Greg and I were up early yesterday...I am not sure how I pulled it off. He slept quite well, but my first night here was great for the first 4 hours, followed by a few hours of wiggly, hot, uncomfortable insomnia. Apparently the air conditioning has been turned off in the building and upon reading reviews of the motel, it doesn't sound like it was overly engaged even during the warmer summer days. Raphael, a young engineer Greg works with through Opel, told me later that the Germans do not like the cold, cold A.C. that places in the U.S. employ. So, they just let the interior spaces acclimate to whatever is going on outside, within certain parameters. So, it may be a little warm at times (like my first night in the motel), or a little stuffy at times, but the climate here in Hamburg is generally cooler so it moderates and is bearable. I managed to nod of for a couple more hours before he got up and I quickly threw some clothes on to join him for breakfast.
This water element welcomes you to the Blomen und Planten gardens!
Here is a phenomenal rose/perennial/scrub garden. You can see mulitple trellises. 
I happened to be there at 4:00 when this beautiful fountain show was on. I have video of it, if I can figure out how to post it in Blogger.
I also wanted to give you a sampling of the beauty of the groceries. They are right in town, on streets in storefronts. They are very clean, very beautiful. No shopping carts and people buy smaller amounts since they are generally on foot, bike or public transit. German wursts above...
...more variety of wursts above. 
The chocolate counter!
This is the beautiful tiled floor in the specialty department at the grocer. Of course, they have all kinds of cheeses, beers and wine, teas, coffee, breads, etc. But it is all pretty compact too. Not as large as Whole Foods in US, but rivals the quality. 
I found my way back to the motel around 7 and learned I was to join Greg and his co-workers for dinner at 8:00. We taxied to a very nice restaurant and since their English was very excellent, we had interesting conversation. Our party included Raphael, a German young man from Heidelberg who in 2012 fulfilled a childhood dream of motorcycling on a Harley from Reno, NV to CA, to AZ. He was in Bakersfield and has strong memories of the heat!
He now resides in Frankfurt. Michael is from France, and Reich is the third of the Germans. He too has traveled in the U.S. Dave was the 6th in our group who is also from Michigan and works with Greg.
We walked the few miles back to the Crowne Plaza after dinner and the city was still alive... the movement of the people walking, running, .... buses, trains, subways, fireworks.....you would not have known it was midnight when we arrived back at the motel.
Love you all-
The Crown Plaza has an exquisite breakfast. Pickled herring is not usually on my morning thoughts, but with a little Brie' and brotchen (German morning buns), it only seems right. I have to say, I'd forgotten how wonderful the fresh brotchen here are. Not even Zingerman's in Ann Arbor replicate the tender tough crust and the light, soft centers of this bread. It makes me understand why my Aunt Joann took to smuggling one or two out in her napkin and into her purse. I'll have to try to carry my backpack to breakfast. The teas are self brewed from a lineup of 8-10 loose teas from camomile to the dark black teas, to the African red teas.
After Greg left yesterday, I decided to get right at it and walked around Lake Alster. As soon as I stepped outside the motel, I was swept into the constant motion of the city. Bikes are breezing past, walkers, commuters, runners, moms pushing prams, people of all ages are on the streets. Some swift, some sauntering, but they all seem to know what I catch onto quickly...traffic moves and you have a lane.
This photo shows one of several things I think they have done well in this city to keep people involved and active in the city life. The sidewalks are paved with a different material to designate the bike lane. They make it clear on just about every main road or path where the bikers are to be, where the bikes are allowed and where the pedestrian should be.
I also rented a bike in the afternoon. I was able to go much further faster. It also meant I was able to get lost faster. The streets here do not run at all parallel and they converge on one another like webs. The names, like Gurlittestrasse, just don't easily stick in my mind and I can't reorient myself to whether a right turn on the next street would take me north or south. My ipad was a lifesaver with the maps app for some reason working to show me where I was located. I at least could figure out whether I was getting closer or moving away from my destination.
I bought a coffee and found that my account that is accessed on my phone in the U.S. at Starbucks does not work in Germany at Starbucks!
I also found a fantastic park called Planten and Blomen. This is another wonderful thing they have done in the city of Hamburg. It is a very large garden/park with a botanical garden in the midst of it. Everywhere is landscaped and those clever Germans have done some wonderful things to make it enjoyable for the people. There were several water games which I will post photos of later. There is a lake and at 4:30 every day, there is a fabulous fountain show and people of all ages gather to watch. There are coffee/food stands throughout the park to encourage people to sit and visit and refresh. Certain gardens have adirondack type chairs and I sat down and rested and read a book for a while as older people, moms pushing prams, bikers, friends and lovers all strolled through the gardens. It was wonderful.
I bought a coffee and found that my account that is accessed on my phone in the U.S. at Starbucks does not work in Germany at Starbucks!
I also found a fantastic park called Planten and Blomen. This is another wonderful thing they have done in the city of Hamburg. It is a very large garden/park with a botanical garden in the midst of it. Everywhere is landscaped and those clever Germans have done some wonderful things to make it enjoyable for the people. There were several water games which I will post photos of later. There is a lake and at 4:30 every day, there is a fabulous fountain show and people of all ages gather to watch. There are coffee/food stands throughout the park to encourage people to sit and visit and refresh. Certain gardens have adirondack type chairs and I sat down and rested and read a book for a while as older people, moms pushing prams, bikers, friends and lovers all strolled through the gardens. It was wonderful.
Above is a water game the park hosts. There are rotating water guns attached to each corner and 4 players can play a game of water soccer. You can see one team is about to score the ball in the net.
Two views of another popular water game the park hosts. You can see the players spraying their tethered balls to try to make a basket...
This was a pretty use of perrenials, grasses and edibles (kales and chard).
Pickled fish are popular here. Of course, Hamburg is the third largest port city in the world (following Paris and New York) and there is a lot of fishing out of the North Sea. The Elbe flows into the North Sea through Hamburg. Here are pickled herring, perch, etc.
One final picture for today. Karyn, these were some small succulant products they had vased up to sell. You can see the price on the ones on the right ....selling for 11;60 euro (exchange rate about 1.37 dollar/euro right now) and the middle ones 14.85 (so about $20) and the left, 15.55. Just ideas to see what other places do.
I found my way back to the motel around 7 and learned I was to join Greg and his co-workers for dinner at 8:00. We taxied to a very nice restaurant and since their English was very excellent, we had interesting conversation. Our party included Raphael, a German young man from Heidelberg who in 2012 fulfilled a childhood dream of motorcycling on a Harley from Reno, NV to CA, to AZ. He was in Bakersfield and has strong memories of the heat!
He now resides in Frankfurt. Michael is from France, and Reich is the third of the Germans. He too has traveled in the U.S. Dave was the 6th in our group who is also from Michigan and works with Greg.
We walked the few miles back to the Crowne Plaza after dinner and the city was still alive... the movement of the people walking, running, .... buses, trains, subways, fireworks.....you would not have known it was midnight when we arrived back at the motel.
Love you all-
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