Hamburg, Germany – day 1

Today was a washout, literally. We woke up to a drizzle, but by the time we were leaving the ship for our tour it was pouring. Hamburg is in the northern part of Germany and is the second largest city in Germany with a population of approximately 1.7 million. It lies at the intersection of 3 rivers and has many canals as well. The city has 2,500 bridges with New York City being the only city with more bridges.

The city has a vast transportation system – buses, tramcars, underground trains and trains. There are 5 major train stations in the city. The traditional buildings are made of light colored sandstone with copper roofs. Most of the buildings from the 1800s to late 1900s are made of red brick. There was a large amount of building cranes with lots of building going on. These new buildings are modern big city looking.

The old warehouse area built from 1880 to 1920 is now part of a UNESCO area. There is a big area near this being developed as a modern new city. Hamburg is a cultural city with a new opera house, of very striking design, Elbphilharmonie, fondly called Elfie by the locals.

We drove through the city seeing the usual town hall, churches and other famous landmarks. We passed the red-light district where the Beatles got their start playing in bars in the area.

We then boarded a steam powered boat for a ride on Alster Lake. This is a huge lake system, 2 big lakes in the center of town. It was still raining so it was hard to see much. We passed through and by, beautiful parks and homes. This is obviously the upscale part of town. The American embassy is on one of the lakes. The city has been named a European Green Capital for all the beautiful trees and parks.

It finally stopped raining when we got back to the ship, so we were able to eat lunch on the deck, but still had to wear our warm jackets because it was chilly.

We overnighted in Hamburg.