Meat anyone? A Trip to Hamburg

Quick- what are the five food groups in the US?
-Protein,Grains, Fruits/Veggies, Dairy and Fats

You know what the five food groups are in Germany?
-Pork, Beef, Sausage, Beer and Cheese.

A friend told me that even vegetables in Germany are meat after her trip there last Summer.

Whhhat? 

Yeah, what that actually means is that all meals in Germany include meat, and then some more meat in case you plate starts to be a little light.  You chances of getting a full dose of veggies is pretty slim, and almost none.I do actually exaggerate here, but the portions include surprising portions of meat.

A rowdy group of us went to a Hofbrauhaus Muchen in Hamburg.  It's a pretty famous chain with a traditional beer hall atmosphere and servers in leiderhosen and dirndls carrying 4-5 beers in each hand.  Which is some feat considering the size of the beers, but more on that later.

Here is a picture of my dinner that included a pork shank as big as my head. 
Hardly joking here... 
I ordered it as a lark, because I wasn't feeling too schnitzly or into sausages.  It's an entire pork shank... um, roasted and then deep fried to make it crispy. If you like pork rinds, you will like this.
It came with a perfectly round potato dumpling with a yummy, thick texture. I wanted to hate it, but I couldn't.  Even my side of coleslaw included a topping of bacon. It was amazing, tangy with vinegar instead of mayonnaise and them liberally sprinkled with thick, chunky bacon. Of course, the meal isn't complete without a bunch of gravy.

I couldn't eat more than a third of this meal, and was duly impressed to see the woman behind me at the long table at the beer hall finished every last nugget and morsel on her plate. The bone was licked clean. Wow, wow.  I was probably 4 inches taller and 30 lbs heavier than that woman and she totally ate me under the table. I wanted to get a picture of her plate, but good manners kept me from taking a picture.  I may have stared a little though...

Now onto the beer. I mean "bring on the beer".... we may have chanted that at some point during the evening.
Everyone knows beer is big business in Germany.  Here's a photo of me toasting with my beer.  See my smile, it's actually hiding a grimace of pain that is shooting up my arm from lifting this thing.  I watched some to remain unnamed people at my table drink more than one of these.
More than three.... actually, I'm pretty sure it was four.
I assure you I ordered the ladylike size of beer after this one.

I considered hoisting that pork shank over my head for a photo opportunity, but all that drippy gravy made me reconsider.