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Hamburg
Hamburg was the first place we visited on our first holiday - the "Grand Tour" in 1997. On that occassion we travelled by ferry across the North Sea from Harwich, finishing-off with an interesting 60 mile (5-hour) cruise down the Elbe estuary. That part of the journey is sadly no longer possible on scheduled ferries as these now berth at Cuxhaven on the North Sea coast by the mouth of the Elbe.
We didn't see Hamburg again until March 2002 when we went for a long weekend to celebrate Andrew's birthday, taking advantage of Lufthansa's new (but short-lived) route from London City Airport. Staying for four nights meant that we were able to get more familiar with the city than during our brief stopover in 1997. We even managed a day trip by train to the Hanseatic city of Lubeck, although the city itself was something of a disappointment.
Hamburg is a substantial city, with lots to see and do. There are obvious similarities with Antwerp and Liverpool, and the importance of international trade is obvious in the civic architecture and urban ladscape - the highlights being the Landugsbrucken pier and the Chile Haus. But neither of those other cities has anything to compare with Hamburg's unique Spiecherstadt - a late 19th / early 20th century venice-like warehouse district, which has an unprecedented architectural cohesiveness (it is one of our alternative nominations for World Heritage site status).
Our next visit to Hamburg marks the beginning and end points of our summer 2003 tour around Jutland.
On these pages there are currently some on-line resources; details of the hotels we have stayed at in Hamburg; some photos from 1997 and 2002; and some bookmarks.
Dave & Andrew
July 2003
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10° 01' 00" E ; 53° 33' 00" N [CET: GMT+1/+2] |
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