Shortly after 2019 rolled in, Familie Haase came to visit us for the weekend, because they had gotten tickets for the Aladdin musical here in Hamburg. They drive over once or twice a year for such shows, which I find pretty neat. This time, since the show was on Sunday morning, it made sense for them to stay with us.
They took their time getting here and we didn't actually have loads of time together; it was all very laid-back. We had wanted to show them a bunch of stuff, since they've been to Hamburg however many times (like for the day we got married, for example!) but haven't really been around Hamburg, seen or experienced a lot of it.
Between the short timeframe and the cold, windy weather, though, we didn't end up doing all that much. Either way, it was a really nice time. The highlight was treating them to our new favourite Korean place for dinner, and introducing them to that wonderful food universe we both love so much for the first time. What says "friendship" like sharing food and beloved food traditions, except for maybe helping someone get rid of a body? That's right: nothing.
They came bearing lovely gifts, which turned out to be mostly from Hannes' mom: two interesting new vodkas, this bouquet of tulips, and a super cute Rostock tin full of home-baked allergy retard mini cookies!
One option for sightseeing while simultaneously escaping or taking shelter from the harsh weather this city is so well-known for is going underground, or rather underwater, to walk through the Old Elbe Tunnel and marvel at its Art Deco details, as well as the fact that a lot of people actually still use it to commute every day.
Lars took me and Hannes to do this and see the view on the other side the very first time we visited Hamburg together.
"As your queen I shall now avail myself of your scrolls, coin, and lions. Thank you."
For some reason she really liked and was excited about the crab tiles lol
The view of the skyline from the other side is worth it, even in inclement weather.
There's also a stand that sells hot drinks and stuff.
Don't worry, that one's non-alcoholic.
From there we walked by the City Hall, or Rathaus, which is still very funny to me, on our way to the restaurant. I had made a point of also walking through the courtyard in the middle and talking about the architecture and the purpose of the fountain there, but seeing as how it was that time of year where it's already pitch dark at like 4 in the afternoon, everything was off and you could hardly see the walls and statues right in front of you.
Still scenic and nice, either way.
Dramatic child is dramatic
... welp, more hot drinks, then!
Seoul1988 has this adorable tiny Game Box arcade machines, and Nico had to try to show Hanna how Tetris works. She had never seen it before and did not get it. This completely blew me away. Andrea said, well, she's only eight.. but I wasn't blaming her for being clueless! I was like, don't you see?! We're old! (ノ╬⓪益⓪)ノ
Somewhat to my astonishment, they didn't hate makgeolli!
(Hannes' two former coworkers don't, either!)
We ordered e v e r y t h i n g.
Seafood pajeon, ddeokbokki, mandu, and that in the foreground there is my kimchijjigae, which was really disappointing. They basically made it in barely-spicy saurkraut soup for the Germans and it was almost insufferably tangy. Oh well. Out of the three vegetarian versions of their jjigaes I've tried, sundubu is the only winner.
.. oh and also fried chicken! Ahhh!
Hanna tried a bunch of stuff and even did her best to use chopsticks, saying herself that she ought to if that was how Korean people ate. The only thing she really didn't like were the simple bean sprouts in a bit of sesame oil that I fed her. Oops. What a sport, though!
I totally love this.
Naturally, we also saw them off with a big hearty Sunday breakfast of scrambled eggs, potato cakes, two kinds of croissants, et cetera. It was a nice weekend, and it was nice to be the ones feeding them for a change!
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