High highs and low lows
Day 18 -
Waking up today after a good night sleep was needed. A little worried though because it seems like people in my hostel are fighting off some illness. Everyone is hacking up a lung but its the ongoing hostel flu i guess. Crossing my fingers i avoid it.
Today I woke up and walked to Hauptkirche St. Michaelis, built on site of previous church 1648-73, destroyed by lightning in 1750. Reconstruction 1751 -62, tower 1777-86. Architects ]. L. Preyand E. G. Sonnin. Burnt out in 1906. Rebuilt in new design 1907-12 by J. Faulwasser. A Hamburg landmark. Here I walked around the beautiful church then adventured down into the crypts and up the huge tower!
After that I headed to Hamburgische Geschichte (Hamburg History Museum) which due to my poor planning was closed. I then quickly changed my plans and walked through Große Wallanlagen (a State Park) to get to Feldstraßenbunker (A complex of Flak towers and bunkers, built to defend Hamburg from allied air raids in WWII). They were doing a ton of construction on it and it was kinda just in the middle of a parking lot so i didnt stay long. I continued my walk to Planten un Blomen (another State Park with themed gardens, a lake & a Japanese Tea House). On my way there though, i accidentally started walking through the Hamburg Prison Campus. I quick figured that one out when I started seeing barbwire and sped walked out of the area hahaha
After my morning wondering around I headed to a coffee shop to relax for a while before meeting up with Danny, Natalie and Natty at City Hall. From there we headed out to find a place for dinner and drinks. One drink turned into many and next you know were at my hostel bar having a few beers with my bunkmates Daniel (from Ecuador) and Timo (from Switzerland). We all had a few laughs and drinks together then tucked ourselves into bed around 1:30am.
Day 19 -
Honestly, I am hungover as can be this morning. Thats what i get for drinking beer, jäger, tequila and an espresso martini. My stomach probably looks likes death. I let myself wallow in my bed for a little bit before getting up, getting dressed and trying to get my day started.
I walked out the front of my hostel door to a pile of human poop and was like great so this is how today is going to go. It was dreary, pouring rain but needed to try and tell myself i wasn’t hungover. I walked to the train station and bought myself a water and sprite (sprite is my go to hangover cure) and then walked around the city with no real agenda. I ended up sitting in the European Passage their version of a mall and questioned my life decisions as my hangxiety attacked. I realized I felt worse then before so I walked back to the hostel and caught up with the Doctor crew to see how they were feeling. They werent much better but we agreed to try to grab some food and to meet up at Reeperbahn. I ended up back in the train station eating a brawt and pommes which ended up saving my life.
After that we met up and walked around town for a few hours down to the ports and back up to city center again. We stopped in at a small restaurant called Wasserschloss for a quick snack. We we’re all still down kind of bad and ended up going back home to chill for a little. I said goodbye to them and thanked them so much for meeting up with me then was horizontal on my bed for a little while. I showered again, said hi to Aston and Maddy who i met in Copenhagen that happen to be staying at my hostel in Hamburg and then tucked myself into bed around 9pm to get ready for my train tomorrow at 8am!
In all honesty today I was feeling extremely drained, homesick and anxious. Ive been having a blast but hostel hopping and trying to make “every second mean something” is TIRING. In reality i dont need to make every second worth it and its okay for me to have a lazy day chilling in my hostel or in a coffee shop. I need to remember to take time for me and that I dont need to make friends in every hostel. Thats one of the perks of solo traveling. Oktoberfest is definitely going to be exhausting bc its a giant party BUT hoping to possibly treat myself to a hotel room in Zurich for a couple days or maybe see if I can find a cheap place for a spa day while I am there to relax for a little.
I cant believe tomorrow is day 20 of my travels. I am so grateful but am VERY excited to be in an airbnb with my family for 10 days soon in Barcelona!! It will be a nice break from the nomad lifestyle i feel like i’m living.
Thank you for everyone thats been there for me when ive reached out or just has checked in on me in general. A big thanks to my facebook group that gave me all the tips, tricks and just encouraging words when I posted that I wasnt feeling too great today 🫶🏼
