was all interesting, it's pretty tiring to walk all over a museum. We perked up a bit when we went outside to walk around the park. Even at 4:30 it was pretty dark (a very annoying feature of northern Europe), but that didn't stop us from playing on the nearby playground. It had some really long zip-wire swings that we tried out a few times, and then I went down a very long, twisty, enclosed, and (need I also add) incredibly dark slide. There was also a jungle gym of sorts made out of tense rope that we climbed on, also in the darkness just to add an extra element of risk and stupidity to our day.
Next to the playground there was an outdoor ice skating rink. There seems to be several of these around Hamburg, and my friend (a native) used to go to them a lot before he went to law school. You could tell, because he acclimated much more quickly than I did once he got on the ice. (Me, I think I had to cast my mind back to the Girl Scouts to remember the last time I went skating...) But that was a fun and impromptu way to spend an hour.
After that we headed in the direction of the Rathaus (city hall). The idea was to visit the Bucerius Kunst Forum next door. The same foundation that built Bucerius Law School also built a small gallery that features one well-curated art exhibit at a time. As Bucerius students we can get in for free. But we never actually got there, seeing how we got sidetracked on the long walk over by a bookstore. Instead we ducked into the Rathaus so I could see its lobby (the Rathaus is a building that survived the bombings of WWII) and then ran an errand at the Christmas market.
By then we were both fading fast from all the walking around we were doing. We popped into McDonalds for dinner, with the idea that I'd be able to treat us to ice cream with the free coupons I had. But due to a communications snafu and general level of fatigue that didn't quite happen. Instead I inhaled my french fries while my friend accidentally took a nap. I was sort of jealous, and had I not had a burger in front of me might have done the same. (It did lead me to make the mental note, however, that, in the future, for scintillating dinnertime conversation it's best not to exhaust your companion beforehand.)
Clearly the day was now over, and he took me home to finish packing. Still, obviously, and embarrassingly, there's a lot that I didn't ever manage to see. I guess that means I'll have to come back.
Posted 12/22.