In Hamburg, Miscellaneous

1. There are public urinals on sidewalks in Hamburg, too, but they look nicer than the Amsterdam ones.

2. Toilet paper is more rectangular than square in Hamburg. I'll let you know if that continues to be true in the rest of Germany.

3. A lot fewer bicycles in Hamburg compared to Amsterdam, but more than in Boston.

4. There is no open container law in Germany, and beer-drinking appears to happen all the time, regardless of the activity being performed, at least here in Hamburg. You can't drink on the U-Bahn (subway) though. I was buying a beer in a convenience store (I wanted to blend in with the crowd, of course) and saw a sign, in German, that basically said you have to be 16 to buy beer and 18 to buy spirits.

5. There are closed doors in public buildings that you are SUPPOSED to open. Would you imagine turning the handle on a giant, old wooden door to get from one museum exhibit hall to the next? They haven't heard of doorstops?

6. The subway is on the honor system here in Hamburg. Yes, you read correctly. You are supposed to have a ticket, but there are no turnstiles or barriers. And no, the tickets aren't read electronically from afar. Instead, you can be randomly asked to show your ticket, and if you can't produce one you will have to pay a €40 fine on the spot or be detained by the bahnpolitzisten.

Location:Heiligen-Geist-Feld,Hamburg,Germany