My husband and I spend the last few days in the beautiful city of Hamburg. It was my friend Eva's 21st (plus some ;-)) birthday and she thought it would be fun for a group of friends to get away and spend a fun weekend somewhere else. Since everyone apart from us is living somewhere in Germany, it made sense to pick a place there. Hamburg is a perfect location to do some sightseeing, relaxing and some serious partying. If you haven't been, I suggest you add it to you list of places to visit.
We stayed in a hotel just across the road from the main train station and had a great view of the impressive construction that it is.
We got to Hamburg first, on Thursday afternoon. The others didn't get there until midnight. So we went out for some beer sampling ourselves.
Dave and I went out for some exploring on Friday morning. We went down to the harbour.
checked out a WW2 Russian submarine
not very spacious
Walked around the Alster, which is a huge lake in the middle of the city.
Small Alster (this little bit is split off the main lake. The grand old town houses lining it, are absolutely gorgeous.
So is the cake.
Caught up with my friend Eva, her boyfriend Thomas and friend Harry
at the Hard Rock Cafe
In the evening Dave and I met up with my friend Ivonne and her boyfriend, who live just on the outskirts of Hamburg. Ivonne and I went to school together and had not seen each other for 11 years. It was amazing to see her. We immediately clicked again and had the best time catching up. I am sure the next time seeing each other, will be much sooner that in 11 years.
Saturday morning was spend with more sightseeing/city walking
city hall
Hafen city with all the beautiful old brick warehouses
Otto von Bismarck memorial. This is enormous.
We went to the Hamburg Dungeon in the afternoon (no pictures) It was good despite the fact that I am not a fan of ghost rides and such. And then we went back to the harbour areas for dinner followed by a good night out on the Reeperbahn/St Pauli, Hamburgs crazy Party district, for which Hamburg is very much known for.
Sunday was spend with recovering ;-) packing and saying our goodbyes. It's always sad to leave again but I'll be back in Germany for some Christmas market action in December.
Love you Eva, happy birthday and see you soon!!
hamburg ist immer wieder einen besuch wert :) liebe gruesse!
ReplyDeleteI love Hamburg - it's such a lovely place to visit - and it looks like you had a fantastic time :)
ReplyDeleteLove your photos! May I ask what filter you use in the first photo? I'm just guessing Hipstamatic, but what more?
ReplyDeleteThank you. I used Instagram on my iPhone. I choose whatever effect I think looks best on the picture.
Deleteah that has made me nostalgic for the beautiful City of waterways ~ more than Amsterdam and Venice added together I've heard!
ReplyDeletewe used to visit it often but haven't been for many years:
thank you for reminding me and sharing x
I haven't been in ages (over 10 years) so it was great to be back for a few years.
DeleteI meant days....oops
DeleteHurrah! My home town :-) My cousin actually works at the Hamburg Dungeon. Your lovely pictures are making me feel homesick.
ReplyDeleteAwww, wie lange bist du denn schon in England? Ich freue mich jedes Mal, wenn es mich zurueck in die Heimat verschlaegt, allerdings bin ich auch hier auf der Insel sehr gluecklich. X
DeleteBald sind es 8 Jahre, und davor war ich 7 Jahre in Kanada. Allerdings bin ich jedes Jahr in Hamburg, ein oder zwei Mal. Mein Mann wuerde gern dorthin ziehen wenn er mit der Navy fertig ist.
DeleteAhhh, mein Mann ist bei der Army, da sitzen wir ja beide fast im gleichen Boot. Ich versuche auch 1-2x im Jahr nach Hause zu fahren/fliegen. Wenn man aber noch *richtigen* Urlaub machen moechte ist das manchmal nicht so einfach.
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