Hamburg Diaries: English Language, art, and some! (Part two)

First off, there is no excuse for not telling this story before now. I’ve had a crazy couple of weeks, and by now you should know I am in Abuja, Nigeria. Went to Lagos for a bit (that’s the story about the singing pilot), and I’ve got at least one trip there more before I leave.

For now though, let’s backtrack to the middle of February and attempt to pick up from where I stopped in this first one. So I was to lead a session on ‘Political campaigning and reporting: Quick click no engagement’, and on the panel were amazing people drawn from different yet relevant fields, ‘grandfathers in the industry’ if you like. Was such a privilege!

I can’t get over the official at Immigration calling someone on the phone to ‘verify/confirm’ my visa which I got in England but let’s just call that incredible and move on.

I got into Hamburg, and not only did I immediately regret not learning a word of German before I set out, it amuses me that I asked the Immigration official “what’s the name of this airport please”? He smiled and said, “Hamburg Airport”, and I imagined what I would have said/the look I would have had on my face if someone had asked me that silly question. SMH at you FGS, what else could it have been called? Lagos Airport?

Anyway, got a taxi to my lodgings, Superbude St Georg, a hostel type, bed and breakfast set up. Really lovely! And the art in the lounge was amazing! Dang!

By the way, the cabbie from the airport ride was/is a crook. The fare came to €23.20 and I gave him €50.  He asked if I wanted a receipt, I said yes and so he wrote one for €25 and gave me €25 change. When I complained that the meter read something lower he said something about me claiming it back anyway and drove off. Crook.

Back to St Georg, I slept, Skyped my folks and loved ones to let them know I got in ok, and then it was time to explore!

My room was on the fifth floor, and I immediately purposed in my heart that I would use the stairs the entire time I was there to keep my #Fitfam business going. And I did!

First off I needed to find a sim, and I was particularly interested in something with a data plan because I wanted to be able to use BBM, check my mails on the go, and Instagram too (he he he).

After walking about for a bit, I ended up in a relatively large shopping mall called Reål, housing things like Mc Donalds (and other eateries), a laundromat, a recycling center for bottles (really cool stuff), Tmobile (and co), a department store, those kinds of things.

Let’s do a few pictures here shall we?

I liked the odd shapes of these perfume bottles… I actually arranged them like this to take this picture!

Take away pack… lol…

Too many people smoking!!! Sheesh!!! Look at that hand dropping a stub even as I was taking that photo!

Ah ha!! This is the SIM I settled for…

Alcohol for the man dem! SMH… This one still has the barley inside sef…

Recycling machine for bottles – really cool. Someone explained to me but I’m not sure if I understood them well. Apparently, you get some money according to the amount of recycling you do. It’s not a whole lot, but it’s something.

 

I bought a sausage roll, vanilla pudding (yum), fruits, and some water for my room, and soon as I saw that the chocolates were cheaper (and it wasn’t just about the exchange rate), I got some too. Got out of the supermarket and it occurred to me that I wasn’t sure of the way home!

Then I saw the Siemens and IBM buildings (became very important landmarks for me), and I found my way home!

The evening, and the morning, the first day!