Yesterday, Ken and I got to welcome our first family member to Hamburg. Our sister-in-law Megan wins the prize (are you sensing a theme in these last few entries? I haven't played bid euchre for a while, so I'm trying to satisfy my competitive addictions in other ways. Good thing that our family can help my problem shortly!) for the first family member to cross the pond to see us. Scott will get second prize when he joins us Wednesday after a business conference in Manchester, England. As you can see from the picture next to us, Raja was not happy that they left without her.Today Megan and I toured Hamburg. She sent an e-mail home to our family. I wanted to share it with you. It was a hilarious recap of our day.
-------------------------------------------
German lesson #1: A "Cheeseburger" is not a safe thing to order in a German cafe or sandwich shop. (And you can't trust the ketchup, either.)
Kristy and I went down to the harbor for a boat tour at noon today (which was very interesting and fun) and by the end we were hungry. Along the river amongst the tour companies are some travel shops and Sandwich shops. We decided to each get a cheeseburger and split some fries. We ended up with what we think was ground pork pan fried into a patty. (The meat was white and the outside was brown.) We tried to eat some, and concluded it was pretty gross. The fries were doused in ketchup which Kristy thinks was curry
ketchup...again, not very good (worse than any island ketchup I have had). I should have known it wasn't a safe place to eat after seeing what looked like a piece of raw fish with scales on a bun (even Kristy the seafood eater agreed it looked gross).
Kristy wanted me to add that the soft pretzel and ice cream we had later were good....so I am not starving here.
German lesson #2: Do not anger the crazy German bathroom lady.
First of all, for those who do not know, there are few public bathrooms in Germany. Most you have to pay to use, even in the stores. Kristy and I went shopping this afternoon and went into a bathroom at a nice clothing department store. As we were waiting, the lady who maintains and cleans the bathroom was chewing out another woman in German. Me, not knowing any German, and Kristy, who has trouble understanding them when they yell, were not sure whether we dared go pee. (Kristy did pick up the German word for "dirty" in the yelling.) So we both went and made it very sure we left it clean and remembered to flush and were very relieved when we came out and did not see her. As we were trying to find some change to put in the bowl she came back in and started talking to us in German. Kristy told her we do not speak German, but she unfortunately spoke English. She proceeded to tell us how the lady she yelled at had peed all over the seat and did not flush (although she was much more lengthy and descriptive than that). So, moral of the lesson...if you pee on the seat in Germany, wipe it up!!!!
Kristy and I went down to the harbor for a boat tour at noon today (which was very interesting and fun) and by the end we were hungry. Along the river amongst the tour companies are some travel shops and Sandwich shops. We decided to each get a cheeseburger and split some fries. We ended up with what we think was ground pork pan fried into a patty. (The meat was white and the outside was brown.) We tried to eat some, and concluded it was pretty gross. The fries were doused in ketchup which Kristy thinks was curry
ketchup...again, not very good (worse than any island ketchup I have had). I should have known it wasn't a safe place to eat after seeing what looked like a piece of raw fish with scales on a bun (even Kristy the seafood eater agreed it looked gross).Kristy wanted me to add that the soft pretzel and ice cream we had later were good....so I am not starving here.
German lesson #2: Do not anger the crazy German bathroom lady.
First of all, for those who do not know, there are few public bathrooms in Germany. Most you have to pay to use, even in the stores. Kristy and I went shopping this afternoon and went into a bathroom at a nice clothing department store. As we were waiting, the lady who maintains and cleans the bathroom was chewing out another woman in German. Me, not knowing any German, and Kristy, who has trouble understanding them when they yell, were not sure whether we dared go pee. (Kristy did pick up the German word for "dirty" in the yelling.) So we both went and made it very sure we left it clean and remembered to flush and were very relieved when we came out and did not see her. As we were trying to find some change to put in the bowl she came back in and started talking to us in German. Kristy told her we do not speak German, but she unfortunately spoke English. She proceeded to tell us how the lady she yelled at had peed all over the seat and did not flush (although she was much more lengthy and descriptive than that). So, moral of the lesson...if you pee on the seat in Germany, wipe it up!!!!
4 comments:
Awww, no good Cheeseburgers in Germany?? Well, when I come to visit, that will change! :) Yes, the description of the "burger" sounded pretty nasty, but being an adventurous eater, the "curry ketchup" sounded kinda good!
And just remember: If you Sprinkle when you Tinkle, be a Sweetie - Wipe the Seatie! (I'd love to take credit for that but I can't...I saw it on a cross-stitch pattern!)
"Can you spare a square?" - Elaine from Seinfeld asking her stall neighbor to pass her some TP as hers was out.
Wow...love the picture of the ferry/barge/container-holding boat, whatever it's called! Aren't those things about the size of semi trailers? That must be ONE HUGE BOAT to see in person!!
I love all the references to food! It sounds as though the Lawrance couples were more amused by the adventure of food variations than of sight seeing... very humorous!
Choves
Post a Comment