A Visit to Hamburg

The panorama photos are courtesy of Laura

Visiting Hamburg

My elder daughter has just moved to Hamburg on a secondment for one of her clients. Her stay is expected to last for several months and the clients have provided her with a very sweet house in a leafy suburb and have sorted a bilingual nursery for her son. I went with her, her son and his au pair to help her settle in.

What a wonderful experience!

Hamburg, on the River Elbe in Northern Germany and fairly close to the North Sea is the second largest city in Germany and the second busiest container port in Europe after Rotterdam in the Netherlands. It is the 15^th busiest in the world and is fairly close to the North Sea.

Of course this means that the port has a huge influence on the profile of this city but, the commercial character has been well integrated into the social, family and tourist aspect of this city.

For someone who lives in Bristol, the public transport system in Hamburg is enviable.

U-Bahn trains - there are four U-Bahn underground lines which are colour coded. Getting maps for the U-Bahn and the bus services is very useful. These are free at the tourist information centres which are easy to find in the centre of the city.

Buses
The rail network is complemented by an extensive range of bus services. It would seem that trains and buses don’t double-up on services to different areas but, either service should be available within a reasonable walking distance of where you are staying or living within the city.
Harbour ferries
Although I did not have the opportunity to try them on this visit, there are six ferry lines serving the harbour and the River Elbe. These routes have two-digit numbers starting at 61.

By bike
Of course you can cycle and you can use the public bike system “StadtRAD Hamburg” (CityBike Hamburg). There are around 80 stations where you can borrow a bike, and it is possible to return it at any other station. The first 30 minutes are free. You need a bank, credit or customer card. Hamburg is a very cycle-friendly city, with many wide avenues and bicycle lanes which are mostly well marked on the broad ‘footpaths’.  This makes a safe method of cycling in a city without running the gauntlet of fast and busy roads and without endangering pedestrians.

In Bristol – which was named the first ‘cycling city’ in the UK, I wouldn’t dream of cycling. Although there are cycling lanes these are often quarrelling with bus-stops, marked parking places and impatient drivers. Cyclists then feel pushed to ride on fairly narrow pavements which endanger pedestrians, especially the elderly [who cannot move quickly out of the way of the cyclists] and young children. But, Bristol is what it is and cannot demolish rows of houses and shops to provide more open main routes in and around the city.

I found it interesting to see the similarities between the two cities which were certainly greater than the differences.

My grandson’s nursery, which is bilingual – German and English [ I understand there are many bilingual nurseries in Hamburg – eg. German/French, German/Spanish, German/ Chinese. How very impressive is that? ] – is within the Planten un Blomen which is an urban park with a size of 47 hectares in the inner-city.

The closest U Bhan station is Stephans Platz. It is very much worth a visit and is unbelievably beautiful. I was amazed to see rabbits, red squirrels [ really red squirrels – I believe that is what squirrels look like in Germany and I’m sure they are larger than the few red squirrels which are left in corners of the UK ]. I was also amused to see a turtle sitting on a log beside a group of ducks in the small and very pretty lake.

This park is also situated fairly close to the centre of the city and to the very impressive Rathaus [the City Hall].

 In this area it is easy to pick up an open topped city tour bus [there are several which cover different areas and are of the ‘hop on, hop off’ type, giving you an opportunity to explore different areas of the city – do check out the Fischmarkt [the fish market area] The market is famous and if you wish to visit it you will need to get up early . Every Sunday morning the market takes place on the quay of Altona. It begins at 5 am and finishes at 7.am
‘The market sells not only fish but also lots of other stuff – one stall has potted flowers, another fruit, noodles, sausage... It is known for the barkers competing – who is the loudest? – and selling bags or baskets filled with an assortment of their respective merchandise for a fixed price: a basket full of fruit, half a dozen pot plants, or a huge bag of different kinds of smoked and canned fish for 10 €. They pack and sell the full bags as they are – you have no choice what they put in. Selecting and buying one single fish or whatever is not possible either. A bargain if you can deal with huge amounts and are not too picky about quality.’ [Katrin E, Virtual Tourist]

I was up much too late and didn’t make it to the market. However, there are many fish restaurants in the area and we were lucky enough to find one fairly early before it got too busy on a terrace overlooking the river. We didn’t actually have fish for lunch but, chose instead Schnitzel [ I believe it was pork in this case] with Potato salad and with pommes frites; and Wurst [I’m not sure which one] served with saurkraut and mustard sauce. It was the closest we could find to German food but, was very tasty served with a very potable Reisling and was quite reasonably priced.

 

As I have found on every other trip I have made to Germany – The systems are so efficient, the people are charming and really go out of their way to be helpful. Contrary to popular belief, not everyone in Germany speaks English. However, I found that, when I couldn’t remember my very rusty German, prefacing each sentence with ‘Entschuldigen Bitte’ [excuse me please] I could switch to English. Everyone, in whatever situation went way out of their ways to be helpful. Now in how many countries would I find that?

As a very small negative – coming from a city where it usually rains lots [though not this year which has been very cool but, dry], Hamburg was wet and I mean, wet – the rain came down in stair-rods. From the reaction of the local population going to work, I sort of gathered that this was not unusual. It was, however, very hot and humid which, I found difficult. On return to Bristol, I was told that it had been dry and sunny here [and ‘hot’ I think not!]. It is a relief that it has now started to rain, my garden and allotments are gasping.