We did our annual single kid week. Last year it was Bergen with Antonia, the year before I went to London and Brighton with Yannick and before that I didn't have a blog yet (but it was Paris with Antonia and Kopenhagen with Yannick).
So I got Yannick this year and I was rather apprehensive about this before we left. Being the mom of a teenage boy has seen me challenged quite unexpectedly. I assumed that being a secondary school teacher who has dealt with teenagers for the last twenty years would have me well prepared. Alas, I wasn't, I now understand all these poor parents who try and try but just don't get anywhere because their sons are just too spaced out to absorb any piece of wisdom that comes their way ;-)
But this isn't a blog entry about my struggles with Yannick but about our first stop - Hamburg. We got there in the afternoon, picked up our car which made me laugh sooo hard. They gave us this super fancy jeep which loved to bleep whenever we got to close to another object. Sometimes it lit up like a christmas tree because we were too close on all sides. That's what happens when you drive quite a big car in a teeny tiny underground parking lot.
We stayed in a hotel in St. Pauli, quite close to the Reeperbahn. I remember how scared I was of this part of Hamburg when I was there the last time (at about 17 while doing Interrail...) Now it seems a very cool part to live in, even if there are still quite a few seedy sex shops. We walked to the harbour and found the best spot to enjoy the view, a drink and sweet potato fries: The Beachclub at Dock 3.
And right there I realised that it is possible to have a good time with Yannick. He likes to take it slowly, spends far too much time in front of his screen, often tells the weirdest stories, but he is quite ready to go for a walk or a drink as long as he doesn't have to plan anything.
The next morning we did a harbour tour. It wasn't terribly exciting but it was an excellent way to have a look at the city and to enjoy the time before we left Hamburg to go on to Büsum at the North Sea.
