A meet up in Hamburg

Meetup is a online social service that allows people to find groups and organize social gatherings all around the world. I learned about its existence just recently during my first travel to Copenhagen through Hamburg. I had plenty of time to luxuriate myself in Hamburg before the arrival of my night bus to Copenhagen around 2:30 AM. It was the first time ever for me to travel such a distance completely alone, so I sought out for chances to socialize with new people. That's how I found out about Meetup.

My first steps in Hamburg went really well. I managed to find the city's central library for a free WiFi, take care of some business there and explore the city vicinity a bit. My Meetup event was organized at a place called Sofabar at 8 o'clock, about 45 minutes walking distance away from the main railway station. It was the only available public event in the area at that time so there was no alternative to go elsewhere, if I wanted to have something to do while waiting the bus.

The Sofabar was filled with antique couches that felt really comfortable to sit on. The atmosphere was also very friendly and relaxed. Definitely a recommended place for a visit.

I didn't want to walk there all the way with my relatively heavy backpack, so I decided to take the closest S-Bahn. I deliberately didn't buy the ticket, die Fahrkarte. A huge mistake. On the station I got off there was literally an army of officers waiting downstairs checking all the passengers for tickets. It was an utter rat-trap. And I had just walked straight into it.

Of course, I panicked and tried to go back upstairs but two officers were waiting there as well and stopped me. I had no way out. A dirty rat had just been caught.

I felt quite downhearted about the fine of 60 €, but I accepted the judgement. Sometimes I push the limits a little too much and a little too far. I recognize myself as a person that likes to live a bit on the edge. And that's a fine thing (notice the double meaning here). But I shouldn't develop bad habits out of the little daredevil that lives inside of me.

Though my bad luck with the S-Bahn, I wanted shake off that feeling from my shoulders and embrace myself for the next destination, the Sofabar. Finding the location was an easy task. But entering it and getting ready to socialize with a bunch of unknown people wasn't. I felt myself uncertain and hesitated a little as soon as I stepped in. Was this a bad idea?

The place was packed with people. I had no idea, how I was going to find the people I was supposed meet up. I could only recognize their faces from small profile icons. And even if I did recognize them, how was I going to carry out this mission? My German is still sub-par and using English didn't feel like an option either.

I went back outside.

While I sat down out in the bar's empty terrace, existential questions started to pop inside my brain. Did I just come here to get a 60€ fine and do absolutely nothing? Yes for an answer would be an unacceptable response. So I prayed God to give me a meaning. Otherwise I would feel totally depressed and lonely.

I entered the bar once again.

My plan was to get a soft drink, sit down and observe the situation; the same game strategy that had already proven so strong during my last visit in Cologne. I probably already knew where the Meetup people where assembled, but I just didn't feel like interrupting them. So I kept my spot and saw some new people arriving at the corner to the left of me. They looked young and more like the kind of people I could easily interract with. I kept on observing.

Pretty soon I began to realize that some members of this particular group of young people were noticing me sitting alone there on the couch. "This could lead into something", I thought. And so it happens that the girl that I had had multiple eye-contacts with, finally approaches me. She introduces herself and I use my "flawless" German skills to start up a conversation. She was quite the beautiful kind as well and let me tell you; it really helps being a good-looking guy as myself in these kind of situations too. But don't get too excited just yet: this is real life after all, not a romance novel so the story goes only as far as it does here.

I ended up meeting the rest of her group, played some cards (because I always keep a deck in my bag) with her and one of her friend and joined to celebrate one of the girl's birthday in that group. And yes I know, it probably now sounds like they were all just girls out there but trust me, there were some couple of guys involved as well. And they were all quite young also, the youngest being 18 and the oldest (I think) was 21 or 22. Two of the people I met even stated that they wanted to study in Göttingen in the near future! What a coincidence, if there even is a such thing.

In overall, Hamburg seemed a little bit intimidating place for me at least for starters. It probably had less to do with the fact how the city appeared and more with the fact that I was traveling completely alone for the first time and during nighttime. I remember getting jumpscared once at night when guy passes me by and then all of a sudden I hear running steps from behind, thinking that the same dude now wants to attack me! It was a different man, however, and probably just in a hurry. Phew!

All in all, getting a 60 € fine, being terrified at night and waiting for the Flixbus to arrive one hour longer... I have to say that without the experience at the Sofabar, my first time in Hamburg would have felt horrible.

Meanwhile, I'm brewing some more stories out of Copenhagen...

The weather was all grey and cloudy when I arrived in Hamburg on my route to Copenhagen. That's why I didn't take so many photos and present them. But don't worry, I'll be back again! This is the Zentralbibliothek, close to the Hamburg Hauptbahnhof where I navigated first.