<< Introduction
Leaving Frankfurt was hard. After everything that happened in the previous two days, I was really sad that I had to already leave this city. A piece of my heart will stay in Frankfurt forever. However, it was time to move on to the next destination, Hamburg. Until that moment, the trip didn’t really feel like an Interrail journey but more like a tour to visit friends in different places. I originally planned to see a friend in Hamburg too, another one of those that I met in Greece, but she had just moved out of the city. Luckily, she will still be part of this story later on.
I arrived in Hamburg at around 1 p.m. and I had a quick lunch at a Thai food place in the central station, before taking another train to the neighborhood of Sternschanze. The hostel I stayed in was about halfway between the Sternschanze station and the center of St. Pauli, the first area I wanted to visit in the city. Heading toward the heart of St. Pauli, I walked past Beatles-Platz, a square featuring statues of The Beatles, before reaching the main street of the neighborhood, known as Reeperbahn. This area, and really all of St. Pauli, is famous for being an iconic and busy amusement zone and a hub for entertainment, music, and alternative culture, also featuring a red-light district. It has a truly unique feel that makes it very different from other parts of Hamburg, and it is surely a place worth a visit.
I continued my tour with some other iconic spots in St. Pauli, such as the long riverfront where the fish market is held, and the Old Elbe Tunnel, an early-twentieth-century undeground crossing under the river Elbe. On the other side of the tunnel, I stopped at a spot where great panoramic views of Hamburg can be enjoyed, before returning to the side north of the river, where I walked around all the large waterfront that hosts a wide range of restaurants. I then climbed to the top of the tall bell tower of Saint Michael’s Church to get some amazing views of Hamburg from above, just as sunset was approaching. For dinner, I went back to the waterfront and I stopped at a restaurant close to the river where I enjoyed a delicious pannfisch, a traditional dish with different kinds of fried fish and mustard sauce. To get back to the hostel I crossed the center of St. Pauli again, and in the evening it was much more lively and busy, with bright lights and loud music.
I started the following day by walking again on the St. Pauli waterfront and then I headed to a huge park that surrounds the east side of the old town, and I ended up wandering around the beautiful Planten un Blomen, a popular garden and green area. Moving toward the old town, I walked past the Hamburg State Opera and through Alsterarkaden, a riverside shopping gallery. Next was the central square of Hamburg with its magnificent Rathaus, the city hall, and I was truly amazed by the elaborate decorations and the size of this beautiful building. Later, I reached the Church of Saint Nicholas, or rather what is left of it. This cathedral of medieval origin was already destroyed by a fire in 1842 before being rebuilt with a huge bell tower that was briefly the tallest building in the world. However, it was heavily damaged by World War II bombardments and now it serves as a memorial.
Going south from the old town, I reached HafenCity, a former port area now redeveloped into a residential and commercial zone. This quarter hosts some landmarks such as the impressive Elbphilharmonie, a large concert hall standing on top of an old storehouse, and the Speicherstadt, literally the “City of Warehouses”, a peculiar district of the old harbor. The entire area, along with some parts of the old town, is crossed by streams and channels with many bridges, creating a very pleasant environment.
Back in the city center, I walked past the historic churches of Saint Catherine, Saint Peter, and Saint James, before stopping for lunch to have another Currywurst, similar to the one I had in Frankfurt. Among the many beautiful places I saw in Hamburg, my favorite was the next one I visited: Kunsthalle, the art museum. I spent hours there and I got to see with my own eyes some incredible masterpieces that are among my favorite works of art, such as the famous Wanderer above the Sea of Fog and The Sea of Ice, both by Caspar David Friedrich. The museum itself, especially the interior, is so beautiful that it could be considered a work of art in its own right.
Past the museum, I went all the way to Saint Mary’s Cathedral and then I walked on the road along the Alster river, crossing the bridge that separates the two artificial lakes Außenalster and Binnenalster. I ended my tour by enjoying an Eisschokolade, a German drink with chocolate and ice cream, on the promenade along the Alster with a great view of the center of Hamburg. While going back to the hostel, I also walked past the football stadium of FC St. Pauli, a team that has a cult following not unlike the neighborhood it takes its name from. Overall, this was the day I walked the most during the entire journey, with a total of 26.4 kilometers. That evening I cooked the very tasty japchae that my Korean friend gifted me a couple of days earlier, and from that day on I would almost always eat something outside for lunch and prepare something on my own at the hostel for dinner.
Hamburg was truly awesome, one of the places I enjoyed the most among the many I saw while traveling. I always love when there are rivers, channels, and bridges all around a city, and Hamburg has plenty of those, adding to the already splendid buildings, beautiful art, and fascinating culture. I actually found out later that Hamburg is the city with the largest amount of bridges in the world, over 2300, more than Venice, Amsterdam, and London combined. I had a great time and I would have loved to stay more. The next morning it was already time to leave, but not before trying the typical Franzbrötchen, a local sweet pastry, for my last breakfast in Hamburg.
Chapter 4: Copenhagen, Malmö, Lund >>