(Click on any photo for a larger version.)
Hamburg from the Elbe |
The car elevator |
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From Amsterdam, Adam & I took a train to Hamburg, where we met up with Angela. We stayed with my friends Rodney & Heidi in their flat in a beautiful area with a lot of greenery near the center of town. I love Hamburg. It's the German city I've spent the most time in, and I really feel comfortable there. Hamburg is a major shipping port on the banks of the Elbe river with a large lake (The Alster) at the center of it, and many canals running through it (more canals than either Amsterdam or Venice). Since the city was heavily bombed during WWII, unfortunately there's not a lot of old architecture left. It does, however, have a decent music scene.
Our first night, after dinner with Heidi & Rodney at an Indian/Italian restaurant, Angela, Adam & I went to a goth/industrial club on the Grosse Freiheit. The music was average, but we did hear a lot of songs that we were not familiar with so that was nice. We got quite a kick out of watching the air-guitar-guy dance right next to the air-drummer while the rest of the dancers moved by simply taking a step or two forward and then a step or two back. We got back to the flat and went to bed just as the sun was starting to lighten the sky at 4am - it's a bit disconcerting when you only have six hours of darkness during the summer, but the long days are nice. Must be a bummer during the middle of winter though.
On our second day, Rodney took us out for a bit of sightseeing. We took a boat tour on the Elbe which gave us a good look at the freeport on the South bank of the river. The freeport is Hamburg's actual shipping port, and because it's basically just a transfer point for goods in transit, you have to go through customs to get there. We didn't bother doing that, but instead spent quite a bit of time watching the three car elevators lower cars about 100 ft. down to the tunnel that goes underneath the Elbe to the freeport. Afterwards, the guys took a walk down Herbertstrasse, Hamburg's red-light district complete with girls in windows (but to avoid competition, they don't allow women to walk down the street so Angela & I couldn't go). We finished the evening by going out for dinner & drinks to celebrate Heidi's new job, which she had just gotten that evening! We also discovered Adam can fit 16+ lime wedges into his mouth.
Hamburg Summary - Many people have mobile phones, housing is a little less expensive than here, other things are about the same price or cheaper than home.
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Heidi |
The limes stuffed in Adam's mouth |
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