Hamburg Dungeon and Hamlen

Yesterday after I met up with Heather we went to the Hambourg Dungeon, which is sort of a haunted house/ sort of a history lesson.

Essentially you go room to room and live actors recreate the horrible times of Hamburg's history. There was a room that shook and made you feel like you were going down an elevator to the 'depths of hell' at the beginning. From there we went through performances about the plague, pirates, the Inquisition, the great Hamburg fires, torture chamber, a mirror room, a 'haunted' boat ride and finally a free-fall ride which is supposed to be like the hangman's noose. Overall it was really fun, even if the entire hour and a half was in German! They offered English tours, but only Fri-Sat at 10am. Which we didn't know until we got there at about 11ish. Oh well! People dressed as ghost/zombies and yelling in German made it all the more scary! We found out they have one in London which includes recreations of Sweeney Todd and Jack the Ripper...we are definately going there we tour the UK in a few years!!!

After the dungeon we made the trek to Hamlen, home of the pied-piper. For those who don't know the tale, in 1284 Hamlen was overrun by rats. In an effort to get rid of the infestation the town hired a piper who was said to have the ability to lure the rats away with his flute. He played his flute and all of the rats followed him out of town. But the town did not pay the piper as promised so on June 26th 1284, he played his flute and lured 130 children as young as age 4 out of their houses while everyone else was at church. The children followed the piper out of town and into the mountains and were never seen again. Only 2 children returned, because they had been held up. One was mute and the other blind and neither could tell what had happened.

Through the summer months everyday at noon the town puts on a parade with a man dressed as the piper and 130 children dressed as rats. Even though we didn't get to see the play, the image of the pied piper is everywhere! We really enjoyed Hamlen. Its a really small,quite town. Its perfect for a day trip to just walk around and hang out.

We got back to our hell-hostel last night. I had Heather escort me to the frat party to collect my things, then we went back to her dorm. We just shared the twin size bunk last night. Even though it wasn't the most comfortable night's sleep, it was better than the shinanigans in my room!!

We got up with the sun this morning and are currently on our way to Copenhagen, Denmark!!

Safe Travels,
- Kit & Heather