Hamburg Day Two...

 

Both of us were surprised to have slept so well on our first night in a strange bed.

I was about to write after breakfast. But then I thought no.. let me tell you about brekky here. There was cereal, as you would expect and yoghurt, as well as a jug of banana milkshake. Bread of several different sorts, but no ability to toast it. Four or five varieties of spread including honey, right next to what looked like some sort of creamy cheesy oniony dishes. Sliced cucumber and tomato, half a dozen different types of what can only be described as luncheon meat and salami, slices of soft bland cheese and boiled eggs. Altogether an interesting selection.

So breakfasted we walked down to the train station and headed into the city.

The Man directed us to The Reeperbahn Station, which is in the red light district and from there it was a relatively short walk through what used to be the fish-market, and down to the waters edge.

 The port itself was on the other side from where we were , and The Port of Hamburg is Europe second busiest. Unlike ports back hone in NZ it was a hive of activity, with several dry docks with ships under some type of construction in them.

A long black shape caught our attention, and after paying the entry fee we were soon clambering around the inside of a Russian U434 submarine, built in 1976. It was so very cramped, with every nook and cranny full of wiring, valve handles, pipes and gauges. Officers quarters were no more than cupboards with bunks in them. The galley was relatively spacious as was the long narrow space that served as the officers wardroom. We only saw 2 heads (toilets to you landlubbers) and two showers, so the crew of 84, would probably have been a smelly lot.

Suitably awed, we continues our wander along the waterfront. A round structure The man back down memory lane. It was the entrance to the tunnel under the Elbe. It was just there he told me pointing to a spot at the bottom of the staircase that I came across a very pretty young lady in her underwear changing her clothes. No such luck for him today. So we continued down and then under the river to the other side. .

Time for lunch after all that walking,and then onto the double decker bus for a tour of the city. Most of the commentary was in German, with a little English here and there, just enough for us to get the layout of the city and to decide what attractions we wanted to visit.

 First was St Michaels church. The imposing sculpture over the door was of a triumphant saint with his foot firmly on the head of the subdued devil. The church can hose a congregation of several thousand so you can imagine how big it would have been.

 From that beautiful building we found out way to the ruin of St Nicholas. The imposing soot blackened tower is all that remains of a once lovely church, The stained glass windows that had been removed during the war survived and are displayed in what once was probably the crypt. It was incredibly moving to see the display of photographs that we taken by ordinary citizens of Hamburg after the bombing raids by British and American planes. The ruin now stands proud as memorial to all those affected by war and oppression, not just the German public. 

There were comparisons between Hamburg and Warsaw and Coventry, cities almost totally devastated by war. This is as close as I have ever come to the actuality of the destruction of war and it was horrible.

I found it particularly moving to read about how the head of Coventry cathedral retrieved three of the long roof nails and fashioned them into a cross, symbolic of their not being spiritually defeated.

Back at the hotel and after tea we were watching TV, no English speaking channels, and what do we see but a programme about whaling and whale watching in New Zealand.