Das leben ist schön: Hamburg und Lübeck

Summer is here!! To help celebrate, we decided it was time to explore more of Deutschland. Off to Hamburg and the Baltic coast we went. Once again, we concurred that traveling by train is the best way to get around (followed by biking as a close second, of course). We hopped on an early morning train just days after I finished up my busy school year, and we were in Hamburg in less than 2 hours. Before anchoring in this busy port city, however, we traveled further north for a few days. First stop: Lubeck, a quaint medieval town near the coast of the Baltic Sea. Lubeck is not only an architectural gem on UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sights, but is also known for one of my newly discovered confectionery favorites: Marzipan! If you're not familiar with the sweet almond paste deliciousness, a trip to Lubeck would be worth it for this reason alone. While filling up on the various samplings of marzipan coated in chocolate, we enjoyed exploring Lubeck's unique architecture. On one particularly warm day, we took a spontaneous 20-minute train ride to Travemunde, Lubeck's local beach on the Baltic Sea. Our first trip to the Baltic was bathing suit and towel-free, as the beach was not on our original agenda while packing. Since nude bathing, although very acceptable here in Europe, was not in the cards for us timid Americans, we will have to return for a chance to swim in the Baltic Sea :).

Holstentor, one of the original gates in Lubeck

Matt leading the way to the Puppet Museum (definitely a first for us!)

Typical architecture in Lubeck

Travemunde beach on the Baltic Sea.
You can rent these colorful "Strandkörbe" (beach "baskets") when the Baltic winds are
too gusty for your liking but you still want to get a tan!

Soon we were headed back to Hamburg to explore the city for a few days. Hamburg is the 2nd biggest city in Germany (after Berlin, of course :) and is the 2nd largest port in all of Europe. We took advantage of the fact that boat rides were part of the public transport tickets that we purchased upon arrival, and enjoyed seeing much of the city via the Elbe river. We also went on a boat tour that took us through the winding canals of Hamburg, and got a good chuckle at the GPS-guided recordings in English using German grammar ("On the left, will one an old warehouse of carpets observe" What?!)

We've got the train thing down by now!