Hamburg - Saturday, 26 September

Up for an 8:30 deprture this morning. We will attempt to cram all of Hamburg into one day. Glad we have been here before.

Like Berlin, Hamburg is also a city and a state in Germany. We met our guide for the day, Kathrin, at the main station. She was a tad late because they had to evacuate the S-Bahn station she was in. But we were on our way with her about 9:15.

Kathrin explained much of the history of Hamburg as we made our way to the City Center. It traces its history back to the early 9th century when it was founded as Hammaburg. Like most of northern Germany, it was once in the possession of the Danes until ceded to Prussia. There is also a strong Dutch influence in the city. There are 3 rivers that flow through Hamburg: the Elbe, the Alster, and the Bille. The city boasts 2470 bridges and 95 consulates.

In 1842 there was a great fire in the city that destroyed 50 % of the city after which it was built on modern lines. In 1892 more than 8600 people died as a result of cholera deaths. During WWII air raids destroyed more than half of the city.

Hamburg is a very green city because of parks and the waterways. One even finds a man in the midst of the river.

 

Our first stop of the day was to the Rathaus and Rathaus Square. What a beautiful Renaissance building that luckily survived the fire and air raids.

In the market in front was a statue of Heinrich Heine. Inside are the entries to the two sides of parliamen

 

In the courtyard there is a fountain dedicated to Hygieia, the goddess of health, that memorializes the victims of the cholera epidemic.

behind the Rathaus is the stock mrket. I was amazed by the lack of security. People roamed freely withoug passing through metal detectors.

Just a few short blocks away was St. Michaels Kirche. It is baroque church that was just breathtaking. Contrary to so many European churches, St. Michaels is very bright and uplifting. The choir was prepared to sing, but upon entering the church, we heard another choir and orchestra rehearsing. What a treat. The seats are teakwood, the pulpit Italian marble, and there are 4 organs.

 

 

 

Across the street are the oldest homes in Hamburg. Built 390 years ago they once served as homes for widows. The twisted chimney kept sparks from going straight up and starting a fire.

 

From sints to sinners it was. A drive along the Reeperbahn gave a glimpse of the "night life" in the red light district. The tribute to the Beatles marks the street where the Star Club(1st venue for their performance) is.

 

It was then time for our harbor cruise. Even though Hamburg is inland, the port is quite busy for shipping and container ships. We had done this in 2002 when we were in Hamburg. I was amazed by the container ships then and still amazed by the immensity of them. It was a short cruise of an hour.

 

The new concert hall will also house apartments. The Germans know how to utilize every inch of space.

A quick lunch and then on the coach for a trip to Altes Land. The backery on the docks supposedly has the best Franzenbrötchen. Can't attest to that, but it sure was good with macadamia nuts.

Unfortunately, on this excursion I was sitting on the right side of the coach and most of the "sights" were on the left. In addition, the coach was really going at a speed not conducive to photo taking. Consequenty, i have very few pictures of this beautiful country side. The Altes Land shows a prominent Dutch influence that is reflected in the style of the homes and many orchards. The "bridal gate" marks the entry to the home and courtyards.

The Rathaus

In Jork we visited a beautiful church where a wedding was about to happen. The steeple of this church is not attached to the church itself because of the marshy land. After people couldnt heed the instruction of "only a few at a time," we were basically kicked out.

 

 

 

Heading back to Hamburg we passed the massive Airbus plant that employs more than 17,000.

We got back to Hamburg earlier than expected and Kathrin wanted to take us through a paRk, but the group nixed it so we arrived at our dinner/concert venue a bit early. At the Elbschloß Residenz, we met the Lotsenchor with whom the choir would sing. Dinner (cold snacks) and music ensued.

 

An assortment of fish sndwiches

It was a late night getting back to the hotel. No real time for blogging. Really glad to hear the Pirates pulled another one out. Sure would love for them to sweep, but it will be tough against Arrieta.

 

 

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Hamburg - Sunday, 27 September

This is our last day on tour with the Teutonia Chorreise. It was very much a do your own thing day. It was good to sleep in a bit since we didn't have to leave the hotel until 10:00. I got up and work on the blogs for a while since I had fallen way behind with late nights and early mornings.

 

Many opted to go into Hamburg and shop while Earle and I and about 15 others opted for the Miniatur Wunderland. That is a 3 floor exhibit of miniatures and model trains. Many thought it was a train museum, but really the trains are such a minor part of the exhibit. It is another one of those unbelievable sights that you can't explain until you see it. The details of the exhibt are so meticulously presented. It was fun to try to find the scenes in a scavenger hunt. I only found about half. There are scenes from Switzerland, Austria, the city of Hamburg, Southern Germany, Middle Germany, the United States, and the incredible Flughafen where planes take off and land. It even features the landing of a space shuttle.

