6/5/12 day 41: Hamburg, Germany

I woke up today eager to walk around hamburg. It is our last stop in Germany for the rest of my contract so i wanted to make the most of it. I even made the decision to not eat lunch on the ship in order to maximize time, which completely goes against my frugal nature but I was determined to squeeze the most Germany out of Germany. My friends Chris and Liam joined me as we struck out from the pier north to the Rathaus Platz. It wasn't the nicest day, overcast and chilly, but at least it was dry. We basically wandered aimlessly through the streets, kind of half looking for something until we all agreed we were hungry. I managed to convince the team that a "Doener" was in order seeing as this was our last day in Germany. A Doener is basically the Turkish equivalent of a Greek Gyro: grilled lamb, lettuce, tomato, onion, garlic yogurt sauce, and chili sauce stuffed into a pita bread style wedge. In heaven, you will be granted eternal enlightenment and a Doener. It's real. I am kind of a Doener addict. I remember the first time I enjoyed one in fact.... It was the Rathaus Platz in Aachen in the summer of 1994. The square was full of people young and old enjoying a warm summer evening, sitting on the large stone pavers, drinking a beer, chatting w friends. I was a naive and lanky 18 year old American from Massachusetts who just rolled into town to spend a year with a host family. Someone walked by with one, actually it was technically a Gyro, and I asked my friend immediately a) what the hell that was and b) where I could procure one. That was it. I was hooked. And today, I was on a mission for a Doener. While in a Camper show store, I asked where the nearest one was. The salesman said there was one a couple blocks away. As we were walking away, he said "...but if you want the best Doener..." At which point I stopped dead in my tracks, swiveled around and gave him a look like 'well yeah dude, I'm no amateur?!' "you have to go to the train station. There you will find the best Doener in town" We now had a mission. 15 minutes later, once at the train station, we saw a Gyros place but kept searching. I mean come on, we weren't gonna have traveled so far only to succumb to our hunger and settle for just any lamb filled sandwich. We were better than that! I asked the cat at the information booth, and he pointed us down the hall. I am happy to report, we made it..... but BARELY. And yes, they were tasty. We ate in silence standing awkwardly in the middle of the sidewalk. Was it the best Doener I've ever had? The joy is that the journey, nay mission, will not end here but continue on, as it has since that Summer day in Aachen.

The End.