After a pleasant morning on the North Sea, we turned inland and actually enjoyed a river cruise for the afternoon, as the Norwegian Star plied slowly up the broad Elbe River towards Hamburg. The second biggest city in Germany had been fairly levelled during Allied bombing raids during the War, but was back with a vengeance as a thriving metropolis and the second largest shipping port in Europe.
After sailing past a huge port full of cranes, ships and shipping containers, we docked at the Altona Terminal. We didn't arrive until late afternoon, but we would be spending two nights docked in Hamburg. Though Sunday and raining lightly, we walked off the ship and wandered the waterfront down to a more scenic area. We toured a "U-Boat museum", actually a 1976 Russian Tango class submarine. It was a whole new test for Jane's new knees!
Afterwards, we strolled up to the Reeperbahn entertainment district to get the lay of the land, also known as St. Pauli. We stopped for a bratwurst at a street stand, then later sat and had a local beer (Astra) at a sidewalk pub. We grabbed another beer for the walk back, and ogled the various sex clubs - even on a rainy Sunday, there was lots of excitement to be had on the way back to the ship.
The next day, we headed back into downtown Hamburg, starting at the main square around the beautiful Rathaus town hall. We walked the perimeter of the two stunning Alster lakes around which the city grew, and then used the public washrooms in the Metro (for 0.50 Euro) before hopping on a canal boat for a two-hour "Swan" tour of the city's waterways. Besides the many canals, locks and harbours, Hamburg has the most bridges of any city in Europe! We also got the see and cruise the historic and architecturally stunning Speicherstadt warehouse district.
Returning back to the Rathaus square, we enjoyed a local "delicacy" of currywurst and beer for lunch, before walking over to the St. Nikolai church. This beautiful church had been largely destroyed during the War, as evidenced by the outline of the ruins, but ironically the gothic steeple had survived as a waypoint to guide bombing runs. We took a trip up the VERY tall steeple (77 m), once the tallest in the world, before touring a sobering museum in the former crypt deep below the church.
We meandered back towards the ship via St. Pauli, and encountered the ladies from Florida again. We joined them for a drink at a Reeperbahn cafe before walking to St. Michael's Church, then down to Landungsbrucken, then followed the waterfront back to the port. Overall, we were very pleasantly surprised by this gorgeous city!
Once back on board the Star, we reclaimed our passports (required for pre-clearance into England) and enjoyed a nice dinner in O'Sheehan's pub to the sounds of Angel covering such greats as Neil Young, Simon and Garfunkel, Jim Croce and Gordon Lightfoot.
We departed Hamburg about 8pm, and enjoyed a beautiful sunset cruise back out the Elbe River from the vantage of our starboard balcony.
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