Collin and I have a very good family-friend that lives in Hamburg, Germany. We were so pleased that she was home and graciously took us in for a few days. Unfortunately our good friend from high school wasn't in Germany when we were visiting but we loved spending a few days catching up with his mom.

We were greeted at the door with a warm hug that felt like home. I have always wanted to visit Hamburg and see the beautiful house that Collin has talked so much about.

We were shown our room and the part of the house that we could use to stretch our legs, relax, and unpack a bit. We had our own private bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, and sitting room. It was quite a luxury.

After pouring a delicious cup of coffee for ourselves we settled in to catch up with Mrs. H as we hadn't seen her in over 5 years. She told us about Hamburg and some places we wouldn't want to miss while we were visiting.

The next day we got ready and used Hamburg's amazing public transportation system to visit the Miniatur Wunderland exhibit that boasts the largest model railway system in the world. Taking a few snaps along the way, of course.

He poses like a pro.

The building was full of tiny replicas of everything you could think of - trains, buildings, ferris wheels, Swiss Alps, Area 51, Mount Rushmore, and more!

We felt like kids looking at all the trains and miniature pieces surrounding each location.

And every 15 minutes they turn the lights off to showcase their night scenes.

The lights on the cars, trains, buildings, airplanes, and street lights make it seem like a real, bustling city nightlife.

Hamburg is really a beautiful city. Every building we passed seemed like a piece of art. The harbor gives it a great vibe too.

We visited The Michel, or St. Michael's church, and crypts and also decided to try and work off some calories climbing over 400 steps to the top of the tower. Inside the church was breathtaking.

The organ was massive as it overlooked the pews below. The crypts were a reconstruction of the original space as a fire had destroyed most of the church years ago.

I felt like my heart was going to beat out of my chest as I was walking up the stairs. Collin, unsurprisingly, was more than ok. Taking two at a time but always making sure I wasn't too far behind. We could hear the wind howling as we got closer.

Outside, the wind took your breath away. Literally. We walked a few more steps up the tiny staircase that lead to the bell tower but I quickly had to climb back down as I couldn't catch my breath by the sheer force of the wind.

The Hamburg tram system is fantastic and as we were getting off at one of our many stops Collin noticed a poster advertising an exhibit of one of his favorite artists, H.R. Giger. Many of you many know his work from the movie Alien. He was on the special effects team that won an Academy Award for for the design work on the film. Lucky for us the exhibit was going on so we hopped on another tram and headed to a very industrial part of Hamburg.

The building for the exhibit was perfect. Very much an artist sort of vibe. We also loved the fact that it was only a 10 euro entrance fee. Score.

The artwork was just as I thought it would be. Amazing and provocative. I won't post all his work as some may not appeal to all but if you are interested in that sort of art work I would highly recommend looking him up.

What I loved most about visiting Hamburg is that being able to stay with Mrs. H really made us feel like we were at home for a few days. She is an extremely kind and warmhearted person that we are lucky to know. We were sad we weren't able to see our high school friend but we did talk on the phone, at Mrs. H's insistence, for over an hour. Catching up and reminiscing. I kept telling him that Collin hasn't changed a bit, he wasn't surprised.

Thank you for your generous hospitality Mrs. H.