It was Chinese/Vietnamese (Tết) Lunar New Year on 17th/18th Feb and I was lucky enough to be invited to Hamburg by one of dad's friends.  So I was really looking forward to not only seeing another city but getting some really really nice Vietnamese food.  I was not disappointed

 

I arrived on Friday afternoon and started off with a bowl of Pho. Pho is a beef noodle soup with a rich, clear broth achieved from hours upon hours of boiling bones and different herbs served in bowls with white rice noodle, spring onion, slices of raw beef (to be cooked by the boiling hot broth), and then of course the broth itself. Pho is often garnished on the side (more typically in the style of the South) with bean sprouts, lime wedges and other herbs).  It has been ages since I've had this last and its one of my most favourite dishes.  Dad's friend, Bac Phung, can cook a really great pot of Pho.  It was sooo yummy... my mouth is still watering.

 

After two bowls of that, i needed a bit of a rest before Bac Phung took me out.  Hamburg's Tết Festival (New Year Festival) was to be held the next day, so after a drive around town to see some of the sights we headed over to the site to see what we needed to prepare before moving on to my next feast.  Argentinian steaks.  If you've never had one, you have to try it.. unless you're vegetarian of course.  There is a famous chain of restaurants in Hamburg called Block House, where the owner/founder imports beef from Argentina.  So I had a salad first with french dressing and then a tender filet mignon with a side of french fries, Block House bread and chimichurri. Chimichurri is a sauce and marinade used with grilled meat in Argentine cuisine and is made from chopped parsley, dried oregano, garlic, salt, pepper, onion, and paprika with olive oil.  Washed down with 0.5L of Franziskaner Weissbier (wheat beer from a Munich brewery).  I then met his daughter, Tina, at Bond, a bar, to help her celebrate two of her friend's birthdays.

 

After sleeping in and nursing a slight hangover, I had Bánh chung and  for breakfast (sticky rice wrapped in banana or dong leaves and stuffed with mung beans, fatty pork and black pepper) with something else that I can't remember (yellow, sweetish rice) with Cha-lua (sausage made with pork, potato starch and fish sauce; he gave me a roll to take home) and then we left for the Tet Festival.  Which is usually a time for everyone to get together have some fun, buy some food and watch a show.  So that's what I did.. i went around to some of the stalls and picked up a few nice treats...

- Gỏi cuốn (rice paper rolls that often include shrimp, herbs, pork, rice vermicelli and other ingredients wrapped up and dipped in Nước chấm or peanut sauce)

- Bánh bèo (central Vietnamese dish consisting of tiny and round rice flour pancakes, each served in a tiny round dish. They are topped with minced shrimp and other smaller ingredients)

 

But I spent most of my time sitting and watching the show which went throughout the entire day.  They had Dragon Dance (which was a lot of fun to watch), some people singing Vietnamese songs or acting in a Vietnamese opera/comedy (which was boring, but made me think of home) and a beauty pageant (which was interesting ).  I took some photos of people wearing Áo Dài, literally meaning "long dress" or "long tunic," is one out of several traditional Vietnamese costumes worn mostly by women.  A tradition of Tết is where children receive lì xì (red envelopes containing money) from their elders. Usually, children don their new clothes and give their elders the traditional Tết greetings before receiving the money.

 

Sunday's breakfast was sandwiches of Cha-lua before heading out to take some photos and see the sights of Hamburg.  We started at the port and took a ferry around the habour to see the huge port and the river Elbe.  Hamburg is the second largest city in Germany and with Hamburg Harbour, its principal port, Hamburg is also the second largest port city in Europe.  I also saw this runnel which runs under the river, but cars have to use an elevator to get down and up. Next on the list was St. Michaeliskirche (St Michael's Church) and St. Nikolaikirche (Saint Nicholas' Church, memorial).  St. Michael's is a landmark of the city. It is dedicated to the archangel Michael. A large bronze statue, standing above the portal of the church shows the archangel conquering the devil. The 132 m high baroque spire totally covered with copper is a prominent feature of Hamburg’s skyline and has always been a landfall mark for ships sailing up the river Elbe. Saint Nicholas' Church is now in ruins due to air attacks during World War II. The church was the tallest building in the world from 1874 to 1876 and is still the second tallest building in Hamburg.

 

We then saw the Town Hall, Alster lake and walked around a but before having some dinner (teppanyaki Udon noodles with sliced steak).  We had some drinks and headed to The Reeperbahn is a street in Hamburg's St. Pauli district, the centre of Hamburg's nightlife and also the city's red-light district.  So after seeing some of the sights there  and one last drink, we went home for one last snack which was similar to Bánh bèo (but in a triangle shape and wrapped in banana leaf).

 

Monday's breakfast was Banh bao (steamed bun dumpling that can be stuffed with onion, mushrooms, vegetables, etc). Then a day of relaxing and packing, lunch of a German dish (roasted meat, potatos etc) before flying home.  Which ended my mouthwatering holiday in beautiful Hamburg!