Hamburg

Wednesday, 9 May 2007 - Friday, 11 May 2007

For three days I decided I would take a trip to Hamburg (no job, and no money, but lots of time). It was very interesting to learn about the history of the city, which dates back hundreds of years, and the fact that it is a "free harbour". It was actually established as an international trading harbour, free from duties and taxes. Even today it remains one of the major trading harbours of the world. Funnily enough it is actually a harbour on a river, the Elbe River, and not on an ocean or sea.

On the Wednesday I travelled by ICE (InterCity Express) train to Hamburg, with a top speed along the way of about 256 km/hr!!!! So much for Melbourne’s "Very Fast trains" - and then compare with France’s TGV (tested recently at around 500 km/hr), or the Maglev trains in Japan and China which travel something phenomenal too. That afternoon I decided to take a bus tour of the city to see all the general tourist sites I should visit later on. My hotel for the next two nights was right in the middle of the red light district "Reeperbahn" with sex shops up and down the street. It was a little unnerving but at least I had a room with a TV and shower and warm bed for the night.

On the second day, Thursday, I went to the church ruin of St Nickolai which was mostly destroyed in the second World War. The played a concert with the church bells at lunchtime which was great to see and hear. Then I visited the church of St Michaelis - home of the largest church clock in Germany. It also has the graves of the musical family Bach. That evening was the reason for going to Hamburg in the first place, Der König der Löwen (The Lion King) musical, which was fantastic. I will have to see it again in Oz when it returns there. By the way, it’s been playing in Germany now for the last two years or so!

On the Friday I visited the Town Hall/Council Chambers - that was an interesting tour. Hearing about the significance of some of the rooms and how they were built was almost unbelievable. It was also one of the few buildings in Hamburg that wasn’t destroyed or disturbed during the second world war. In the afternoon I visited "Minitur Wunderland" which houses the worlds largest model railway display. That was awesome to see, and I spent over two hours in the place. They even change the lighting every 15 minutes to nighttime! In the evening I travelled by ICE train home again, although there was train chaos in Hamburg that night due to a fire at another Hamburg station. I tell ya what, the German train system is fantastic - punctual, reliable, clean, smooth - but when there’s a hic-up, the whole system is in a mess.