Through a Tourist's Eyes

It's been over half a year since Reggie and I have seen our friends and fam from home, so we we were extra excited when it came time to welcome his mom and aunt to Hamburg for three weeks. There are countless perks to having visitors. Spending QT with our people is unquestionably the best part about it, but during a recent stay from some fab company I discovered a visitor-perk I hadn't expected.  I expected to have lots of fun during their three-week stay, which included our very own mini-Tour de France, but I didn't expect the change in my own perspective that presented itself as a result of their visit.

Hamburg is a great city. It's clean, has nearly 0% crime (yes, really), and is beautiful to look at to boot. I am reminded of Hamburg's incomparable sense of order when I step out into other cities run by dodgy transportation systems and littered with pick-pocketers, but because I am surrounded by Hamburg's lure and organization day after day, I had stopped reminding myself that I am fortunate to be a resident of this charming city. Fortunately, the ooh-ing and ahh-ing our fervent visitors produced put me back in check--real quick.

Somehow, everyday things seem even more exciting than usual when they are on display for company:

Blankenese on the Elbe River

Downtown Hamburg

During our wandering we found some things I hadn't yet encountered, my favorite being:

Germany is home to Haribo candies and they are available for purchase anywhere and EVERYWHERE. Champagne-flavored gummi bears were a first for me, and yes, they taste as good as you think they would. Look for me at Christmas time--I'll be the one passing these out to anxious folks all over Michigan.


Nearly as cool as Prosecco-flavored gummies was our discovery of Hamburg's Portuguese quarter. In a small six-block district ten-plus establishments have dedicated themselves to bringing scrumptious Portuguese food to the good people of HH. We went looking for yummy tapas and were more than pleased--and stuffed--with our findings. A whole Portuguese quarter right here in our city--who knew?!


By the time we waved good bye to our beloved guests I was ready to go out and explore Hamburg all over again. Time to dig my fanny pack out of storage...