Day One

Today, the 8^th of May saw us arriving at Gymnasium Eppendorf after an extremely refreshing night’s sleep. We all assembled at the main hall and were treated to a lovely performance of Chopin by one of the students. Then the principal greeted us, after which each of us were given a badge with the “tigle”-the symbol of the exchange- printed on it.

After the welcome ceremony, the students of Eppendorf took us on a tour of their school. Eppendorf is a beautiful school, and to me, the best part was the cafeteria in which I think we all had one of the best brunches we have ever eaten. We also happened to meet two students who took part in last year’s exchange- both of them were really jealous of us and only reinforced our excitement about the exchange by talking about how much they missed it.

We left Eppendorf at around 11.00 to go to one of the biggest attractions in Hamburg, the St. Michaelis Church which is affectionately called “Michel”. It took us about fifteen minutes to get there, as we both walked and took the metro. The church is known for it’s green top, and can clearly be seen in the Hamburg skyline. It was established in the 18^th century, and still stands after being burned down twice and damaged in the Second World War.

We climbed the 427 steps to the top of the church tower-one of the hardest things I have ever done-to have our breath taken by the absolutely amazing view. The roof being so high up, we could see the whole of Hamburg, and we stayed there for more than half and hour enjoying the city move beneath us.

 

Climbing down the stairs was far easier than going up. We went into the main church, and the immediate peace paired with the organ playing made us all walk up and just sit in silence. The inside of the church was so beautiful, and the paintings of statues of Christ and Mother Mary and all the various angels were incredibly crafted.

We left the Michel, and walked and took the metro down to the harbour. Hamburg is the world’s third largest port, and this fact was proudly put on display thanks to the busy water traffic coupled with the number of people walking around. We walked for quite a while and waited for our boat to come. When it did, we had a long tour and saw all the major Hamburg landmarks, all while still on the water. Hamburg has more bridges than Venice, and we saw just how prominent Hamburg is as a city associated with water on our tour.

After the tour we went to the “Miniaturwunderland” which stands as one of the most amazing things I have seen. The whole place is like a city, filled with miniature people, trains, etc. Built over two stories, this lace was like the whole world in miniature. It was marvelous- we saw castles, concerts, snow, mountains, forests, airports, everything in miniature. Some extra touches by the artists like adding a tiny Superman and some dinosaurs chasing humans were appreciated by all. It’s both shocking and inspiring to think that someone would dedicate their whole life to creating millions of miniature people, each different, and building hundreds of miniature trains and putting it all together to create what really is a wonderland.

We were left to our own devices from this point, and some of us decided to go out for dinner. We took the metro and walked down to get some pizza, doner (a special type of food which resembles a too large sandwich) and falafel after which we went to a park and ate there. We spent some more time in the park, watching people go by and generally having fun. After the park we walked some more to another part of town which was spray painted entirely in graffiti, something not at all common in Hyderabad. After this, at around 7.45, we decided to go our own ways and we took the metro/underground train to go back home.

And now, as I write this, I think I can safely say that we have had pretty much the most perfect first day here in Hamburg.