A weekend in Hamburg - the Gateway to the World

Hamburg, the Gateway to the World. A city that demands more than just a tired smile from us Berliners, as the people from Spreeathen claim with deep enthusiasm that "it is the only village where you could still live after Berlin," and even I, as a true, native Berliner, have to say... Hamburg is it! This is where I could be!

Until now, I only knew this beautiful city on the Elbe and Alster from passing through, heading towards the North Sea. Alster Basin, of course - seen that, already learned to hate the main train station... like all train stations. I once did a Japanese sightseeing tour - saw the whole of Hamburg in four hours, but I never really spent a few days in this city.

Then, in the first weekend of June this year, it finally happened. Southern Germany sank in rain floods, floods, and tornadoes - the North sweated in early summer heat. I can now, without lying, say that I have spent a summer in HH! The city faced heat for a whole three days! Who can say that they were at the fish market in a T-shirt at 6:00 in the morning and sweating?!

So the first conclusion that can be drawn is that the choice of travel dates was spot on.

Day 1: Arrival

I'm not a fan of arriving on Fridays, the highway is full and you're already tired from the workday. But we made it through great and could check into our dog-friendly hotel in Norderstedt (yes, you read that right, not Hamburg) just after 4:00 p.m. The Friesenhof, which I would recommend to all dog owners, is a solid three-star hotel with all the bells and whistles, including a great breakfast buffet.

Our Emily was greeted with the words "Puppi, you're in the right place" And so it was, our little, lively Westie dog felt visibly comfortable. There is a garden at the back of the hotel where she could romp around and her buddy Aran, the Doberman, took care of the little fur girl.

Since our hotel was within walking distance of the nearest subway station/ elevated railway (Ochenzoll), we were at Jungfernstieg in about 30 minutes and after two more stops on a different line, we were directly at the Landungsbrücken in St. Pauli. Due to the heat and laziness after the journey, we enjoyed one or two Alsterwasser drinks in the pubs at the Landungsbrücken and admired the renovation work on the Queen Mary II, which is currently docked right opposite.

Queen Mary II in dry dock

Evening atmosphere, view of the Elbphilharmonie

In the early evening hours, we strolled to the "Michel," the Evangelical landmark of the city. A beautiful church with an interesting architectural touch... I especially liked the extraordinary gallery.

The whole of Hamburg was out and about, and despite the groups of Portuguese and Italian restaurants, we actually had difficulties finding a place to sit - and that too, outside, on a Friday, hardly possible. It's unimaginable for us Berliners that there are streets where the presence of restaurants is limited to two styles of cuisine. That would mean total failure and a planned bankruptcy in Berlin. In Hamburg, the old law "competition stimulates business" works excellently.

And when it comes to food, our Italian restaurant was a real stroke of luck, the seafood soup was as precious as gold dust. It was so delicious...

We were pretty exhausted when we returned to the hotel after our first impressions and fell asleep immediately in the comfortable bed.

Day 2, Saturday:

The sun was shining, the breakfast buffet was great for all foodies, whether vegans, flexitarians, vegetarians, or regular eaters. Well-fortified, we set off again towards the Landungsbrücken.

We had planned a harbor tour... our first ticket included a boat tour, probably with the Speicherstadt. But since there were no more outdoor seats available, we decided to return the ticket and visit the container port with one of the larger ships instead. The ticket seller understood immediately, and we blamed Emily for the ticket return, and the nice man eyed our naughty young dog, saying "she's not a seal either, no."

So we went aboard the big ship, and Emily had many playmates there. It seemed like every child wanted to cuddle with the dog, and we enjoyed our peace and quiet.

The harbor tour was very interesting, I never thought that container ships could fascinate me.

A relic from World War II

However, I have to admit that I didn't remember much about the ships or the comments about the shores of St. Pauli... I only want to share the following statements, which also apply to goods from Gucci, Chanel, or Dolce & Gabbana:

· The moorings in Hamburg are damn expensive!

· A container ship is damn expensive!

· Living in Hamburg, especially on the beach in Altona or even in a warehouse apartment, even in a retirement home, is damn expensive!

We also passed by the Aida Prima, and for the first time ever, I felt the desire to go on a cruise - although this giant ship would rather put me off... but going through the Caribbean from one damn expensive island to the next and exploring the sights with a rental car on these islands? Why not... I should consult the world wide web.

After our impressions of the Hamburg harbor, we had to replenish ourselves with Alsterwasser and the fantastic seafood soup before heading to Chilehaus, Jungfernstieg, and Alsterbecken.

Chilehaus

The sun was shining and we spent the afternoon with a fixed gaze on the Alsterbecken.

In the evening, we went to the "geile Meile" on the Reeperbahn. Of course, my beloved husband also didn't miss Herbertstrasse, and his two girls waited patiently outside!

 Through Davidswache and around the corner, we ended up at the Landungsbrücken again and tried our hand at group karaoke with a full fish sandwich in our mouths.

View from the Landungsbrücken to the Elbphilharmonie

A very funny evening was in store, which was topped only by our stroll through the Große Freiheit. As the local church community already loudly announced, "there is nothing that Jesus can't handle"... whether that referred to the sight of Olivia Jones remains open... the "lady" with pink hair certainly stood out.

We were totally exhausted by midnight, and Emily had sore paws... for a few hours, we lay down in our well-deserved bed

Day 3, Sunday:

Fish market means... getting up early. What is early? In our case, 5:00 a.m. and we were on time. Our dog looked at us in complete bewilderment as we quickly got dressed again.

The search for parking was quickly abandoned and we took the nearby parking garage... I can only recommend it. The market itself... well, just a tourist market. What caught my eye was the already peeled asparagus, one kilogram for €3. I couldn't resist and our dinner was secured for the same day.

The fish sandwich was no better than in the city center, we stayed away from the flowers. All in all, we were done within an hour and then enjoyed breakfast at the hotel.

We spent the morning in the Speicherstadt, which always amazes me.

So many great photo opportunities and my favorite place, next to the deli "Mutterland" in HH => the coffee roastery next to the Dungeon!!!! We bought several bags of coffee from Panama (our vacation destination next year) and Guatemala (my secret love) and, while enjoying a relaxed cappuccino on-site, planned our next trip to Hamburg. The miniature worlds and the Dungeon are to be visited in the bad season. In my opinion, Hamburg is always a good idea!