Hamburg, 30-31.5.2025: Birthday Parties and Alster Bells

I’m writing this on 1 June in W. and K.’s flat, as rain pelts down outside. It began suddenly a few moments ago shortly before noon, and is very welcome, since it will cool things down and also because Hamburg, like so much of Europe, had a very dry spring. 

Hamburg, 29.05.2025: Disappearing Rings and Licorice Shops

Hamburg's Elbphilharmonie concert hall, kleiner Saal

Yesterday (writing this on the 30th) was for the most part a rest day. My sore throat and cough continue, and since we knew we’d go in the evening to a concert at the Elbphilharmonie concert hall, we all thought it was best for me to rest. There were plans for W. and K.’s friends V. and V. to come for the midday meal, with W. and K. cooking the asparagus we had bought at the Winterhude market the day before. 

Hamburg, 28.05.2025: Strawberries and Shiatsu

Apples from the Altes Land

With my bad sore throat, I took things easy today. Just before noon, W. walked us over to the Wednesday market in the Winterhuder Marktplatz. This was such a treat, a real feast for the senses: bakery stands, meat stands, egg booths, cheese vendors, flower stalls, gorgeous fruit and fat, fat white and green asparagus. W.’s main objective was to buy asparagus, which he and K. will make tomorrow for us and for W.’s longtime friend V. and his wife also named V. 

Hamburg and Berlin, 27.05.2025: Cupcakes and Wine, Palaces and Parks

Dammtor station, Hamburg 

A long day yesterday, but a generally very enjoyable one (I’m writing this on the 28th). Early in the day, we took the train from Hamburg to Berlin. It was scheduled to depart from Dammtor station (of which I took some photos; the architecture of Ernst Moeller, who designed the station in 1903, is impressive) at 9:28 but actually left Hamburg later. In typical German fashion, everything is calibrated by a clock which announces (via a computerized screen at the platform where you’re waiting) the exact moment a train is scheduled to arrive and then depart. Voice announcements routinely told us this information, adding that there was a “medical emergency” on our line (our friend W. thought this was likely a suicide) that was responsible for the delay, and then for an alternative route we ended up taking.

Hamburg, 26.05.2025: Pelting Rain and Stifling Duvets

Blankenese view

I slept badly last night, in contrast to the night before. I don’t think I’ll ever accustom myself to the German custom of sleeping with a heavy duvet covering even in the heat of summer. It’s not at all cold right now, somewhere — in the mid-60sF — but people continue to have heat on in their houses and other buildings continue running heat. And when we walked to the park yesterday and again walked outside this morning, W. and K. insisted we bundle up and have neck scarves against the cold. Everyone we encountered was dressed that way. 

Hamburg, 25.05.2025: Eurasian Blackbirds and Grand Sud Merlot

Georg Kolbe, Große Kriechende, Hamburg Stadtpark

We were so worn out from the long travel and the fuss and botheration with the flight that we slept till 10:45 A.M. After a bit of breakfast in W. and K.’s kitchen, the four of us waited for his sister H., who had been invited for the midday meal. 

Hamburg, 24.05.2025: Missed Flights and Würst with Potato Salad

We arrived in Hamburg on the 24th totally worn out after a nightmare in the Atlanta airport. Our flight from Atlanta to Amsterdam on the 23rd took off five hours late, causing us to miss our connecting flight to Hamburg. I wrote about this debacle on Facebook: