Out and About Hamburg

Rathouse

I woke up around 10 am. I felt like nobody wanted to stand up and explore. Good thing the girl stood up and started the ball rolling. Again, nobody talked at all. Sheer silence.

I had a map with me and started my exploration by joining a free tour. The English speaking guide was sick so the only tour available was Spanish. I lingered for half an hour, picking up a few words and there but just stayed on the side and did a little bit of my photography. The clouds were gray so photo opts weren’t that exciting as much. I couldn’t feel the hues either, so I just tried to get decent shots instead.

We stopped by the Hamburg Rathaus, also known to be the Parliament and office of the mayor. The architecture was stunning, designed with various saints on the top side of the structure itself. Beside it was a canal, buzzing with ducks, geese and swans.

We also stopped by Saint Jacobi church, Chilihaus, AfricanHaus as our guide Gustavo (from North of Spain) explained the different architectural designs and the significance of the buildings.

At rest stop, I said goodbye to him and gave him a tip. That was the only way they earn from guiding tourists.

I continued on and found my way to San Nikolas which once was the tallest building in the world

San Nikolas

during the 19th century. The title was short-lived though. Remnants of the place showed how much history destroyed the whole church and its surroundings. In front of the entrance is a statue called the Ordeal as a memorial of Sandbostel, Lower Saxony. The artist Edith Breckwoldt wanted to honour the souls who perished in one of the biggest Nazi prisoner camp in 1945. The sculpture’s pedestal are the original stones from the prisoners’ barracks, collected by the pupils of Sandbostel.

I went up the spire which was 147.3 meters in height (3.70 Euros). It made feel a little bit dizzy because of the speed it was on. The church was built in the 12th century and was destroyed for the first time during the Great Fire of 1842. It was then rebuilt with the Neo-gothic style between 1845-1874 based on designs by London architect George Scott.

Again, the church was damaged during the second world war, during the intense air raids of July 1943. They decided not to rebuild the church, instead just keep the ruins and declare it as a historic monument in 1960. During the aerial attacks the spire was used as a landmark and beacon for bomb squadrons.

Michel

There were a lot of writings still discussing on the destruction of WWII and the German invasion, of how the people suffered even the innocents. I guess this was a good introduction for me before I head off to Berlin. Can be sad, I’d imagine… just the same if I were to read about the Japanese Invasion too. But all part of history and the world has moved on, hopefully learning from the past.



Inside of St.Michaels

I then continued on and discovered a few canals here and there. Tourist buses raised me to Saint Michael’s church, also known as Michel. The main door had St. Michael the Archangel standing on top of a devil statue. The entry for the crypt and tower was 7 Euros. And if you’d like to visit the Church, you’d need to give 2 Euros. Upon entering the confines of Michel, I’d say the money the collect well shows on the gold plating of the statues and extra embellishments around. I lingered for a while, finding it so different from the Gothic and neo-Gothic style of cathedrals I’ve been through in Belgium.

I then continued on to the Crypt where the manner of burial is the only one that they say is different across Europe. There lays the tomb of Emmanuel Bach too.

The ordeal

Up Saint Michael, I got up to 160 m and had a beautiful 360-degree view of Hamburg. Different locks were hanging on the edges, lovers professing their affection by etching their names with a heart or whatever tickles their fancy. I couldn’t help but take a photo.

I continued on to the harbor promenade and watched the different ferries pass by. Gustavo mentioned to this me earlier saying “muy barato”, i.e. very cheap. But checking the price it was 18Euros for an adult, and I’ve already spent much on the spire trips from the 2 last churches. So I just decided to linger and watch the boats, tourist buses and passersby.. People watching seemed to be more on my agenda.



After a while I decided to head off to St.Pauli, known to be Europe’s largest red light district. Now, everyone who knows me well would wonder what the heck did I have in mind, going to the red light district. But hey, it was broad daylight, and I had a different agenda in mind.

St. Pauli is where Indra Club, KaiserKeller, Star club and Top 10 are located. All in the Raaperbahn area, and the first 3 listed, in the Grobe Freiheit street. The significance? This were the pubs that had Beatles perform back in the days. Where it all started, where they got discovered. The humble beginnings of the legendary band. Woot woot!

Beatles Plats @ Raaperbahn

Along the way I met a local bloke by the name of Hadalf, a 68-year old full on music fanatic and collector of memorabilias of the different concert stuff that happened in the neighborhood. So we ended up passing by the Star Club another venue for the bands back in the days. We strolled along Raaperbahn and he showed me the old building of Top 10 where the Beatles once stayed during the early days of travels. Hadalf was so sweet and also walked me to the Academy along Hans Albert. then he ended up accompanying me to train station and showing me the way back to my hostel. I found it a little bit difficult to stop thinking if he had any other motive since he asked my hostel and also rubbed my cheeks saying "good travels", a few people on the train looked at us. But I knew he was so passionate about music and bands, so I just left it at that. I shook his hands and said thank you. I waved from the platform until the train was away.

I got back to the hostel and met Caio from Sao Paulo, Brazil. We ended up chatting about our travels. He was really easy and sweet to talk to. Apparently he's been in so many countries already and even lived in a few places too.. He shared with me a few tips on the places he's been to that I'll be exploring soon. And so we also exchanged details, maybe I can ask some more tips on Italy as well.

We ended up laughing about the room's toilet and bathroom, seeing that it was so small and compact. We were all struggling to fit in and have a shower. We both ended up packing up and stuff. He had to leave at 5 am the following day as he was on his way to the South of Frankfurt.

Later on Nick from Montreal came in and we also had a chat. He's been travelling for almost 3 weeks already and 3 weeks more remaining. He was going out that night with a few friends and we also talked about Raaperbahn.

I then focused on planning for my Berlin trip which took me a while to find for a hostel coz it's really busy over the summer. Seems to have a lot of things happenings. The couple came back and were just quiet up their banks. Later on we discovered that they were also from Canada. Seemed to be too quiet and snobbish though.

Nick came back after a few hours, took some stuff and asked if I wanted to join the Raaperbahn pub stint. I had to make a pass as I wanted to focus on planning for my trip.

Caio said goodnight and I stared back at my planning.

The following day, i'd be on my way to Berlin.