Exploring Northern Germany

Our first stop in Germany was a small town called Elmshorn where Christopher’s aunt Tanya lives. She is married with five kids, Basti, Fabi, Becky, Cedi and Sammy. They were so much fun and all spoke very good English. My German started to come back to me a little, but they made it too easy because they always spoke English to us. We played lots of fun games like “Nimmt 6” (Take 6), Monopoly Deal and Phase 10. Our first European experience was in Hamburg. Despite the rain, we still had a fun day. We went in the church, St. Michael and up into the bell tower. It was a beautiful view and we could see the Elbe River, several churches and beautiful architecture of the houses and city below. We also saw a small street where a few scenes from Harry Potter were filmed.

All through the day, uncle Rainer explained things to use about buildings and different areas in Hamburg. It made everything very interesting. For example we saw a place where people would stand and wave goodbye to their families forever when they immigrated to America and left by boat. Then we also saw a tunnel where cars can drive and then there is an elevator which takes them up. They would do this to cross the Elbe river before the new tunnels were built.

Then we went to the “Miniatur Wonderland.” I wasn’t sure what to expect and to be honest I can’ t really describe it. There was so much detail, it was amazing! We got a behind the scenes tour of how everything worked and got to look at things differently than everyone else. They had models of many towns in Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, Austria, the Netherlands and even America! It’s interesting that they chose to portray Florida, Vegas, Arizona and South Dakota – not California or New York. I loved the little trains, boats, rocket ship, movie theater, soccer stadium, hot air balloons and the best part… the chocolate factory! Even though it was miniature, it actually gave out bite-size chocolate bars!

The next day in Elmshorn, we took a trip to an island called Sylt. It was a 3-hour train ride to the North Sea. It was fun because we played Phase 10 and it basically took the whole train ride to play one game. The views were spectacular! We saw a lot of the German countryside. It’s interesting because the only way to get to Sylt is by boat or train, so when we were riding there was water to the left and the right of the train tracks. Once we arrived, we explored the city and it was a cute little town with lots of shops and these crazy green statues that are slanted. They are a well-known landmark of Sylt.

The beach was a little windy but beautiful! We were glad the weather cleared up and it was really sunny. We all put our feet in the water, but Becky and I went in up to our legs to feel the waves. We also found some seashells and snuggled in the beach baskets. They were actually free! I’ve never seen this before. Later, we enjoyed some ice cream and “fish bread,” a popular food from Northern Germany. I loved it!

We were so spoiled the whole time because Aunt Tanya prepared delicious meals for us and Becky let us sleep in her bed. The one thing we wished is that the kids didn’t have to go to school so we could have spent more time with them. Maybe we can go back and visit after our internship in September and stay during the weekend :)