Hamburg (Germany)

View of Hamburg from St. Michael's bell tower

Hamburg may have stolen my heart. Possibly because I had the best local guide ever who shared his passion about the city and the ships. Hamburg is a port town. It has the largest port in Germany and the second largest in Europe (after Rotterdam, Amsterdam). But, you'd never know that this is a city of over 1.5 million people. Starting near the airport; and, we easily rode bicycles about 40 minutes along tree lined paths to central Hamburg. In fact, bicycles are almost favored over cars here. We passed one street which will soon be closed to cars and only be available for cyclists.

Inside St. Michael's church

Our first tourist stop downtown was St. Michael's church. The church traces it's origins from 1600. However, today's edifice was completed in 2009. It's a beautiful, if modern, building. Entrance is free; and, there's a 5 Euro charge to summit the bell tower (whether stairs or elevator). Instead of waiting in the long elevator line, we climbed the 452 steps. Along the way, we stopped off on a platform to see the mechanism that makes the bells ring in the tower. It was also a nice break from the steps! Once we reached the platform, we enjoyed panoramic views of Hamburg.

Our next stop was an old cargo ship, the Cap San Diego. It's a magnificent vessel that was built in the 1960s, before the era of containers. Today, it is kept in working condition almost entirely by volunteers. For 7 Euros, you can walk around the various floors of the ship and even into the engine room. While we were there, the engine was warming up for a run the following day. It was hot in the engine compartment. I feel much more sympathy for sailors. We also saw the original swimming pool; and, we walked into the ship's bridge. If you do visit, make sure to bring someone along who knows ships or who can translate German, as all information is in German.

Watching one of the largest container ships in the world pull into Hamburg port

For lunch, we took a ferry down to a stop along the port with various restaurants. We enjoyed traditional wiener schnitzel; and, I enjoyed a rhubarb soda. While we were dining, we had a viewing treat. One of the largest container vessels in the world was pulling into Hamburg port. It made ships like the Cap San Diego look tiny. Container ships today are built mainly in Korea. The one that pulled in was the latest Hyundai model. Even more surprising is that these gargantuan ships are run by a crew of only 24.

Iced matcha at Messner Tea

Our afternoon and evening stops emphasized the livability of Hamburg. We enjoyed fancy tea at Messner Momentum tea shop. It is truly gourmet. My tea was an iced matcha green tea. Plus, with every beverage purchase, you get to take home three tea bags. Thankfully, the tea is sold on Amazon and not just at the store. The store also has a small history of tea exhibit with audio guides in English.

Alster

Next, we rode our bicycles along the Elbe and stopped for some refreshing Alster, a combination of beer, lemonade and soda. Most of you know how much I don't like beer. But, this was delicious! Plus, it was perfect people watching at this little kiosk. Everyone was out and about enjoying the beautiful weather.

Finally, we ended the night with some delicious tapas, proving that you can get most any type of food in this German town. If you get a chance, schedule a visit to Hamburg!