Guten Tag, Rostock!: Lubeck and the Hamburg Zoo

This weekend we had quite the adventure. It was filled with marzipan, beer, no sleep, and cute animals.

I will begin our story with our visit to Lubeck…

Lubeck is a rather small city in Northern Germany that is surrounded by the Trave river. Beginning around 1200, Lubeck became a very popular international center for trade due to its abundant waterways.

Trave River

The Streets of Lubeck

The Holstentor is Lubeck’s most famous landmark. It was built in 1478 as a system of defenses and also served as a symbol of being a “free imperial city”

Holstentor

After seeing the Holstentor, we ventured to Niederegger, Lubeck’s famous marzipan shop and café. There I got marzipan hot chocolate, and a slice of delicious marzipan cake.

Marzipan Hot Chocolate

Marzipan Cake

The shop was filled with pastries, chocolates, marzipan bars and figurines. I bought quite a variety of treats.

Truffles

Goodies: Marzipan tea, seals, pigs, and starfish

Our next stop was the Lubeck Cathedral, which was originally built in 1173, and was reconstructed after a bombing in World War II.

Outside of Lubeck Cathedral

Stained Glass

Crypt

Behind the cathedral was the Museum fur Natur und Umwelt.

Museum fur Natur und Umwelt

Outside, was a statue of a seal, which I of course had to take a picture with.

Also outside was a beautiful garden filled with butterflies

Small Tortoiseshell Butterfly

Inside the museum was an exhibit of fossilized whale skeletons – my favorite!

Fossilized Baleen Whale

Me and the Whales!

In St. Petri church, we were able to go up to the top of the tower and see a 360 degree view of Lubeck.

After we had seen most of Lubeck, we trekked to Hamburg, and went out partying that night. We went to the Reeperbahn, a street in the St. Pauli district of Hamburg famous for its nightlife, bars, clubs and sex shops. I didn’t bring my camera out with me at night, so here is a picture of the Reeperbahn I found on the internet so you get the idea:

We had plenty of beer, made new friends, ate Turkish food, and heard the song “Wonderwall” about 200 times (Germans LOVE that song). Long story short, we didn’t end up back at our hotel until 7:30 AM.

After only a couple hours of sleep, we chugged some coffee and made our way to the Hamburg Zoo. Exhausted and half asleep, we were still able to enjoy the animals and the beautiful weather.