Journey Thus Far

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Journey Thus Far

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(Had to redo map, as Aarhus was originally not on the itinerary)

Day 31 - Hungry for Hamburg(er)

This photo requires no caption.

Ok, I'll get it out of the way before I proceed: One of the primary incentives for me to come to Hamburg was the possibility of eating a hamburger here. This I did (with schoolgirl-like excitement) in spectacularly anti-climactic fashion on my first day by paying a visit to Burger King. So there. That's one tick off the bucket list.

I had considered making a brief aside into the desirability of advancing towards the completion of one's bucket list (or, things to do before you kick the proverbial bucket), but the content seemed morbid no matter how tactfully I phrased it. I'll therefore say (optimistically) that my bucket list is an ever-expanding entity, and chasing its expansion will be my joie de vivre.

To return to Hamburg, let me Wikipedia it for you: 

This photo is not allowed. Shhh.

Hamburg is a city-state in the north of Germany, having some 1.8 million inhabitants in the city itself. To include the wider metropolitan region is to more than double this figure. Hamburg's port is the third largest in Europe and the eighth largest in the world, and is a highly important centre of shipping. Wikipedia will not tell you that there is a Burger King in the Hauptbahnof (central station) where it is verboten to photograph signs of hamburgers, no matter their cultural or religious significance to you as a person. A hamburger will cost you €1 (as of the time of this blog post), and how rewarding this experience is for you is an entirely personal matter.


Spitalerstraße

Proceeding west from the central station, you come upon Spitalerstraße, a main shopping strip. I set up here for about an hour and a half today, and was given the most generous reception of any town thus far.

Thank you so much to those that listened and bought a CD today :)

Unfortunately towards the end of my set I started to feel a sore throat coming along, which I am hoping will not worsen with time. Tomorrow will see me venture to Aarhus, Denmark for a few nights, where I hope to make the most of the Bryggedage festival taking place in Den Gamle By. I have, by the way, not the faintest idea how either of these names are pronounced. As a result, it should be a fascinating, and I anticipate having a serious ball :) Being sick would be a total downer in this regard.

So tomorrow: Denmark. However, I can't leave Hamburg without checking out the nightlife, which is on the cards for this evening.

So, as they say here in Northern Germany: Tschüß ! (seriously. that's how it's spelt) :)

Tim

Journey Thus Far

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Day 30 - Bountiful Busking in Berlin

My spot in Mauerpark

Welcome to Berlin, a city filled to the brim with history.

During my stay there I was able to get around on a free walking tour, guided by an Aussie tour guide named Theo. If ever you're in Berlin and want a fantastic overview of the major sites, peppered with funny anecdotes pertaining to their historical significance, I thoroughly recommend Brewer's Berlin Tours. Ask for Theo.

I could write on and on about how wonderfully rich I found Berlin to be, but I honestly don't know where to begin. Suffice it to say: It's worth a visit. Plus, drinks are very cheap. Big plus, considering the city's nightlife is the stuff of legend.

As far as busking goes, I set myself up in Mauerpark, a 17 acre strip of grass that once formed part of the death strip between the borders of East and West Berlin. Every Sunday, thousands of people flock to this park to relax and enjoy a wide range of free entertainment. Needless to say, a good place to busk.

Originally I had intended to set myself up in the markets immediately adjacent, as I thought that this was the main site of activity. It was only after I was unable to find a place in the market that I set myself up on the grass, next to a path that ran the length of the park. As it turns out, this was probably the best place I could have set myself up, and I played happily for most of the day to a cheerful crowd of passers-by, with a festival feeling in the air.

"The smile on your face..."

That's truly what the Mauerpark market is. It is a weekly festival. To name one of many attractions, there is what could possibly be the world's largest open-air karaoke. Here I stopped to listen to a guy belting out Ronan Keating's "When You Say Nothing At All", which the crowd of well over a thousand people received with much screaming and applause.

Wonderful.

It's even made me consider returning to Berlin on the occasional Sunday, just to be there again. Unfortunately, though, I think the weather will cause things to start calming down. I was very lucky with the weather on Sunday, it was beautiful.

So that's my Berlin experience in a small shell of a nut. At present I am based in Hamburg in Germany's north, relaxing while the weather worsens. If I get a clear spell I'll venture out into the streets of the city's centre. I'll let you know how that goes.

:)

Tim

Journey Thus Far

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Day 27 - High Holland

Bikes are such an awesome photographic subject

It was at about the time that I was arriving in Amsterdam that an integral piece of information made itself clear to me: in the Netherlands, they speak Dutch. I do not speak Dutch. As a result, I felt like a right arse approaching members of the public service and expecting them to go out of their way to speak my language.

