Another fling -Hamburg revisited

Last post 26th June...aiaiaia...So my excuse this time is that upon my return from Hamburg to Munich last week, the internet got cut off at my flat...That was a nice "welcome home"! 

Things have been a bit crazy at the Fräulein's house since my "old" flatmates, the pregnant couple have moved out and I got three new flatmates. They are all from the same city so they all already know each other, but I think I fit in nicely. However there has been a lot of painting, cleaning and moving things in and out. And the changing of internet providers. 

Last week was officially my last week of uni...forever!! (at least I have no plans to continue studying at this stage)...so I was feeling a bit bad as I wasn't really able to help out since I was working on marketing strategies, industry issue reports and writing HTML code...quite frankly I would've preferred to clean! But it's almost over now, (the uni part) and I'll catch up on the cleaning and painting! 

Since I had no wifi, I also wasn't able to upload, or even download the many pics I had stored on my "great" camera/phone from my revisit of Hamburg for Papa's birthday...But this weekend I am back at my grandparent's house in Austria, since it's my grandma's birthday tomorrow, and Papa wanted to pay one more visit before he flies back to the other side of the world (NZ). I figured I may as well come along. If you have to write hideous code, you may as well do it in a nice setting, and I could make the most of the wifi here and get a post uploaded! The things I do for you... :)

While back in the ever-so-cool Hamburg, the most part of my days were spent chilling in Papa's temporary lounge working on uni reports, but since the weather was grey and dreary and I was still suffering from some serious blisters, I wasn't too upset about not having to explore the city on foot as we did last time. 

Instead, every lunch time, I popped on my helmet and met Papa downstairs ready to hop on the back of the Vespa. I have to admit, I enjoyed these city-zooms almost as much as a drive in the convertible! If you're not the one having to drive it's a fabulous way to see the city. I'm a bit of a wuss so I din't actually want to drive in German traffic (besides, the Duchess much prefers to be chauffeured around!), but we found an empty carpark and I had a bit of a go...

Can you tell I was nervous??? Haha! Give me a break! It was the company Vespa, I had no license on me and probably wasn't insured. Not the time you want to crash...But I got the  hang of it pretty soon and reckon I may soon upgrade to the model shown in the background of the shot below:

Papa wanted a photo as well.

Definitely don't mind this kind of "helmet hair"...

Since I only left the apartment for lunch and dinner, Fräulein SoulFood was in her happy place. We tried many great places and I took plenty of photos, but having to use my phone as a camera makes food photography no fun, since it looks nothing close to how good it tasted! So I will only show you the meals that tasted amazing and looked somewhat okay as a photo.

Our first stop was the Genuss-Speicher. 'Genuss-Speicher' means 'pleasure-warehouse', now before you think Papa and I got ourselves into something dodgy here, we were in Hamburg after all, this place is innocent enough as it's actually a "museum for the senses". This isn't a museum in the traditional sense, where you just look at old stuff...but rather it gives you an interesting and more importantly concise history of Hamburg as a trade-city. Fräulein SoulFood's most important sense is of course taste though, and the chef kindly extend the kitchen hours past 2pm to serve us. 

And we were very glad about that. We devoured the 'Flammkuchen', kind of like pizza but a much finer, flakier, crisper base, topped with goat cheese and honey and 'Matjes' which are pickled filets of young herring with 'housewife' sauce (a creamy concoction laden with raw onions and apple) and waxy, boiled potatoes. Washed down with vino. 

Monday the 24th was Papa's birthday. He had to attend to "business as usual", so I found places to lunch and dine that were extra special! For lunch we hit Lieblingsplatz (literally translates to 'favourite spot'), famous for their "design your own salad" and these cool "sandwiches", basically an epic slice of bread with multiple spreads/toppings.

Last time in Hamburg, Mama and I discovered this on a Sunday and it was empty. But since this place has something for everyone, it is super-popular with all the corporates around the area and we were lucky to get a seat on the Monday.

For dinner I also chose a place that Mama and I had discovered on our last visit, but had unfortunately run out of time/mealtimes to actually try. Marblau already won me over with its interior design, which is an unusual mix of Mediterranean with Renaissance details, but still kind of Scandinavian cool. 

Papa wasn't all that bothered about the interior, as long as he got his birthday beer, Bavarian beer, in Hamburg! 

The stand out dish  for me was their 'Marblau Salad' (again I apologise for the unsatisfactory image), with grilled papaya and avocado, as well as giant prawns and "crustacean foam". 

Apparently this is what I look like when I'm contemplating whether I am enjoying something...that's what you get for entrusting Papa with the camera. Obviously the beer had already affected his better judgement as to what a "nice photo" should look like. Ah well, all part of being the Fräulein I suppose.

Of course we had dessert, 'Rhubarb Tiramisu'; delicious, unfortunately not very photogenic. But, back at home I still couldn't resist my favourite biccies...

I recently learned that 'Jaffas' are actually an orange variety, which is obviously where the name comes from, but they will always remind me of Auckland, since JAFAs are what Aucklanders are lovingly referred to, Just Another *insert expletive* or Friendly Aucklander! :)

The next day we revisited Johanna. Cafe Johanna that is! Again, Mama and I had this spectacular salad here last time with three different grains and caramelised goat cheese. 

It's a tiny cafe amongst blocks of apartment buildings, but Johanna lives from the small selection of daily specials that locals know they can rely on for taste. You can tell most are locals because the chirpy girls that work there greet most customers by name. That's always a good sign! 

On the menu on our visit, 'Marillen Knoedel'. These are crumbed dumplings filled with a special, particularly tart apricot, served in a warm vanilla sauce. 

Hmmm...They were yummy, but the dough wasn't quite right, a tiny bit too thin and tough. The Hamburgers are cooler than the Bavarians, but I think they should leave the dumpling making to the Southern end of the country. I was more than happy to test them though! 

After dinner, we went for a bit of a night-time stroll and discovered this amazing hairdresser. 

How cool is this?!

It actually took me a while to figure out what this place was since I got quite distracted by the boundless bouquets of flowers, but soon I noticed the old-school barber chairs. Unfortunately it was closed, otherwise I would've booked in straight away! The place even had flowers on the doorstep! And all those petals on the floor...better than leftover locks that's for sure.

Finally, this is a test for those of you who think you really know me...three guesses as to why I had to take a photo of this grungy entrance???

That's right. And I will forever stand by that fact. :)

Twas another lovely fling with you Hamburg, and I could definitely imagine something more longterm with you in future. But for now Munich still has my heart, so off I zoomed back to the airport...

Yours truly,
Fräulein SoulFood x