Late Night Surprise

The last two night have been "late" nights for me. This means getting home close to midnight during the week. In the States, I tend to be in bed by 10p or 10:30p at the latest, so, yes, midnight is late for me.

Both nights, either walking home or U-bahning it home, I had to really encourage my body to remain alert and awake. I should mention that I feel very safe in Hamburg, but that doesn't mean one shouldn't be alert when alone at night.

Last night, after two nine-minute Ubahn rides and a 4-minute and 7-minute wait for those Ubahn rides, I was definitely ready to speed walk home and drag myself up the stairs to my bed. However, as I rounded the corner just past the Kammerspiele at 23:51, I sensed that this wasn't any ordinary Thursday night.

I saw some people standing around looking at something. I saw some men in orange vests. I saw some sort of vehicle with a large attachment. It was quiet.

At first, I thought it was construction. There's a lot of construction going on everywhere in the city, but the timing didn't make sense.

My next guess was a fire. I think I must have imagined some fog in the air. As for the fire ladder, I think that was also a part of my imagination stemming from a recent story I translated at work. But there weren't any flames and it was just too quiet for a rescue.

I really wasn't in the mood for asking someone what was happening.

Finally, I realized what was happening with the call of one word, "Action!" Suddenly, a man was running down the sidewalk with 6-8 men chasing him while yelling.

Now it all made sense. The booms, the lights, the microphones. I was witnessing a "scene". I'm not sure if they were filming a TV show or movie, but it was still pretty cool.

For about three minutes.

Then I had to figure out how to get across the street and make it to my bed. I observed other viewers and waited until a girl confidently walked across the street and right through a bunch of crew members and their trucks. I followed suit.

This morning, I noticed that the truck with the giant light is still parked on the street. I may have to wander the area again tonight.