Eimsbuettel Hamburg: Our Neighborhood

Well, it has been too long since I last scribed a post on my new blog! But if Aidan can write something up, so can I. I thought I would post a few pics with commentary about our neighborhood to give you a flavor of our life here in Hamburg. The biggest practical difference between Hamburg and San Diego is that you simply do not need a car in Hamburg. Hamburg is extremely friendly to pedestrians; the subways, buses and trains are excellent and go everywhere. My usual wait time for any public transport is 2-3 minutes! In San Diego, wait times for buses are 15 minutes and they are not nice buses. I have never been in a friendlier place for bicycles or pedestrians than Hamburg. Drivers are very aware of people and bikes, and both get the right of way. This safety level is a wonderful thing: it means people are not afraid of letting their kids walk to school or anywhere by themselves. You also notice that there are almost no weight problems here. Ok, on to some neighborhood pics.

Hey! The corner beer store! I can just drop in for a single on my way home for 80 cents and get my choice of some terrific German pilsner. You can see in the store all the plastic carrying containers for drinks: mineral water, beer, juices..etc. The "drivers" put these big containers on their bicycles (front and back) and pedal them over to the customers. Then you put the empties back in the rack (24 bottles/rack) and they get pedaled back to the store. The postal service also delivers by bicycle.
Here's the local elementary school just around the corner. (Aidan is in the foreground.) This is a real brick schoolhouse. It looks like it will be there forever! Probably survived two wars intact. We go to the gym in the back for Aidan's weekly ball-play time and soccer "practice". He loves it. More just kids running after the ball than anything serious.

The school has an open field in the back and we go play soccer there all the time. The playground is a neighborhood resource really. I haven't won a game against HSV yet, but I keep trying!
This is pretty cool: The red light says "Signal kommt" which means the walk signal is coming. It lights up when you rub your hand over it so you actually know (gasp!) that the light will change and someone has pushed the button. These are all over Germany and Hamburg. They are brilliant. In San Diego, the buttons get pushed 1000 times an hour since no one knows if the previous person pushed it already.

Here is a scene down our street. I'm not sure my picture does justice to the wonderful neighborhood buildings here. Most were built just after 1900 and they are solid. They should last 500 years!

The best bakery in Hamburg is on the corner across the street. The camera is pointing right at it. Wow is it wonderful! Fresh bread and pastries every day. 2 Euros for the best bread you have ever had.Ok, I gotta run. Good night!