Our first day in Lübeck

We arrived in Lübeck December 15, 2018, after flights from Minneapolis to Amsterdam, then Amsterdam to Hamburg, and a train ride from Hamburg to Lübeck. It was standing room only on the train, shoulder-to-shoulder with a group of men drinking beer and singing, which is something you never see in the U.S.  I'm not sure if that's a bad thing or a good thing? I'd like to hear more public singing, myself -- not so sure about the drinking part, but they seemed amiable enough.

Anyway, here we are at last:

We dragged our rolling luggage the kilometer from the Lübeck bahnhof to our flat, through throngs of people attending the Christmas market. We finally arrived around 6 p.m. at the home of our friend/landlord Peter, who was waiting for us with a home-cooked meal. We're again renting one of Peter's flats for two months in his "compound": a former vinegar factory from long ago. It's now a collection of buildings that houses a printer, a hairdresser, an English tutor, a jeweler, and Peter's bistro that features classical and jazz music performances on various Sundays. The old town of Lübeck is on an island in the Trave River, and our flat is within walking distance to everything we could ever want. The back wall of Peter's "compound" is the former city wall of Lübeck, which was founded in the early 1100s. Lübeck is considered the "Queen City of the Hanseatic League" -- a group of Baltic coast merchants that traded luxuries of the day, like salt and herring. These days, except for the places that were bombed in WWII and rebuilt, most of the city of Lübeck consists of 15- and 16th century residences. They're modernized, but still as picturesque as ever.

Here are the sights from our first day here:

A few blocks from our flat: Jacobkirche and a side street

One of my favorite signs from the Christmas market. . 

Tourists

Lubeck city gates. They used to pour hot oil (I'm not kidding) on invaders from here. 

A creche made of marzipan, which was invented in Lubeck.