Hamburg II: Fischmarkt, Half Marathon, Harbor

the building in the back is the Fischauktionshalle: fish auction hall (now cafe)

 When I knew I wanted to take my dad to northern Germany, I knew I had to plan the trip around a Sunday morning at the Fischmarkt. It's open 5:00-9:30 am once a week, and tourists and locals come to get cheap fish (and produce and other random things nowadays). It's the oldest market in Hamburg (began in 1703), and has lots of character. The fish-sellers grab a piece of paper, and pile on fish, yelling 10 EUROS! or 20 EUROS as they continue to add to the pile until someone takes it for that price. It's a show! If you go early, you get better quality, but if you go later you can get great deals as they try to get rid of all their product.

you can see the outdoor market in the background

hilarious fish-seller man

inside the old "Fish Auction Hall", now live music and cafe

eel for sale

From the Fischmarkt I had to get back to the start of the Hamburg Half Marathon--which started with two loops on the Reeperbahn. It was rainy, which was good running weather but not so nice for spectators. I had a fun time, and it was so much fun to see my parents and Michael along the side (my parents had never seen me run!). I ran a 1:54 half marathon, which is my second-best time. Considering that I've been on my feet so much the last few days, I think it's good. :)

After the Half Marathon we had lunch at a nice little café, and then took one of the ferries that belongs to Hamburg’s public transit system (so you can ride “for free” with a day pass). We took it to the end of the line and back, so we got to see parts of the huge harbor, and went past the (now empty) Fischmarkt. Then we walked through part of the Speicherstadt, the warehouse district with rows of brick buildings right on the water. At this point we were really testing the waterproof-ness of our raingear…

the ferry

 We also went down into the Elbtunnel, the tunnel going under the Elbe River, built 1907-11, which was a marvel back then. It is 462 m long and runs 12 m under the river.

And for dinner...a great little place with traditional German food: Schnitzel and Maultaschen.