Adventures in Europe III - Hamburg then home :)

I had been very excited about the trip to Hamburg as we had planned to take the ICE train; but it was cancelled as it pulled into our station, so we rode a slow inter-city train from Budapest to Hamburg. It was really hot and Dad mischievously pulled the emergency brake on the first class door-close mechanism ensuring we all got to share their air-con.

When we eventually arrived at our accommodation for the night we were disappointed. It had taken a long time to get there and our ‘twin chalet with garden entrance’ turned out to be a converted garage by the bins. Worse, the room had not been cleaned! Having had the train ride from hell, I was not OK with the situation. I marched to the reception and demanded the receptionist do something about it. He looked scared and needless to say we were upgraded. To be fair to them the room price was maybe a third of Industrie Palast but we had got used to a superior service. 

New room moved into we headed to Hamburg Harbour which was having some kind of noisy festival. Our oasis of calm was a little Portuguese riverside restaurant that offered food at 10pm on a Sunday night. Dad marvelled that any restaurants were open after 6 (this was not how it was in Austria in 1987!) and I enjoyed the most amazing John Dory and veg I’ve ever had!

(Hamburg Rathaus)

With the reassurance that Hamburg could do good food, even if it was Portuguese, we set of the next day hopeful. We headed straight for the Rathaus because I had recently learned my Granddad had been stationed there in the war, we took lots of nice photos and enjoyed the posh bits of Hamburg, all the big designers were there.

Dad and I found somewhere we felt much more comfortable, the St Nickolas Memorial Church. One of the highlights from my Lonely Planet Guide to Central Europe, the memorial is thoroughly reminiscent of Coventry. The church was totally flattened by the Allied forces during campaign Gomorrah and only the steeple remains. The church building area is slowly filling up with various memorials, I liked the one with the hands, and the emphasis is on world peace rather than German victims. As before there was a lift to board and Dad and I enjoyed another view of another German city from the air - this one looking completely unrecognisable from its pre-war city. This led Dad and I to several discussions on what constitutes ‘Just War’ and bravery. The museum at St Nickolas is also worth a visit for the photographic collection.

Hamburg from the air looks distinctly like a city that does not look back, it does not renovate, it innovates.

(St Nikolas Church)

After a nifty little lunch at the Crobag and an amusing incident where Dad was determined to ask for an ATM by showing his card to strangers, in full knowledge I knew how to ask in German, followed by several iced drinks we headed for the old harbour. Dad found a massive model railway, luckily for me it was the wrong gauge for him, and then I got an exciting missed call from an old friend, you know who you are and I’m really happy for you. Buoyed by the knowledge a good friend was very happy Dad and I boarded a boat on the lake at Hamburg. It was a glorious day and I’ll admit its a middle-aged past time but we enjoyed the German boat-tour, trying to guess the detail and occasionally checking with a Lithuanian girl who had the tour in English and was trying not to fall asleep.  The lake was pretty and I enjoyed watching sailors of different ages master their crafts.

(View from the boat, Hamburg Lake)

After this leisurely tour, some paddling, and some envy over a paddle-steamer on Dad’s part, we discovered a quite different boat-tour. Down at the harbour our rail-tickets were also valid for the boat taxis. These little boats zip about the harbour at speed throwing spray in the faces of anyone mad enough to stand on deck, like us, doing our best Reepicheep impressions. Although I was hungry and a bit sleepy by this stage, I did feel very alive and I got a great view of the futuristic Elbe Philharmonic Hall. On our return Dad reminded me of the poignancy of the area we had just jetted about, the U-boat harbour. Over dinner, at the Portuguese place we thought about our trip and all it had entailed, the things we had learned, the reasons we were grateful and the memories we’d keep forever.

(Elbe Philharmonic Hall from the Harbour)

By the Tuesday we returned home, from Hamburg to Southend, we were getting quite used to long periods of time on trains and the thought of the slow train from Osnabruck was actually alright. I listened to tunes and stopped Dad snoring too loudly, drank cheap off the trolley coffees and made the most of the spare seat spaces for napping. The trip across the channel takes literally half an hour, there isn’t really even time for the loo sign to come on, but I did manage a celebratory gin and tonic. Within an hour and a half of landing, my sister had already dragged me out to our Zumba class and things were definitely back to normal! But I really enjoyed Europe, especially speaking German, eating tasty things outdoors and lots of sunshine!