 

 

 

The new concert theatre in Hamburg opened up, the muscians made music and the conductor waved his baton.

Mount Rushmore was part of the US depiction as was Las Vegas.

 

It was a very quick 3 1/2 hours there before we had to meet the coach to go to the city center. We had about an hour and a half before meeting for the Reeperbahn walk. Took that time to go to the nearest church - St. Peter's, the city's oldest dating to 1195.

 

The Reeperbahn walk was interesting but many were complaining that it was a waste of time that could be spent in having a beer. Before we actually began that walk we saw one of the remaining Nazi bunkers in Hamburg as well as the dancing buildings.

 

 

Prostitution is legal in Hamburg and on Herbertstraße the men got to go past the women in the window. They all reported that the women for hire were all texting. Not sure we women believed that since we were not allowed to walk there.

Also saw the place, The Star Club, where the Beatles made their debut performance.

On to the Fischerhaus where we did not have fish for a change, but tomato soup, schnitzel, French fries, and berries and creme.

 

 

Back to the hotel to pack and get ready for an 5:30 am departure.

But before that listened to the St. Louis game and excited to hear the Brewers beat them.

 

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Karolinenkoog to Hamburg - Friday, 25 September

 

t was a later departure time this morning that allowed us to leave our hotel on time. Most of us had left luggage on the coach since we were only here one night. I am sure others have different opinions, but was glad it was only one night here. Will have a review soon on Trip Advisor that I am sure they will not like.

Best thing about the morning was to read that the Pirates pulled another one out. Go Pedro. Now we have to dispense with the Cubbies!

 

 

Jutta was our guide for the day and she was chock full of information about the Nordfriesenland area.

Jutta (with the red scarf) changed our itinerary a bit as we started our day in Tönning, a small fishing village on the Eider Fluß. After a 15 minute walk we stopped at a relief map of the area where she explained the marshes, harbors, and other physical geography of the area.

 

Then it was about a 10 minute walk into the village. Tönning is a city whose history dates back 500 years. It was a shipping port was and also was subject to catastrophic floods due to storms from the North Sea. A pole depicts the high water marks.

 

 

One of the most interesting buildings was the Kanal Packhaus, built in 1783. At Christmas the windows in the building become an Advent Calendar.

Whereas yesterday was a day spent nearly entirely on the coach, today was an on, off, walking day. It was very windy, but when the sun came out, the warmth was appreciated.

After leaving Tönning, it was a short drive to the Eidersperrwerk. Along the way we saw a massive dike that is used to hold back the North Sea.

 

The Eidersperrwerk is a barrage mechanism for protecting against the storm surges of the North Sea. It was constructed between 1967 and 1973 and is Germany's largest coastal protection structure.

We left the Eidersperrwerk and headed for the town of St. Peter Ording. It was another beach resort town on the North Sea and was similar to what we saw on Sylt yesterday. After a stroll through the little village we arrived at a very impressive bridge/boardwalk structure that led to the beach.

Jutta explained the tides and how they change the beach. The boardwalk stretched for 800 meters and some of the choir even made it all the way to the water. Guess I got all my steps in today. The beach is massive since we saw it when the tide was out.

Because of the distance to the sea many could not make it back in time for our 1:00 departure and so we left about 20 minutes late. The lack of punctuality is really getting frustrating. From there we traveled another short distance to Westerheven to see the lighthouse there. The salt marshes were also very interesting as Jutta explained how the channeling and sediment building increased the effectiveness of the dike on which we were standing.

 

The marshes are a stopping point for migrating birds.

A short drive took us to the Roter Haupbarg. This is a huge farmhouse that dates back to 1647 and was designed in the Dutch style to have all associated with the farm under one roof. Attached to the house is a museum that shows has many farm tools and artifacts. We had hope to have a coffee and some kuchen there, but didn't have reservations and so could not be accommodated.

 

 

Our last tour stop of the day was Husom, another village on the North Sea. It once was a shipbuilding port, but now only does ship repairing. It has an inner harbor and outer harbor and is really a quaint village. It serves as the capital of the district of Nordfriesland. Time for a stroll and a gelato before we returned to the coach to head to Hamburg.

 

 

We got to Hamburg and the Leonardo Hotel about 7:15. Quickly dropped our luggage in the rooms and headed to dinner. It was an impressive buffet with a wonderful salad bar.

The accommodation here is the best we have had. The room is really spacious, has ample plugs, a mirror, and very high speed Internet. Here for 3 nights so that is a plus. Off to get all devices attached to a charging mechanism and them bed before we depart at 8:30.

 

 

 

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