Dun dun DUN!!

My final month here in Europe has finally arrived, and I can't decide if it has all rushed by me or if has taken its sweet time because for some reason it feels like both if that's possible. This has been the greatest experience of my life so far. I'd like to say that I've grown and learned new things, but at the same time I feel as if I've just been partying and relaxing. In the end it's been both; a mix of partying and sightseeing, being alone and being with friends, having fun and learning from mistakes. I only hope that this next month will bring me the same enjoyment these past two have, maybe minus having my purse stolen though.
When I left Greece I was heading into Germany, Hamburg to be exact. I had a connecting flight in Vienna which was four hours long, I had myself a bit of a scare here. As I had forgotten, Greece is on a different time zone than Austria and Germany are, so when I got to the airport in Vienna I completely forgot to change the time on my phone, iPad, and watch to the correct time. So when 14:30 rolled by according to my time keepers there was no plane and I had myself a minor freak out. It was only after 15 minutes of trying to figure out why my plane never arrived did I figure out I was still on Greece time. I felt pretty stupid to say the least.
Once I arrived in Hamburg it was a piece of cake. Got a little disoriented trying to find my hostel but once I found it everyone went well. My first full day there was really good; I took in a tour that morning which lasted three hours and went throughout most of the city. The tour guide at first seemed quite boring, he just talked and talked and talked, it took forever to finally get going. But throughout the tour he seemed to loosen up and it all got better.
After the tour I took a walk through Hamburg's red light district, which, according to my travel/guide book, is the biggest in all of Europe, including Amsterdam, which surprised me. It was actually quite interesting to see. I didn't spend much time there but the little walk I took down the Reeperbahn proved quite eye opening. That was my first experience with a red light district of any kind, and it was quite different. All along the street you find sex shops, bars, an Erotic Art Museum, the Condomerie which is apparently quite well known, and many other shops I didn't see any dancing window ladies though, I'm sureI w ill experience that once in Amsterdam.
After taking in the Reeperbahn I walked to St Michael's tower which is one of the most famous churches in the city, and is also dedicated to Archangel Michael: interesting fact número uno. The church itself it absolutely stunning; inside it is pure white with ornate golden detailing all over the room including the massive organ on the back wall. However the inside is not even the most exciting part, for a couple of euros you can go right up to the top and get a panoramic view of the entire city. You can either take the elevator or walk up the 451 steps to the top, which is what I did. However tired I was when I reached the top, it was well worth it. The view you receive is absolutely stunning. If you look to one side you can see the city, to the other side is a view of Germany's largest and fastest harbour. Hamburg is basically a giant harbour city, I couldn't see all of it even when at the top of St Michael's tower.
I was sad the next day when I had to leave Hamburg, it truly is a stunningly beautiful city. I headed for Düsseldorf next, which is actually quite a fashionable city. The main shopping street there is called Koningsallee, which consists of shops such as Louis Vitton, Georgio Armani, BCBG Maxazria, and many other fancy brands I had never even heard of. I felt quite sloppy walking down this street to say the least. To be honest I didn't do much else other than shop in this city. I just needed one of those days to do nothing, and that's basically what I did. I just sat there watching the rain outside whilst playing on my iPad. I did walk around quite a bit, but it was more just walking and not so much sightseeing, so I did accomplish something. My other accomplishment here was finally finding myself another pair of cheap Birkenstocks; Düsseldorf actually has a Birkenstock store so that made my day. The pair I found were €45, which is about $60 and half the price of any you can find in Canada, or at least Calgary.
I'm sitting here in my hostel now and I'm wary these Birks will give me blisters before the day is out. :s. Heres to having a great third month in Europe! *clinks glasses*