It’s already been 3 full days in this famous European capital, and I can say they have been quite an adventure. But our trip started off on Saturday, with a night in another German city. Four of us split up the journey to Berlin and decided to explore Hamburg in the meantime.
Saturday, March 18th & Sunday, March 19th
Arriving in Hamburg came with a bit of a shock. Right after we got out of the Flixbus people seemed different. It was the Central Train and Bus Station area, which is usually known for not being that safe, in all of Europe. Still, the difference between nordic and the rest of Europe hit me for the first time. I think I got used to Denmark way too fast for the short time I’ve been living there and forgot how “ordinary Europe” is and looks like. It was like a scene from a movie, where the character is overstimulated by what they see and hear all at once. The hostel we stayed in fit in right with the scene from outside, but it was just fine for a one-night stay.
After checking in, our 24-hour trip to Hamburg started. We had a great time just walking around the streets, eating hamburgers, finding cool bars and playing a fun game of making up stories about people. We really tested our creativity and imagination. The next morning consisted of walking for 20 minutes and staying in line for 20 minutes to have a perfect brunch at a famous restaurant, followed by a speed run of art. After that, we went straight to the Flixbus station and left for our actual destination: Berlin.
Besides it being a fun spontaneous trip, my main takeaway from Hamburg is the surprising mix of people. Walking just a few steps away from the Central Station area and into the shopping streets district, there is a complete change of scene. Luxury cars were parked one after the other and the people seemed from two different worlds.
Hamburg in photos
Monday, March 20th
The first full day in the capital was filled with walking and taking in the city. The tour from the first part of the day was a good way to start the trip and get into the learning mindset. My favorite part of the day was the photo workshop, and getting lost on the way to it. Derive, the concept we learned about, is something I have been interested in for a while and I was really excited about it.
My group and I chose to follow the color purple, since we thought of it as an unnatural color and that it made it a challenge for us. What I find most interesting about the Derive concept is the fact that once you start looking for something, you start seeing it everywhere. I have noticed this in the past, doing mundane activities. For example, I always found that when I bike in my home city, I notice significantly more people biking than when I look out the window of a car. I do also find it a unique way to change your perspective of viewing the world.
Something else I really enjoyed about the first day was taking my camera with me. Whenever I walk around a new city, I love just trying to capture its atmosphere through photographs.
Tuesday, March 21st & Wednesday, March 22nd
Tuesday gave the start to a couple of heavier days in terms of the topics we talked about. The two visits to the Berlin Wall complemented each other in such a great way. First seeing the wall murals on Tuesday and just taking in people’s reactions to history, and then on Wednesday having a bit more of the background and context. The two short movies and the tour showed us another way of remembering it and put more into perspective the multiple dimensions of the wall.
Tuesday afternoon was a bit more intense. I can take a lot when watching a movie, but the one we saw was hard to digest. It was too real and too agressive from the begining. Without going too deep into a film analyses, I did find the movie itself impressive – the story as well. It did exactly what it was supposed to: raised the dillema of who to root for, the RAF or the authorities? The police brutality scene from the begining of the movie was long and put the viewer into an uncomfortable state, making them be on the side of the protestors. But as the movie kept on going, their actions became more and more violent so the public, meaning us, meaning me, became more and more confused. Are they still justifiable? And then again, the question I kept asking myself was: “What did they think they would achieve doing what they did?” Other than that, the movie left me feeling uneasy all night, and just resparking this fear I used to have in the back of my mind a few years ago when there was a wave of terrorist attacks throughout Europe.
Wednesday, after the tour, we had a visit to the Stasi Prison with a guided tour given by a former inmate. Again, another heavy and emotionally packed experience, but an interesting one. This wasn’t the first time I visited this kind of memorial, so I knew what to expect. But hearing everything from someone that lived throught it makes it a whole different thing. Stories about the communist years is something I am familiar with, given my countries history, but what stuck to me is what he told us at the end of the tour: “Who sleeps in democracy, wakes up in communism.” While being an awakening quote, it left me with the same feeling of powerlessness I feel at home, where most of the older generations rely on my generation to change everything wrong in our country. But how does one even start, when starting requires to be part of the ones you’re trying to fight?