Hamburg - through party and stomach

One of the most delicious ways to get to know foreign cultures is to get to know the gastronomic masterpieces of chefs who sing the glory of their countries through their specialties. Hamburg's restaurants are as diverse as the city itself: in a city that is growing on the site of the old port districts HafenCity - one of the largest European construction projects of the 21st century, which is expected to become the new address of 10,000 residents by 2015, hotels, shopping centers and the unusual building of the new Philharmonic, we can indulge in the tastes of the "mother of all cuisines" - Italian cuisine. Spanish and Portuguese restaurants are concentrated in the Portuguese quarter near the Church of Saint Michael, you can enjoy the skills of oriental chefs or stay true to local tastes. Among the best restaurants in Hamburg, where you can get to know North German Hanseatic cuisine, are the restaurants Schlachterbörse, which is a true mecca for meat lovers, a restaurant Jahreszeiten Grill, where the real old Hanseatics go, today the defenders of the tradition and the glorious history of the Hanseatic League, and the restaurant Kolln's Restaurant, where we can guarantee complete intimacy in the booths in which Russian tsars, German chancellors and emperors and even today's stars, such as Robert Redford, enjoyed or sweated during long meetings. It would be difficult to list all the restaurants that represent international cuisines from all over the world, but if we stick to proven and well-known Italian flavors, we must especially mention the restaurants: Osteria Due (Rotherbaum, Badestrasse 4), Trattoria da Enzo, in a part of the city of Harburg, where tourists don't usually go, there is a wonderful restaurant on the site of a former silo Force 16 (Schellerdamm 16, Hamburg-Harburg), where the flambéed crepes with cointreau, oranges and ice cream are not to be missed. One of the nicer parts of Hamburg is the Portuguese quarter, where you can relax with excellent Spanish and Portuguese wine and eat well in tapas bars or in a restaurant Picasso (Altstadt, Rathausstrasse 14) we treat you to Spain on a plate. Of course, we must not forget the Far East and its culinary specialties, which are especially proudly prepared in the Chinese restaurant Man Wah (St. Pauli, Spielbundenplatz 18), Thai Manee Thai (Altstadt, Schauenburger Strasse 59) or the restaurant Indochina (Ottensen, Neumühlen 11), where all of Southeast Asia is represented, and Galerie Tolerance (st. Pauli, Lerchenstrasse 108), which has been synonymous with spicy food for thirty years. Japanese cuisine does not necessarily mean only sushi, which we will learn in restaurants Comon and Matsumi (Neustadt, Colonnaden 96). The Orient is a word that encompasses the vast expanses where Marco Polo once roamed, and in Hamburg you can experience the Orient in a Syrian restaurant Saliba, which was booked by the Rolling Stones themselves for a party after a successful concert, a Lebanese restaurant Riads (Neustadt, Johannes-Brahms-Platz 7), the more adventurous will eat at the Pakistani restaurant Baluchistan (Sternschanze, Schulterblatt 88). The offer of unusual restaurants continues with South American, African, even Afghan restaurants, which is not surprising, since Hamburg is home to the largest Afghan community in Europe.

The city that never sleeps
The calories that we will accumulate while getting to know Hamburg's culinary offer must be spent, right in the city that has St. Pauli – an area that comes to life in the late evening hours, it's not difficult. St. Pauli arouses curiosity among visitors to the city, mainly as one of the largest "red light" districts in Europe, which is not the least bit true, as street prostitution is only allowed on two streets: Davidstrasse and the more infamous Herbertstrasse, which in the eyes of women and young people is separated by huge doors. Although Germany is a democratic country and a law that would ban women from entering the street Herbertstrasse, where prostitutes offer their services in shop windows, does not exist, stories about terribly rude welcomes given by prostitutes to bold female visitors deter most women from seeing the "trading" on the said street. The main street of the fourth St. Pauli is called Reeperbahn and it is lined with bars that do not close, especially on weekends, which means that the only rule on the Reeperbahn is partying. Entertainment has many expressions and faces: from theaters and halls where musicals are performed (Hamburg is considered the German capital of musicals), through gathering places of die-hard rockers, to clubs where the world's best DJs reside. Rock Club Molotov (Spielbundenplatz 5), Club China Lounge (Nobistor 14, St. Pauli), which operates under the motto Anything goes and is open on Thursdays and Fridays, an Irish pub and discotheque Thomas Read Pub (Nobitor 10) are just three of the countless bars, clubs and discotheques that must be visited during an endless night on the Reeperbahn. The most famous musicians who started their career in Hamburg clubs in the 1960s are probably the famous Liverpool musicians - The Beatles. With their music, they impressed in the clubs on the street Grosse Freiheit, which is famous today mainly because of the strip bar Dollhouse (Grosse Freiheit 11). Well, despite the hat girls, the Beatles are more important for the recognition of the street, which is why the square where the Grosse Freiheit meets the Reeperbahn street was named after the famous musical group, and recently they even opened a museum dedicated to this group. Night in St. For Pauli, it is too short for all new acquaintances, so the most ardent entertainers traditionally continue to visit it, especially on Sundays Fischmarkt – the fish market, which opens at 5 am. In addition to fish, you can find stalls with food and drinks, a wide variety of souvenirs and other junk at the market, and the best thing is to sit down to breakfast and watch the morning bustle over a coffee. The market closes at 9:30, which is just the right time to rest. And don't worry: on Saturdays and Sundays, you can sit down for breakfast in some cafes and restaurants until five in the afternoon.