What an arrogant anglophone, I am.

Fortunately, it seems that the near totality of the population of Amsterdam has a very good understanding of English. In fact, I heard English on the streets more often than I heard Dutch. Interestingly enough, the most common accent I heard was Australian.

Despite the linguistically accommodating nature of the Dutch, I was still required to try and pronounce the name of the street on which my youth hostel was located. Luckily it was on an easy-to-remember-roll-off-the-tongue street: Leidsekruitstraat.

It's not pronounced the way you'd think.

Moreover, for future reference, do not confuse this street with the street immediately adjacent to it named Leidsestraat. They are definitely not the same street.

In any case, though, I eventually made it to the hostel in one piece and took my baggage up the three flights of stairs to room number 15, where I installed myself and got comfortable. I met some awesome folks and went for a walk around the centre of the city (which is absolutely beautiful, by the way).

There are hundreds of bikes everywhere. You can't walk a few metres without hearing the ding of a bell behind you. Amsterdam is the first place I ever encountered bike-rage. If you don't believe that a man can be intimidating just by the insistent and aggressive ring-ring of his bicycle bell, I beg you to re-evaluate.

In a chain of stores called "Australian Ice Cream and Chocolate" you can buy delicious.. ice creams and chocolate. They have nothing to do with Australia, they don't even pretend to have anything to do with Australia. It doesn't matter, though, because they are delicious.

Under the bridge in Vondelpark

Unfortunately the weather for most of the days I was in Amsterdam restricted the profitability of my busking. I set myself up under the bridge in Vondelpark. Wonderful acoustics, but unfortunately the rain meant that not too many people were interested in going for a walk in the park. It was fun nonetheless, and I did get some generous donations.

All in all, a beautiful city.

The next stop on my trip is Berlin, where I am sitting now. A blog post to come (with photos) in the next few days :)

Tim

Journey Thus Far

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Day 20 - Some Rest in Paris

It's been a quiet weekend here in Paris, I will surely return to do some busking. For the moment I've been enjoying the beautiful weather and the comfort of a good book outdoors. 
 
Off to Amsterdam tomorrow, to acquire new stories. 

On a side note, I've resolved to never text while driving ever again. Saw an horrific accident yesterday after a man who wasn't concentrating entirely on the task at hand veered slightly off the road and into a lamp post, stopping the car dead and flipping it onto its roof. No matter how much you hear about it, it's still shocking to see.   

Thus, moral: don't do it. 

Tim

Journey Thus Far

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Day 16 - Lingering in Lyon

Corner Rue St. Jean, Place de la Baleine

Ever since arriving in this beautiful town, I've been stunned by how decidedly pretty everything is. From the streets, to the parks, to the girls. I've done a fair amount of exploring these past few days, discovering all the various corners of the centre of town.

For the Wikipedia enthused: Lyon is a town about 470km South-East of Paris, and is the capital of the region of Rhône-Alpes, with a population of a bit under 500,000. It's the second largest metropolitan area in France (after Paris) and is considered to be the culinary capital of France. Its butcheries are numerous and of notable quality, and the best ice-cream parlour is Chez Nardone, where you can enjoy all your favourite flavours, such as Violet and Nutchocoblanc, for an unsurprising price.

My favourite part of the town has definitely been the Vieux Lyon, the old quarter. Its narrow cobblestone streets are studded with the occasional ancient cathedral, as well as large squares with traditional french cafés and crêperies. I did a bit of busking in these streets, most notably under a lamp post beside the cathedral of St. Jean.

A close second would be Le Parc de la Tête d'Or (Park of the Golden Head), an enormous and beautiful park, with a large lake and plenty of green. Most underwhelming is their "zoological garden". 'Nuff said.

Parc de la Tête d'Or

It was in this park that I established myself today, beneath the shade of a large tree, beside a path leading to the park's tall golden gates. I played to an enthusiastic crowd of young children and parents, who stopped by to listen. Some stayed for a song others stayed for an hour. 

Un grand merci à ceux qui ont pris un CD :) Merci, et merci encore.

After having played my last song in the park, I stopped and sat briefly in silence, with a cool wind blowing on my face. It's difficult to describe the sensation that filled me at this point, to have had my music recognised and appreciated to such a degree by complete strangers, but also, just to fully comprehend the place in which I found myself sitting.

It was a great wave of serenity. It was as though life had led me up the mountain, up the long and tortorous path, only to show me the view. And I was surprised by how far I had come. I was surprised by the height of the mountain, by how far I could see into the distance.

I would be lying to say that I had achieved what I came here to do, but my path is but newly forged. I feel that today was an important milestone in this journey.

And so, as the motto of Lyon says, "Avant, avant": "Onward, onward".

Tim