Dec 27 - Lubeck and Hamburg: Woke up in Lübeck in time to get to Hamburg by 10am because that's when everything opens. Got to the train station, had some French fries and a Coke at McDonalds (the third time as my breakfast in 5 days) then hopped on my train to Hamburg. And it was a quick ride. Only 30 minutes until I got off the train. The Hamburg station is huge, the biggest one of this trip so far. Wanna know why? Here's some things you may not have known about Hamburg:
-- It is the second largest city in Germany behind Berlin with 1.8mm people
-- Located on the river Elbe, it is the second largest port in Europe behind Rotterdam
-- Most of the city was left in ruins following Allied bombing raids in WWII
I got to my Ibis hotel near the train station at ~9:45am and they let me check into my room. I got settled in my room and then ventured out into the city. Here’s a picture of my walk from the hotel to the city with a view of the churches across the river.
The Christmas market was still going strong along the river. American pop was pumping through the sound system. I made my way through the market and started the guided walk that I found in my National Geographic guide book. First on the list was to walk thru the Rathaus, or city hall. Here’s a view of the Rathaus
Pretty impressive building but you couldn't go inside to tour it. Ok. So I walked thru the courtyard and back out onto the street. The next stop on the National Geographic walk -- Nikolaikirche. This wasn't much of a church. There was a steeple standing and a few walls here and there. The church was burned out sometime in the 1800s. Rebuilt in 1880s. Then when it was bombed again in 1942 in WWII, they called forget it. We just rebuilt this thing. We are leaving it as is. It's a pretty powerful thing to see -- a bombed out church, still standing 70+ years later. The steeple has been maintained and you can ride to the top in an elevator. I didn't do that, a waste of my time. But here’s a picture of the steeple. Check out the partial walls
From the bombed out church I walked down along the water front. This water front is a huge park ringing the city. Love all the parks and rivers in Europe, The walk in the park took me to the Hamburg history museum. Interesting little building with random tidbits about the history about the city. After maybe an hour in there I walked back out into the aforementioned park. I heard some music. As I got closer to the source, I noticed where it was coming from -- a huge ice skating rink. It was packed with people circling the ice. Probably close to 175 people all skating to Beyoncé. Check out the skating rink, it is huge and packed!
This walk was taking me to the next sight. I hoofed it over to at Michaelis Kirsche. The biggest church in the city. But it has no stained glass and all white plaster inside. It was rebuilt in the mid 1800s (a common theme here, I think there was a big fire?) but looks like it was built in the 1970s with the all white plaster walls. Thumbs down! But there is a HUGE organ in the back. It looks too big for the space. Not sure if I've seen one that big. The chapel dominates the skyline but the ceiling doesn't look that high inside. It had a huge Xmas tree and a Jesus on the cross at the front. Check out my pic!
I then walked back to the hotel because that's what I do when it gets dark and everything shuts down. Here’s a couple of pics of my walk back to the hotel.
And recharge my batteries, I did. I then got all wrapped up again and walked over to an area of city with a restaurant that was recommended to me by my friend Amanda. After a 45 minute walk, I saw the craft beer store next door that Amanda had mentioned. I bought two bottles of beer brewed at this very store and in checking out found out the cashier had spent a year in Gulfport, MI back in high school. New friend made. So I left him. But here’s a picture of the beer
I went next door to the restaurant that had been recommended but it was packed. At 8pm on a Friday night? Shocking! Being alone is weird going out to eat. I try to eat somewhere that has a bar and this place had no bar to sit. So I passed and went back to the craft beer store that has a pub next door. And it was packed. Bar was full so I walked thru the neighborhood for a while until I found a bar that looked promising. Sat down, ordered a local beer, confused the bartender by being bad at German and talked too fast when I spoke English. I then walked down to the red light district (St Pauli district) but it was not too crazy yet, maybe because it was only 9. Either way, I hadn't eaten in more than 10 hours so I tried to find places to eat on the walk back to my hotel. Couldn't find anything so it was back to the train station for some Thai spicy basil chicken w noodles. Consumed in my room. That was about it for today. Clean up. Go to bed. Good night!
Recent Comments