Wanderers : Germany 🇩🇪 - Hamburg: A Luxe Weekend in Germany’s Gateway to the World

Hamburg - the second-largest city in Germany and a major port, often called the "Gateway to the World."

🗺️ What did we do?

Alsterfontäne a great place to people watch.

We strolled through Dammtorpark (State park)

Skulptur Liegende

Fishies

Flowers

A woman's team building event. It was fun to watch.

We found seats

Elbphilharmonie: Hamburg’s architectural crown jewel. Whether you catch a concert or just admire the sweeping views from the plaza, it’s a must.

Fischmarkt takes place from 5 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. on Sunday mornings since 1703. I made Rob get up early 🤪 and do a death march.

Lots of people

Breads

Cheese 🧀

Live Music 🎶 🎵
8:30 in the morning and people
were drinking beer! We were
close to joining them.

A bag of fruit 15 Eur

Miniatur Wunderland: An amazing miniature world that delights kids and adults alike. If you do nothing else, do this! It's more than a 'model railroad'. The detail is staggering.

You purchase your ticket and receive a timed entry, they provide a "lounge" to wait in serving water & soft drinks. Once you enter you can stay as long as you want.

Upon entering they ask where you are from to keep statistics of their vistors.

USA 256,490

Now the fun begins and I have so many pictures but Rob says I can't post them all. The detail is incredible. The atmosphere changes from day to evening to night.

One of the rooms where
creation takes place

The top raised up and the side
garage doors opened

Fans in the Stands

The cars racing through the streets:

Fort Antoine

Oceanographic Museum

Wedding of Grace Kelly

Marble Facility in Italy

Cable Car to transport
marble

Gepetto's Workshop

Pinnichio's nose grew

Silent Night Chapel in Oberndorf

"Heinrich-Hertz" TV Tower

My favorite part was the Hamburg Airport.

The short videos are a must:

Takeoff:

Night Landing in the background:

USA

Mount Rushmore

Haul truck 🚚
I was trying to see if it had the
appropriate IRP plate

I think he is checking ✔️
out Rob and not the bridge 🤔

Trestle Bridge spans over 1.8 meters
Has 270 railway ties and took over
195 hours to construct

Vegas

Vegas at Night

The Moon with Astronauts
and a very tiny German flag

Rocket

Space Launch

Port of Hamburg

Köhlbrand Bridge

Roundhouse

Elbphilharmonie

St Michael's Church

Planten un Blomen: A lush urban park with Japanese gardens, fountains, and summer light shows. Ideal for a midday recharge.

St. Michael’s Church

St. Nikolai Memorial - the church was destroyed during the bombings in WWII and the tower is all left standing. Pretty remarkable.

We took the elevator up 77.7 meters

Angel on Earth

After walking the courtyard we went down to the museum.

The history of St. Nikolai reflects the general history of Hamburg, and in particular the events surrounding the air raids in 1943. Since the first chapel was built in 1195, St. Nikolai has been reconstructed three times at two different sites.

A fraction of stained glass
windows that were
evacuated after 1941

A TICKET TO GET AWAY

"My husband had given me those Atikah cigarettes and so I said to my sister, 'You know, we'll take these; who knows, they might come in handy.' Barmbek

was still intact at the time, so we got through all right. Everywhere there were treks that also wanted to get out of Hamburg. We walked through this bombed city, by no means could we ride our bicycles, because the streets were so utterly destroyed, and sometimes the houses were still burning. Above all this there hovered a terribly undefinable stench. It was the smell of corpses. I don't know what dead bodies smell like, but that was how I imagined it. Then at some point we were on an outward road near the Berliner Tor. Everywhere there were crowds of people with all sorts of wheels to which everything was attached that they wanted to save and take along. We also waved at people. But nobody wanted to take the bikes as well.

But after all, they were worth a fortune How would one have got hold of a new bike later on? All of a sudden, we had this idea about the cigarettes: We'll hold up the cigarettes and everybody prepared to take us on board will get cigarettes. It didn't take long and someone stopped and we said first of all, But you'll also have to take the bikes.' "Yes. That's all right. Where are you heading for?' "Lüneburg.' 'Okay, get up then.' They got their cigarettes and we were permitted on to the vehicle. At eleven at night we arrived at the market square in Lüneburg. We were tired to death and absolutely knackered."

Inga Bonn, born 1920

Did you know? After the spire had been completed in 1874, St. Nikolai was for some time the world's highest sacred building. Located in the city centre, the church square turned into a market square and thus into a place of everyday life.

We passed St. Pauli Piers on our way back from the Fischmarkt

Town Hall - the only building to survive the Ally bombings.

Hygieia Fountain

🍽️ Where did we eat?

Café Rouge: the food and service was so good we went back a second night. This is where Rob really tried to use his German that he hasn't used since high school. It gave our waitresses a good laugh.

Lasagne a la Mama

Spinach Ricotta- Canneloni

On the second visit we started with a new waitress, our original waitress came up to talk to us and the following ensued:

New waitress "You know each other?"

Rob "We met last night."

Original Waitress "Oh No No NOT last night, we met yesterday evening. Last night implys something different."

Me I'm laughing hysterically

Rob is blushing 😊 ☺️ then says, to the original waitress, "You missed me order in German."

New waitress "He sounded like a true German." She somehow said it with a semi-straight face.

Mediterranean Plate
Parma ham, salami, sheep's cheese,
goat cheese, parmesan, brie cheese,
pepperoni, olives, with fig mustard,
and ciabatta

Hood Burger X Doner, we just had to get a hamburger in Hamburg! The fries (pommes) were so good.

Wallter’s Bistro: Located in the heart of the Neustadt district, Wallter’s offers modern German cuisine with a French twist. It was good and we recommend it but the service was a little lacking.

Cesar Salad with Chicken

Filet Mignon with Potato-truffle
purée, Wild broccoli & Port jus

🏨 Where did we stay?

Renaissance Hamburg Hotel - Housed in a former newspaper building, its industrial-chic interiors and warm service made it the perfect launchpad for exploring the city. Bonus: the breakfast spread is a feast, and the location is unbeatable for both shopping (not that I am a shopper) and sightseeing.