Leaving our hotel in the morning was slightly delayed by a passing heavy rai shower. From our room window we watched the street below. When the umbrellas went down and the windshield wipers were turned off we headed out - but not without the security of a hotel umbrella! It was still cloudy and another shower was possible.
Our approach to exploring Hamburg was simple. Follow a map and track down some of the major sights. There is lots to see in Hamburg and one day is not nearly enough time to cover it all, but we we really enjoyed our day. Below is a bit of the photo evidence.
Hamburg is 110 kilometres along the Elbe in from the North Sea. It is Germany's largest seaport by volume and takes its place amongst the ports of the world. Vancouver caught my eye as a port close to our home.
The ruins of St. Nikolai are dedicated as a memorial to the victims of war and tyranny between 1933 and 1945. Allied forces used this tower, the highest tower in the city of Hamburg, as a landmark for navigation.
For a memorial, works of art are erected on the open space of the former church interior. On display today was ¨Between War and Hope¨, an in-depth reflection on a complex, yet inextricably human phenomenon: the subject of war.
In 1889, Elbe fisherman, Hans Rübcke had the Catarina built. The Catarina is no longer a working fishing vessel. It has been restored several times over the years, and now gleams with its black hull and white and tan sails. She is now owned by the port and bears the fishing number ALT 287.
The front side of the Rathaus (City Hall) is a very impressive sight. The magnificent building on the Rathausmarkt was built in the Neo-Renaissance style between 1886 and 1897
The morning walk was about five kms long. We returned to the hotel for a sandwich and short break before doing it all again in another direction. We started off at the train station where we bought train tickets to take us to Bad Oldesloe tomorrow. This will get us several kilometres outside Hamburg to start off the day's ride. We then walked out to a city lake and around the nearby neighbourhood. We finished the day in German style at a Hofbräuhaus! By the time the day was over, Pat`s watch had indicated that we had completed over 25K steps. We slept well!
Hamburg Hauptbahnhof averages 550,000 passengers a day. It is Germany's busiest railway station and the second-busiest in Europe after the Gare du Nord in Paris.
