Do you speak English?

Today, armed with Rick Steves' Germany guidebook in hand, I attempted to explore my new city.  According to the guide, it is the second largest city in Germany, so this was no small feat.  I decided my first task would be to get a Hamburg card, which gives free public transportation and discounts on attractions for a set number of days.  Between Hamburg's public transit site, google maps, and mapquest, I was thoroughly confused by the transit system and walked to the tourist center instead.  A very long walk it was, but worth it. I am near the University of Hamburg and a cute lake, Aussenalster, both which provided a scenic walk.  A tip: bikes don't just stay on the bike path so diligence is still required in walking anywhere. Some pictures from my walk:

Once I got to the tourist center, I had no trouble buying the Hamburg card, since luckily the person manning that station did speak plenty of English.  Then there was the issue of food.  I have been surviving on the food I bought from the local supermarket but was starving after my hour walk.  I went up to a station and out of desperation with german words and pictures that made no sense, just asked "do you speak English?" The server did speak some but we had to use my precious data minutes to pull up google translate to get the word for flour (mehl).  Sadly, everything at his station did have flour and nothing else looked like a viable option, so my lunch consisted of french fries.

I then figured out the U-Bahn (subway) system to find the port from which that Rick Steves suggested taking the free ferry. By the end of the day, other tourists were asking me questions in German, since I apparently looked so knowledgeable about the U-Bahn.  I'm not sure what gave them that impression, whether it was my ever-present map or the pure confusion in my eyes.  Maybe they were offering me help? No, I'm sure they were asking for mine. Although I have learned the phrases "I don't understand," "I don't know," and "I don't speak German," I've found that a few words in English and a shrug are the best ways to end those conversations. 

The following are pictures from the hour-long ferry trip.  I enjoyed seeing all the interesting buildings in Hamburg.  They are all different but somehow fit together in their dissimilarity.  The city has a unique mix of uber modern buildings and what you might think of as traditional German buildings.  Rick Steves did steer me wrong by telling me that there were bilingual maps on the ferry, which there were none, so I have no idea what any of these buildings are, but it was still a good tip nonetheless.

 Lion King!! 

If Der Konig der Lowen isn't your thing, you could see Rocky: Das Musical instead :)