In late June on my birthday i was given an envolope which contained flight details and hotel accomodation for two people for three nights in Hamburg, i'm sure you will all agree, that was a cool present.
It was a late flight last Monday night and as we didn't get to the hotel until about 1am it was straight to bed for an early start the next day.
After breakfast we made our way straight to the Reeperbahn as i wanted to see it during the day. You can imgine my surprise when we came accross what was obviously a tribute to the Beatles and that was before i even noticed the signs that were on display.
The posters that were up only gave the day of the official opening which was 11th September, and as we were due to fly back that evening it was important to get the time.
There were a few workers who were putting the final touches to the memorial so i asked if any of them spoke English and did they know what time it was going to open. One of them spoke good English but could not help us with the opening time.
We then decided to have a coffee in a cafe bar right next to it and while there i asked the same of a couple of people who were sitting at the next table. One of the guys again spoke really good English and told us he thought it was going to be between 9am and 11am and then as an afterthought he said he will try and get an exact time. At first i thought he was using his mobile/cell phone to call someone but then i realised he was going online to check it out. He actually spent about 15 minutes trying to get the time until he finally found it. The time was set for 1pm. I thanked him and offered to pay for his drinks but he wouldn't have it and said it was his pleasure, so whoever he was i thank him again.
On the 11th we got there about 12 but everything had been cordoned off and they were only letting in the invited guests, i tried to blag it that we had come over especially for the opening but they were not having it and as we couldn't see anything from where we were we decided to walk all the way around to the other side. You could see it a lot more clearly now and we managed to get a spot right at the front. The opening ceremony started at 1pm on the dot but to be quite honest was a bit boring for us as we couldn't understand a word they were saying.
After the speeches they unveiled the statues and then shortly after that they opened up the barriers so we could all go in and take a look.
The actual unveiling was a bit of a mix up as the invited guests all crowded around and it seemed as if they had forgot about Stu's because his wasn't taken off until about two minutes after the others. The other thing i found strange is that his is set about ten yards from the others.
Anyway when we got in closer i got talking to an American lady who had married a German and had been living there for thirty years and between them they were giving us some useful imformation on who was who.
I then managed to take some photos up close but i had forgotten to charge the batteries on my camera and after i took the one of John's plaque, which incidentely are on the bottom of the statues, my camera packed up.
Heres a few more pictures.
Not sure who this is but he seemed to be quite well known
I was told this guy was well known as someone who played years ago and is now a well known DJ. I think his name was something like Kuno (sp)
Yours truly.