Welcome in Hamburg

It's funny how a city that's so far from my city of birth can actually feel like home. On Thursday I went to Hamburg by plane and I arrived at around 23.00. I searched for the apartment of my good friend Salvatore, which is in the colorful neighborhood of St. Pauli. I was in a street near Jung von Matt, one of the most famous agencies in Germany. It's a neighborhood where every wall seems to be full of posters. A district full of little restaurants, second hand stores and smoky pubs. I couldn't find Salvatore's apartment at first, but to kill the time a bit, I talked to a beggar with a big grey beard and drank an Astra in a chinese place. As soon as I figured out that the phone number of my Italian friend needed a landcode in front of it, Salvatore himself walked in, lured by the sound of my voice and looking to see if I was near.

I can't imagine any other city where I'd feel so comfortable to walk the streets while being slightly lost. Of course, this is the city that I lived for more than a year. Where my Miami Ad School adventure first started. That weekend I visited my old school again, where the headmaster Niklas made some time in his busy schedule to have a talk. I also met Rhea Hanges again, a former Miami Ad School student who moved from New York to work in Hamburg. And I met tons of new people, amongst them Anne Mauro and Glenn, who made the wise decision to study at the Miami Ad School.

What's great about Hamburg is that the city rocks so hard that every weekend looks like a festival. This weekend wasn't an exception. We stayed until late in loud, underground punk clubs and the next day I took the train -still with a slight hangover- back to Amsterdam. Advertising, Astra, Salvatore, Miami Ad School, JvM, parties; this weekend was like all the memories of Hamburg in a nutshell.