At the beginning of March Morgan and I took a trip to Hamburg (including day trips to Lübeck and Stade). On Friday (the 1st) there was a going away party for one of Morgan’s colleagues and on the following Tuesday (the 5th) night was the Avett Brothers concert that Morgan had given me tickets to for Christmas.. so we made it into an extra-long weekend trip! We didn’t know much about Hamburg before going, I would have thought of Berlin and München has the biggest cities in Germany, but Hamburg is actually the second largest behind Berlin, is the second largest port in Europe (behind Rotterdam), and has more bridges than Amsterdam, Venice and London combined. Who knew? When we first booked our hotel stay I wasn’t sure if we’d be able to keep busy for 4 days, but that turned out to be barely enough time! We hit most of the historical sights/churches/most popular attractions, but there were several other museums we’d like to visit (the Chocolate Mesuem, the Kunsthalle, and the International Maritime Museum) and when the weather is nicer we’d like to do a harbor tour. Hamburg is also known for having lots of plays and musicals, so we’ll just have to go back there at some point in the future!
Since we drove up there, we had the flexibility of being able to drive to a few other towns nearby. One day we drove to Ahrensburg to visit the estate there and then went on the Stade- which had some of the most charming little streets (with lots of great windows & doors for me to take pictures of) and a picturesque old town center with old half-timbered houses along the canal in the middle (which was my cover picture on Facebook for a while). Another day we drove up to Lübeck where we were able to see the Holsten Gate as well as many beautiful churches and buildings with Gothic brick architecture which it has become known for (in addition to its Marzipan- though neither Morgan or I are fans so we didn’t buy any). On the way back from Lübeck we stopped by Travemünde which is a borough of Lübeck that sits on the Baltic Sea. We walked along the water and had coffee and dessert in a restaurant overlooking the water. All in all it was a great trip!
Below I’ll list the major places we visited with a little info about them so you know what you are looking at in the pictures!
Friday:
– Dinner at Herzblut – Restaurant where the going away party was. The district it is in (St. Pauli) is known for its bars, clubs, strip clubs and the red-light district (not exactly my first pick for an area to hang out); but it was where about 30 of Morgan’s work buddies were. Later in the night the restaurant turned into a club and there was a DJ and everyone was dancing, which was fun. Also, I learned that in the winter the prostitutes in Hamburg all wear moonboots so you can pick them out (since it is too cold to be barely dressed outside). Friends – don’t wear your brightly colored moonboots out on the town in Hamburg… people will think you are a lady of the night!
Saturday:
– Michaeliskirche- A Lutheran church that has become the landmark for the city. The inside is beautiful and you can walk up a TON of stairs to an observation platform in the tower that provides a great view of the city and the harbor (as long as it isn’t really cloudy/foggy like it was when we were there). It was sooo cold up there – there were ice crystals forming on everything!
– St. Nikolai- Now it is just a monument/museum, but originally it was a church that had the highest steeple in the world (when it was built). Unfortunately during WWII its steeple was used as a point of orientation for bomber pilots and the church was mostly destroyed. We took the elevator up to the viewing platform, where we were able to get a much better view of the city since the clouds and fog had cleared up a bit!
– Rathaus- Enormous and beautiful town hall. The front doors and main hallway were very ornate… I loved all the arches inside! We were peeking out the windows into the courtyard and there was a newly married couple having their pictures taken. I would have died being in a strapless dress, outside, in Hamburg at the beginning of March (it was oh, I don’t know, about 3°C or 40°F)! Brrr!
– Shopping district – Hamburg had so many nice stores! My store of choice was a chocolate shop and Morgan bought a pair of Puma’s.
– Binnenalster – We walked around the smaller of the two lakes in Hamburg and warmed up at a café on the water.
– Katharinenkirche – This church was very simple compared to St. Michael’s. It was pretty much all white inside other than a huge stain glass window behind the alter.
– Deichstrasse – One of the few surviving streets in old town, with the original facades visible from the road and the canal.
