Hi, and welcome to our video from the city of Hamburg in Germany
and we know on our two visits we've only just scratched the surface of what's available
here's what we found out so far, and if you like what you see then why not subscribe?
and hopefully one day we can complete the story
As you may know Hamburg's in the north of Germany pretty much in the centre
So what do we have to offer you?
Well we have the old Elbe tunnel, the Elbphilharmonie, the St. Nikolai memorial
the warehouse district, including Miniatur Wunderland, Chilehaus, some nibbles & tipples before ending up at the Rathaus
So let's start with the old Elbe Tunnel
A feat of 20th-century engineering, it opened in 1911 and provides two tunnels under the River Elbe
and as you can see it has that turn of the century style
that carries all the way through
Now these tunnels run for 426 meters and sit 24 meters below the river surface
It provided a link between the centre of the city and the industrial south It's now been superseded by more modern tunnels
and as pedestrians, you've got a choice between the stairs or the lift
no prizes for guessing which option we took!
it's also popular with cyclists and I was quite surprised to understand that it can still be used by cars to cross the river for a small fee
It's from here you can still see that the River Elbe is very much a working river
and this section here is for Janis's Dad Pete, he used to be a tugboat captain on the River Thames
does he bring back memories?
it's from here you get views of the city and directly opposite is Landungsbrücken
a floating pontoon full of bars, restaurants and cafes a great place to entertain yourself
or pick up a boat ride. Hamburg has an amazing array of canals which are worth discovering
and there on the right is the Elbphilharmonie, which we'll get to shortly
Now back on the north side, we come across this - Dam those pesky Dutch, they get everywhere 😀
along the north bank there's a nice walkway that you can follow
all the way into town, or alternatively the U-Bahn runs parallel to it as well
we're now closing in on the Elbphilharmonie and the tail end of the warehouse district
now let's take a closer look at the Elbphilharmonie
Opened in 2017, it is as you would expect, home to a concert hall
built atop a 1960's warehouse and it provides a 360 degree viewing platform to look around the city
Access is free, but you do need to queue and get a ticket, and then you take this escalator ride
when you reach the top you come to an open section
Once again full of bars, restaurants and cafes where you can grab a bite to eat
and obviously access to the concert hall, but we've come for the view so let's just step inside
and this section really reminds me of London Docklands which was my working home for 20 years
Now I may have stopped for a swift half and a pretzel but you don't want to know about that
it said the glass section of the top resembles sails in the wind
yeah I guess I can see that
And now the St Nikolai memorial
The remains of a gothic revival church designed by the English architect George Gilbert Scott
and completed in 1873, and destroyed in Operation Gomorrah, the bombing of Hamburg in 1943
It now serves as a memorial, and for a small fee you can take an elevator to the top
where you once again you get magnificent views over the city
but also including the price is a museum within the crypt of the church which is well worth seeing
and that in the distance is the Heinrich Hertz TV tower which will once again be opening its viewing platforms to the public in 2023
and this is Hamburg's town hall or Rathaus
but we'll see more of that later
and this is the warehouse district which will be our next stop
so here we go Speicherstadt the UNESCO World Heritage recognized warehouse district of Hamburg
Built from 1883 to 1927 it was also heavily damaged in Operation Gomorrah
with the rebuild and restoration work completed in 1967
It's a fabulous place to explore and so photogenic especially after the sun has gone down
It's also home to the International Maritime Museum Hamburg's Dungeon and also Miniatur Wunderland
Now this is more than just a big train set - Oh so much more
and we were persuaded to visit by a gentleman we met on the Christmas markets on our first visit
and whilst it wasn't originally on our radar, it was certainly worth the time we spent here
there's such a meticulous attention to detail, and stories unfolding wherever you look
It seems popular with all ages
and the thing that caught us by surprise was roughly every 15 minutes it transitions between night and day
and you need to look closely because although the scenes depict a real-life world there's a sense of
humor at play here, especially if you check out the airport. - Is that the Millennium Falcon park there?
and yes, as you would expect being an airport, there's planes landing and taking off
but as I said the devil's in the detail, so just keep looking
now depending on how geeky you are you can expect to
spend at least two hours here maybe more and I get the feeling it's ever-evolving
and as you'd expect Hamburg is modelled here.
Now this looks rather familiar doesn't it?
Oh and the boats, yep some of them moved too
So this kept us warm and dry, and away for the glühwein, for a couple of hours on our Christmas visit
Now if you want to see more of that, I'll pop a link up in the corner
Another district that I absolutely love is Chilehaus
As you can probably tell, I'm a big fan of architecture, especially early 20th century
once again, great to stroll around and admire the attention to detail
especially at dusk
and now let's have a look at some nibbles and some tipples
I love discovering this grill house on the side of the street in Hamburg
a chance for me to have a taste of Currywurst and it wasn't even Christmas
and this little bar, just a stone's throw from the Chilehaus
Smokey on the inside, but warm and welcoming, and with some good local beers too
and then there was this restaurant close to the warehouse district where I had Labskaus
which I think is closely related to scouse, the dish from Liverpool
and Janis stuck with a traditional schnitzel
and another place I need to mention is Jon. Albrecht. A Brauhaus in the centre of Hamburg
and as I said Brauhaus, so of course I visited on both occasions
Really friendly staff, great beer, and a great atmosphere, we just loved it
A couple of pints for the weary travellers
and, I'm not quite sure what I had to eat here; cheese, mushrooms, meat but I'm not sure
and of course Janis stuck with, yep you guessed it, a schnitzel
And now we return to the center of town and the Rathaus
the building that you see before you dates from the late 19th century, after the earlier one burned down in the great fire of 1842
it's around this area where you get to see a little bit more of the stylish side of Hamburg
including some of its shopping streets - not one for me
and again you can see the city was built on water with canals everywhere
and then we come to Binnenalster, a large inland body of water
once again a great place to stop and watch the world go by or take in a boat cruise - perhaps one for next time
at the top of the lake we come across the Hamburg's Kunsthalle, or its art gallery
Now sadly we didn't have time to explore once again that's something for next time
now back to the Rathaus, as I mentioned I think we're going to be back to Hamburg again
it's a great city and I know we've only scratched the surface
we found it warm friendly and welcoming it was easy to get around on the U-Bahn we had a great time here
So I hope you like what we put together, what have we missed? and what should we visit on our
next time? leave us a comment to let us know.
Thanks for watching, take care, stay safe, and happy travels
you