I was planning to put all Hamburg together in one post tomorrow, but two good things happened today so here you go!

First, I decided to walk the couple of kilometers to the wharf area, which is supposedly the most tourist-visited place in Hamburg. I oriented myself on a map and ended up walking through a cute little park (complete with enormous statue of centaurs wrestling a fish, of course) and to this big building that perfectly matched the grey cloudy sky:

Then down a busy street and then along a path parallel to the water. It could have been the grey weather or the fact that there were almost no other people on the path, but I felt wary the whole time, like maybe I was in a bad part of town and didn’t know it. But made it completely safely to a side road and then turned a corner and saw a couple with a map; securely into tourist territory. First was the enormous old fish market building. I popped in and was surprised to find a crowd already into their beer and a band playing “We Will Rock You” on a stage. Weird feeling to hear such a quintessential song in a far-away place.

Continued walking along the water and through a huge flea market that was just closing up. I passed a boy playing a classic french song on a keytar, then an old man playing an accordion. Walking along the wharf everyone was taking pictures of a giant ship and I thought that it’s probably headed for the Panama Canal, where I was in February. What a life I’m living.

Suddenly the crowd cleared out in front of me and I felt I could go anywhere. “Look at me, I’m in Germany! The world is my oyster!” So to speak. That was my important thing #1 today.

The rain started to really fall after that and, with this new strong feeling of mobility and possibility, I decided to shell out the dough to visit the Emigration Museum. Apparently a lot of people (especially from Russia, Scandinavia, and Germany) got on boats in Hamburg bound for Ellis Island and as a United Statesian I felt particularly interested.

“Handbook to the United States” & “How to Get Your First Papers”

The museum was interesting but nothing emotion-inducing. I made my way back to the wharf and stopped for a fish sandwich. I chose a little fish-cake, too intimidated by the slabs of indecipherable seafood options.

Check out all of the “wurst” on the menu!

Then I started making my way back via a higher road. I was vaguely heading towards a pretty church steeple, and suddenly I saw a very familiar sign:

I WAS ON A CAMINO DE SANTIAGO!

I still can’t believe it. I followed the shells for about 10 minutes, so happy and incredulous. At one point I had the thought “I wonder what’s at the end if I keep following them,” obviously followed immediately with the thought “Of course, Santiago de Compostela! I was just there!” What an incredible feeling. And one more crazy thing; the shells directed me eventually back on the exact same path that had put me on edge that morning. I had been walking a Camino without even knowing it. I could say something cheesy like ‘Even when the path looks unsure, you’re still walking the [Right] Way,’ but.. Oh wait, I just said it.

Update: I confirmed, it’s the Via Baltica