A Ramsey Reunion in Hamburg

The best part about not having class on Friday is I can frivolously waste my Thursday evening without feeling guilty that I have notes to review or homework to complete before tomorrow. So tonight I hid my to-do list, put away my books, and watched Sex and the City. After about an hour of rotting my brain out, I had an epiphany - what better way to spend my Thursday evening then by finally posting about my parent's trip to Hamburg...

Two weeks ago, my parents came to visit me in Hamburg. This was the first time my Mother had been trans-Atlantic, so I wanted to makes sure that it was a memorable visit. The first day they were here, I took them down to the harbor. My Dad is a sucker for large boats and ports, so I knew it would just tickle him to death. And sure enough, it was like watching a kid in a candy shop. Even though it was a cold and dreary day, I think everyone had fun. I even got my mom to eat fish and chips out of a paper cone with a tiny wooden fork! I considered this to be the first of many small food victories during their stay in Germany.

Dad, Mom, and me in front of the harbor

We spent the rest of the weekend visiting all my favorite places in Hamburg. I had such a great time showing them around downtown and allowing them to discover for themselves why I love Hamburg. Most of the places I took them I had been before, but we took a canal boat tour through the richest neighborhood in Hamburg which was a first for me. Did you know that Hamburg has more bridges then London, Amsterdam, and Venice combined? Who knew! Some of the wealthiest districts in Hamburg are only visible from the canals, and we were privy to a front row view. Seeing the fancy, waterfront properties made me fantasize about what it would be like to be a millionaire. I kept telling my parents that it's just as easy to fall in love with a rich man as it is a poor man. My mother quickly chastised me before catching on to the fact that I was kidding.  The yummiest part of the weekend came when we toured a chocolate factory in Hamburg. Even though we had no idea what anyone was saying, the chocolate samples at the end of the tour made it worth our while. Too bad I spilt chocolate all down the front of my shirt. Apparently you can dress me up, but you can't take me anywhere. 

Inside the Rathaus

Mom & Dad in front of the Binnenalster.

Did you know that the 10th meridian east
runs straight through Hamburg? And yes, I
did crack a Where's Waldo joke while we
were standing on it.

On Saturday night I took my parents to the Reeperbahn. That's right, you read correctly - my parents partied in what's arguably Europe's best Red Light District. Not only did they drink with Kaitlyn, Daniela, and me, but Dad and I taught my mom how to do a tequila shot. The first stop of the night was our favorite 1 Euro tequila bar (where half naked women pole dance on the counter). After teaching my mom how to lick salt off her hand, shoot the tequila, and then follow it by biting a lemon, we watched her do not one...not two...but three shots of tequila! I have never been so proud of my mom! My Dad also did shots of tequila with us, but this is not so out of character for him. I was way more excited when he agreed to do a shot of Mexikaner with me (a traditional, spicy Hamburg shot made from tomatoes, chili peppers, clear liquor, and hot Mexican spices). 

Seconds after teaching my mom how to do a tequila shot...

Post tequila inside our favorite Irish pub

On Monday, I snapped back to reality and went to class. Meanwhile, my parents visited the quaint German town of Lüneburg in the morning and went to Miniature Wunderland that afternoon. All of my classes were randomly canceled on Tuesday because of a campus-wide lecture series. So, we hoped on a train and traveled two hours east to Schwerin, an old German town. What makes Schwerin super cool is the fact that it has a castle! The castle was stunning both inside and out. The gardens were immaculate, and the rooms of the castle were elegant and romantic. Every room looked like it was taken from a movie. I couldn't imagine actually living in a place like that. It must get lonely - I bet you could walk in and out of 20 rooms before seeing another living soul. I was a bit worried when we started the tour because one entire wing of the castle was filled with these creepy porcelain statues and bowls. But luckily the second half of the tour included viewing the ornately decorated rooms of the living quarters. 

Schwerin Castle with the gardens in the foreground. The
castle is beautifully situated on an island surrounded by
seven lakes. 

On Wednesday, I took my parents to the Neuengamme Concentration Camp located about 30 minutes outside Hamburg. What should have been an extremely depressing morning at the camp was completely overshadowed by a mortifying bus ride. It turns out that an entire class of 5th or 6th graders were taking the same bus as us. In general, I'm not a huge fan of large masses of children. I find them to be rather obnoxious when they're all grouped together. Come to find out, German school children are a whole lot more brazen then the kids I went to elementary school with. We're on the bus heading to the camp, and this bratty little boy asks me in English: "Do you speak English?" I respond, in English, "No, I don't speak English." Well, my sarcastic joke went right over his dumb, pin brain head. As the bus ride continued, this brat begins to say rude things and make rude gestures towards me, including but not limited to singing "I'm sexy and I know it" and making kissing noises. Meanwhile, his horny little friend sitting behind me chimes in with "ow oww" noises and flipping his tongue out at me. At one point, he makes the wildly rude hand gesture mimicking a penis going into a vagina. I'm ready to give these kids a piece of my mind, but my parents keep telling me to stay cool and be nice to them. I'm getting verbally harassed by 5th graders, and they're telling me to stay calm! Thankfully the brats got off about 20 minutes before we did, so I had some time to vent and rant before arriving at the camp. When we got to the camp, we found that many of the original buildings had been torn down after the war. Just like Dachau, pebble-filled plots marked where the  buildings used to stand. Even though the original buildings were gone, you could just tell that the place reeked of sorrow, pain, and suffering. A large museum was created in one of the main buildings. It had everything from personal memoirs, to old stripped uniforms, to images depicting the cruelty of the camp. This is now the second time I've visited a concentration camp, and I can say with utmost certainty that it will be my last. I do not have the stomach to return to another camp before leaving Germany. 

Part of Neuengamme Concentration Camp

For their last day in Hamburg, my parents climbed to the top of St. Michaelis and experienced the breathtaking, birds-eye view of the city. I thought this would be a cool way to end their trip - looking down on the city they just spent seven days exploring. That evening, I took them to the DOM - a large fair that comes to Hamburg four times a year. It's hard to explain the enormity of the DOM. It's like an American carnival on steroids. There are tons of rides, endless food stands, and a large three drop, five loop roller coaster. It's definitely one hell of an experience.

Ok, so here's the deal. No summary of a Ramsey family adventure would be completely without a mention of the food consumed during the trip. So here you have it - we ate, and ate, and ate all the amazing food that Hamburg has to offer. We had German food, Italian food, Portugese food, seafood, pastries, pretzels - you name it, we ate it. The great thing about Hamburg is that it's a really international city. Not only are the people diverse, but the food choices are as well. In fact, it's really hard to find traditional brauts and sauerkraut in restaurants. This is due to the fact that what most people consider traditional German food is actually food from south Germany, or Bavaria. Instead, the traditional food of Hamburg is seafood. Either way, I was sure to give my parents an all around delectable dining experience. And I have to say, I actually had one of the best meals of my life that week. There's this little seafood restaurant near my old language school that only serves one meal each day. You just show up and order the meal, regardless of what it is. Well, the day we went they were serving this potato, sauerkraut, salmon dish in a white, butter cream sauce. Let.me.tell.you. This was easily the best seafood I've ever had. It makes me drool just thinking about it. 

World's best seafood meal

As a final aside, trying to teach my parents how to say basic German words was hilarious. I love them, but I now understand why I'm so bad at learning foreign languages. Rather then trying to explain it, I'll leave it up to Phoebe and Joey:

http://youtu.be/DqwzvtjeYBQ

Tschüss!