On Saturday Ryan and I said goodbye to Cologne and headed off on the train to Hamburg. Hamburg was not on our originally list of places to visit, but on the suggestion of others, we found ourselves heading to the second largest city in Germany and wow, are we ever glad we did. Hamburg is such a unique city and pretty much lives by its own rules. For one, Hamburg has never had a king and has always been run by the merchants who have kept the trading centre alive. Hamburg's port is the 3rd largest in Germany and 9th in the world. Ryan and I would never have known all of this if it wasn't for our personal tour guide, Dennis.

Dennis is our 5th CS host and is like a real life Peter Griffin...only a lot smarter. He is so knowledgeable about German culture, history, and the city he lives in. When Ryan and I arrived, I said there was one thing in Hamburg I wanted to experience and that was the Sunday morning Fish Market which takes places from 5:00-9:00am. This is where our adventure began. Dennis explained that there were two ways to experience the fish market.

1. The Lame Way - Go to bed early, wake up before the sunrise and head town to the river for 5:00am

2. The Hamburg Way - Spend a night out partying on the Reeperbahn and then stumble to the fish market at 5:00 with all of the other night owls to get fish sandwich breakfast

Guess which way we choose?

So, the decision was made that we would experience the true Hamburg nightlife but Dennis wouldn't let us stop there. We had a beautiful day of sunshine awaiting us and the best tour guide of the city. Dennis took us on a ferry down the Elbe where you could see the shipping yard and million dollar condos that lined the water's edge. He then took us to see the old storage houses and trading building in the city centre. It was then back home for dinner and a few hours of sleep. We left the house at 11:30pm and headed to the Reeperbahn, the 2nd largest Red Light District in Europe next only to Amsterdam. It was insane...lights, people, and sex shops everywhere! I couldn't even fathom how many bars and clubs lined the streets. Thank goodness for Dennis, a fellow Dropkick Murphy's fan, who knew which bars had the best music and drinks. The first stop had live music, an old school punk/rock band whom instead of playing on a stage, rocked out on top of the bar (mainly because this was the only space left). We stayed here while Ryan and Dennis enjoyed quite a few Astra's (the Hamburg beer). The only problem was that smoking was allowed in the bar which was quite disgusting. Smoking inside was a Hamburg exception that is allowed on the Reeperbahn but nowhere else.

After this bar, we went down another street to the former location of the Star Club where the Beetles played before their fame struck. It was tucked in behind another bar and once again, Dennis knew where to find it. We then hit up an Irish Pub which in Hamburg, is anything that serves Irish beer...the music wasn't my cup of tea. This club was also right next to Safari, the last strip club with a licence to show live sex on stage....weird! We weren't here long before heading to the next stop...another bar with live music. The music here brought on memories of home. First came Gun's n Rose's, then AC/DC, and finally Beastie Boys (all I could picture was the McGugan boys playing on that old video I used to watch....Fight for your right....to partttyyyy!

Our next stop was probably the most unique. It was a heavy metal bar called Night Time in Hamburg. It has good music and cheap drinks but that was not the reason we stayed so long. We found a spot with a window seat which overlooked Herbertstraße, a side street of Davidstraße where prostitutes sit behind windows, waiting. Herbertstraße has a closed gate where only men can enter but there are several prostitutes lurking around the door and all along Davidstraße. You could always pick them out by the fanny pack they sported...not the most classy but whatever. So, it was here we sat watching the entertainment on the street....disturbing but interesting at the same time. Ryan finally did venture out and cross the barrier to Herbertstraße by himself. He came back wide-eyed but didn't say much about it other than it was weird.

Another interesting tidbit about the Reeperbahn is that it is entirely controlled by the Hell's Angels. The police here are also unique in that they all sport black leather jackets and look pretty bad-ass themselves.

So, I should probably mention that there is no last call on the Reeperbahn. Bars and clubs remain open all night and may only close for 1 hour in the morning for cleaning (something else unique to Hamburg). It was around 4:30 when we left Night Time and so we hit up one more bar before heading to the pier. Ryan was done by this point but Dennis pounded back another one. Finally, 5:00 hit and we were ready for the Fishmarkt. When we arrived at the waterfront, you never would have known that it was 5:00am. The place was buzzing...mainly with people like us whom have spend an entire night partying. There was even a live band playing. The MUST DO thing here was get a fish sandwich...basically, I giant fillet of fresh fish slapped onto a too-small bun with some onions on top. Dad-you would not have been able to handle it. I have never tasted anything so fishy before in my life and could barely stomach it myself. Ryan on the other hand ate 3....perhaps you really do have to be drunk to enjoy this tradition. Afterwards, I had to get a traditional Hamburg dessert, a Franzbrötchen, to get the taste out of my mouth. It was basically a giant flattened cinnamon bun.

After Ryan and Dennis had filled their stomach with beer and fish, we hopped back on the train and headed home. We all slept most of the day only awaking for dinner. Ryan and I were in charge of this meal and we made BELT (bacon, egg, lettuce, tomato) sandwiches. This was a first for Dennis so it was cool to be able to share this Canadian breakfast.