Deutschland, Deutshland...

First of all, I was wrong in my last post: it should be Frohe Ostern rather than Frohliche Ostern. Oh well. As you've no doubt figured out from the fact that I'm posting here, I've returned from my tour of Germany. It was a great trip: not only did I learn the correct phrasing for "Happy Easter," I now know how to say "lobster" in German. That and I got to see centuries worth of history and to spend time with good friends, both of which are worth something too. I guess.
I started off in Berlin, which was a completely new experience. It's certainly a unique place, if for no other reason than it was pretty effectively flattened in the war and then carved up into two halves for most of the rest of the 20th Century. All that makes it a somewhat disconcerting city, though I would never discourage anyone from going there. Far from it. If you like museums, there's probably no better city in Europe for you. I'll try not to get too travel-guide with this, but if you ever do go, don't miss the Pergamon Museum. Not only do they have entire Greek and Roman temples, they have most of Babylon there too (no, really, they do; it's amazing). The fact that there are so many museums in Berlin turned out to be a very good thing, as the weather was fairly dismal for most of the trip. Still, I made the requisite tourist rounds: the Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag, the course of the Berlin Wall, etc. It was a ridiculously hectic day and a half, but it was time well-spent.
Berlin was fun, but from there I headed up to Hamburg to stay with my friend Christian and his family. Actually, they live outside of Hamburg in the town of Glinde where, according to Christian, nothing has ever happened. Still, it's a nice place to wander around, and only a few minutes of walking will take you out into the woods and farms on the edge of the town, which is always a nice way to unwind. Another advantage of staying with Christian's family was the delicious food and, thanks to his dad, wine. Having Easter with them was great fun.
From Glinde, we made a few day trips to the surrounding region, the former Danish province of Schleswig-Holstein. We spent one day up in the town of Schleswig, which was once the site of the Viking city of Hedeby (or Haithabu if you prefer the German spelling - I'm a fan of the Scandinavian myself). It's one of the oldest cities in Northern Europe, and is considered to be the oldest Scandinavian city in the world. It was also the main Viking trading center, so it was hugely important way, way back in the day. Schleswig is still a great place: they have a disproportionately large cathedral, a nice old palace-cum-museum, and it sits right at the end of a long fjord. If you ever get the chance, don't pass up a visit.
The next day (and the only really good day weather-wise all trip) Christian and I trundled up to Lübeck, the city which supplanted Schleswig as the trading hub of the Baltic (the chronological order was completely unintentional). It also is gorgeous, but more because of its old buildings than its location. The city is built on an island surrounded by the River Trave, and it's just littered with impossibly picturesque old brick buildings. Since it was so important and rich, it has far more than it's share of churches, and the skyline is punctuated by copper spire after copper spire. We had currywurst for lunch, a German invention that is exactly what is sounds like: a curry sausage. It's surprisingly good. We finished off the day with a boat trip around the city, as well as a climb up one of the church spires. Again, if you ever get an opportunity, you really should go to Lübeck.
I wound down my trip with a few days in Hamburg. Hamburg is the only city in continental Europe that I've been to twice. Of course, the obvious reason for this is that Christian lives near it. That said, I think I'd go back again and again even if I didn't know anyone there. I'd be hard pressed to say exactly what it is I like about Hamburg, but I really do enjoy it. A big part of it has to do with the harbor: it's the second biggest in Europe and one of the largest in the world, and it's been around pretty much as long as the city has. It's brought in a huge amount if money to the city over the centuries, and for pretty much all its history Hamburg has been run by rich merchants rather than by a king. As such, it's bursting at the seams with wealth and civic pride. Because of a huge fire in the 19th Century and heavy bombing in the war, there are few really old buildings in Hamburg, and yet it's a really nice looking city. The Binnenalster, a small lake that effectively doubles as the city's main square, is one of the nicest urban areas I've seen in Europe. Despite the fact that Hamburg is huge, its skyline is still dominated by church spires rather than skyscrapers. Those somewhat random firings of the brain are a few of my thoughts on the city. Again, I don't know why exactly I like Hamburg so much. But I do. It's one of those cases in which the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, I suppose. Hopefully, the same can be said of this post...