Florian picked me up at Tegel airport where we rented a VW Polo. Over the next 10 days, we put more than 3,000 kilometers on it.
Florian is a superb driver but he argues a lot with the GPS lady. When he let me take the wheel on the autobahn, I had the thrill of driving without a speed limit for the first time.
It took less than three hours to get to Hamburg. It's an independent state in Germany. I used to collect the German state flags when I lived in Heidelberg as a child.
We headed straight for the harbor and walked under the Elbe to the other side. The Elbe tunnel was the first to cross a river.
Tourists love to leave behind their locks.
Hamburg isn't the prettiest city, but it's one of the richest in Germany.
If you own a Mercedes or a BMW, chances are it shipped from this port. The city fathers have made their money taxing exports and imports for centuries.
We saw the sights from a commuter ferry.
Few of the buildings in Hamburg are taller than St. Michael's Church. Unlike most of the Lutheran churches in the city, it was built as a Protestant house of worship after the Reformation.
A monument nearby memorializes Bismarck. Germany's graffiti generation isn't particularly respectful of the country's complicated past.
Uwe, Florian's first boyfriend and our host in Hamburg, took us to 20 Up, a crowded bar at the top of a hotel. It had a strict dress code (no athletic shoes), spectacular views and overpriced drinks.
No visit to Hamburg is complete without a stroll through the Reeperbahn but you're not allowed to photograph what makes it so famous.
The prostitutes who worked this corner screamed at me from across the street to put away my camera. Uwe said their pimps would do more than that if they caught me.
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