“Life brings me only good experiences. I am open to new and wonderful changes.”
Louise Hay
The first weekend in November, my host family and I traveled to Hamburg to visit friends for the weekend. It was cool because my school had vacation on Thursday and Friday to celebrate All Saints Day, so we left Wednesday afternoon. To add to the excitement, my birthday was on Saturday!
We started off by driving to Frankfurt and then took a train the rest of the way. The train ride was about 3-4 hours long. Like most of my travels, I read, slept, and watched a movie. Before I knew it, we were in Hamburg! We got to the train station pretty late, so it was really cool to see the city at night. The first thing that caught my eye was the big fountain in the middle of Alster lake.
Our first full day in Hamburg we had a lot of fun going into the city for shopping and sightseeing. I must say Hamburg is really pretty! We had coffee at this cool cafe called Alex, and we sat outside on the patio. (Keep in mind it was the beginning of November, so it wasn’t exactly summer temperatures.) To keep ourselves warm, the restaurant had outdoor heaters and blankets that we could cover up with. I thought it was the coolest thing! (I’m sure other places have outdoor heaters like that, but I think if we tried eating outside during the winter in Wisconsin, our food would instantly freeze.) For dinner we had fondue. My favorite combination was cheese and pineapple. (Yes, I’m one of those who loves pineapple on my pizza.) Everything was absolutely delicious!
On Friday we had fun looking walking around Landungsbrücken to look at the cool ships. I then got to meet up with my friend Louis. He was an exchange student at my school a couple of years ago, so it was really nice that we were able to catch up for a couple of hours. After saying goodbye to Louis, I headed to another part of the city to see Elyssa. Elyssa and I were roommates and practically inseparable in Osterode. (She lives with her host family in Hamburg.) I had dinner with Elyssa and her host family, and then we went into the city. We went out with Elyssa’s host sister and friends for hamburgers! Since Elyssa and I already had dinner, we split a BBQ hamburger, onion rings, and a milkshake. Let me tell you the food was delicious. It tasted like we were eating a real American burger and milkshake. After finishing our burgers, Elyssa and I walked around and looked at the city lit up at night. It was really cool.
I slept over at Elyssa’s, and the next morning I had breakfast with her family. For breakfast, I was surprised with cinnamon rolls and a huge chocolate bar for my birthday! They even lit a birthday candle and sang for me. It was so sweet! After breakfast, Elyssa and I met up with a couple more exchange students with our program. It was fun seeing them again. Then I went back to my host family’s friends’ house where they surprised me with the house decorated and birthday cake! Once we finished eating my delicious birthday cake, we went ice skating. It was so much fun! It was the first time I had gone ice skating at such a big outdoor rink before. It was also the first time I had heard Christmas songs being played on my birthday. To end the perfect day, we had a bonfire (where I introduce s’mores to everyone) and I skyped my parents.
The next day we traveled home. Like always, I read, slept and watched a movie. My weekend in Hamburg was full of fun and excitement. Not only did I have a wonderful weekend with my host family, but I had a great time meeting up with friends and exploring a new city. I am also glad to say my birthday away from home was definitely special.
On our way to Hamburg! 
At Alster Lake with our friends Sascha, Vannessa, and my host mom. 
In front of the Hamburg Rathaus. 
At Landungsbrücken with my host dad, host mom, and our friend Vanessa. 
One of the boats at Landungsbrücken. 
Blowing out the candle of my yummy birthday cake! 
Having fun ice skating! 
The #9 popped so we were celebrating “My 1st birthday in Germany”
Oh, the Places I'll Go! 