First Step In Germany

Arrived in Hamburg Airport after slightly more than 13 hours flight plus a 4 hours of waiting time at Dubai International Airport. Andreas was there to pick me up at the airport and he told me that I can expect only wet weather in Hamburg and it's surrounding areas. We left the airport and Andreas's house is about 40mins drive from the airport in Reinbek. It's a very small town. Basically it's all green surrounding the area. We stopped over the bakery to get some cakes for tea before reaching his home. You can't imagine how quiet his home is. All I can hear are neighbours closing their doors or going out to work. Otherwise, it's just plain quiet.

Andreas's home

The next day, we drove to his hometown in Lübeck, one of the World Heritage Sites. The city centre is basically like a small island surrounded by Trave River. Also, once upon a time it can only be entered through one of four gates, with only two remaining now. One of them is Holstentor (pic below)

Holstentor

The world famous Niederegger Cafe

 

  Mazipan in pork knuckle form - don't think of something else!

Image of Lübeck city

Andreas mum's house in Lübeck

Andreas and mum with their plum tree

Did 2 training runs here already with Andreas. The first one was done around his home, both on trails and asphalt.

Andreas showing me the way thru the trails

My first run in Germany

 My second run was with Andreas club, Barsbütteler SV, consisting of mostly senior runners, but most of them has very good track record. Some even ran 2:40s in marathon in their younger days. Andreas himself is a sub-3 hour runner, which he did it in Berlin.

 Barsbütteler SV

So what kind of meals am I having here? In Malaysia, we always say this when we have no money, "Makan roti loh". Well, basically these are daily meals for Germans. in general. They eat so much bread here! Of course, what you put on your bread is a different matter. Salmon, salami, wurst, butter, cheese, etc. Black bread and Brötchen are their normal meals.

Brötchen with a German beer, Wernesgrüner

Fast food (Sausages!!) - Onkle Curry

And of course, what is Germany without going through it's well-known "No Speed Limit" Autobahn. This is the "derestriction" sign...

This is well over 200km/h. But there are certain sections where speed limits are imposed. So, no we didn't go through the whole journey with 200km/h.....

So far I've been to city near Reinbek such as Bergedorf and Lüneburg. The buildings in Lüneburg town is just amazing.

Town Hall, Lüneburg

View from Water Tower Lüneburg...

 

We then proceed to Scharnebeck near to Lüneburg to witness ship lifting. This is a twin ship lift. Boats are basically lift right up from the ground (water) and ship it to the other side of the river. One of the marvels of engineering.

Ships being lifted up

Ships realeased on top