Sorry for the delay between posts.... Where was I? Right, so after Copenhagen we took another early morning, long distance train ride to Hamburg. We have a really good system going by now, pack everything up the night before so we can have as much of a sleep in as possible this includes postponing make up application till I'm settled into my seat on the train!
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| At Hamburg train station |
I had no expectations from Hamburg I didn't have much of an idea about the place. When we arrived we went straight to Hotel Figaro (which if you ever find yourself staying there I will warn you has to no wifi, what the helmet), pulled out our map and plotted a walk into town.
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The docks the water and the buildings reminded me a lot of Auckland but no where near as bustling which is strange as Hamburg is the second largest city in Germany. We explored the docks a little but were really tired from the travelling and early starts so we stopped for afternoon tea in a very sterile new cafe which did not make me warm towards Hamburg just yet.
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| Bridge over to the docks |
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After a bit more wandering the sky began to darken a lot and we ducked into a Currywurst shop just in time to miss the down pour.
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| Big black clouds |
After the rain stopped we walked into the central city and had a look at the shops. There are a lot of canals in Hamburg too, not as lovely as the ones in Copenhagen but perhaps if you had only been to Hamburg you would be impressed.
After looking in stores well out of my price range we went to a a Breuhaus (brew house) for a bier! a big delicious wheaty bier! I love the beers over these parts of the world.
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| Delicious big Beer |
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| Mmmm |
On our way back to the hotel we stopped to check out a massive old church nearly ruined in the war with just its walls and a huge impressive spire remaining.
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In search of some dinner we headed up each side of a really busy street filled with all sorts of eats. We settled on a genuine German restaurant which had the perfect amount of ambiance, delicious beers and an anti pasti platter bigger than your average dinner table... Followed by but definitely not needed, sausages and sauerkraut.
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| Pre dinner selfie for Mum |
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| The best food and wine and company |
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To kick Tuesday morning off we fulled ourselves well (probably not really necessary after last nights dinner but when in Hamburg!) with coffee, juice, croissants, cheese, bread, meats & fruits.
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Fuelled to the brim we set off to Explore St Pauli the hip part of town. We came across the red light district of Reeberbaun. I imagine this was absolutely bustling back in the days when this city was overflowing with sailors and whores.
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We came up on a classic car show which was quite impressive, big old Bentleys took my liking.
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Heading along the waterfront towards the city centre we stopped at a man made beach bar which we had read about in the Lonely Planet. Full of cool old un matching furniture, palm trees cool views of the port, good beer... and believe it or not, Fat Freddie's Drop in the radio.
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| View from the bat |
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| Just like the Waipa Delta |
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Another part of the city we explored was St George. Not a very nice part of town, full of sex shops for the dirty ship workers, homeless and just plain crazy people. We saw and old man talking to a statue, I am going to assume he is a German war vet gone a bit batty.
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As we walked in towards the city centre we stopped for some grape juice, sausage and a scary encounter with a swan (why me).
Very cool shops and style here (standard for this trip I have found), after a his and hers shop at American Apparel we scanned some of the other stores then headed back to our neighbourhood for a drink in a massive old rundown room with al these old vintage couches in. We stayed in a student area so this bar seemed full of them.
Dinner was had at a German restaurant which had nothing on the night befores meal but still delicious.
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Back to the hotel before, you guessed it, another long train ride to Munich for OKTOBERFEST!
