......................................................................I had successfully escaped Holland without seeing any gratuitous sex or drugs, only to end up in Hamburg`s notorious Reeperbahn, the longest alley of ill repute in the WORLD! Had met some Irish lads in the hostel who went to school with a girl from Hamburg, and we met up with her down there to go out for the evening. We also had Ashly, a fella from Texas, and Sonny, a Chinese Australian in our crew. The girl suggested we start our Hamburg "experience" by doing some window shopping in one of the brothels. I felt inclined to join the tour, just for journalistic reasons, so I could report back to you. It was strange to say the least. Strolling down these dark hallways and meeting girls at their doorways. The typical story for groups like us was they would put us all in a room and give us a lesbian show before each would split up with their own girl for half an hour. 50 Euro. 100 Euro for kinky stuff. Not my cup of tea really. I asked one who was busy swatting fly's in her room (not the best sales strategy) if she would spank another girl her fly swat for 5 euro. 50 EURO for anything! These girls were unionized and not negotiating. It was all really rather depressing, and I think we all couldn't wait to get out of there. As we were walking out I saw one guy getting turned away by the bouncers for being too fat. How sad! We went to some interesting bars and clubs after that lovely introduction, and had a good time. I always have a good time with the Irish it seems. Also ran into another American who was there supporting his brother who was playing in an American football exhibition there. There were a lot of 1 euro beer places that we frequented as well, one of which had a bar tender who had no teeth, other than a few little black stumps. I take back all I've said about the British :) The next day was beautiful and I wondered around the two big lakes and river that surround the city center, and checked out the historic port. Hamburg, much like Amsterdam, is an incredibly beautiful, vibrant, livable city once you get past the sorted section. I really liked it there. But I was hung over and felt the need to press on to the Capitol.
http://picasaweb.google.com/ethan.ahlberg/Hamburg
