Hamburg, my favourite city in Germany.

Final day in Hamburg and I've declared it is my favourite German city however, I must add it is the only German city I've visited thus far.

Public transport isn't that hard in Hamburg

Hamburg has many good points, it is big, but this does not mean it has lost its own personality. The people are friendly, helpful, humorous and proud. It has a U-bahn underground, with a great bus network along with rail connection to the airport. The past is not forgotten however does not dwell on it.

Today we saw our first references to WWII and also the bombing that destroyed and killed so many.  Our first stop was St. Nikolai Memorial (former site of St. Nikolai Church) which was destroyed in the air raids in 1943.  There is a lift that took us up the 73 meters into the bell tower to see over the city and harbour, unfortunately for us it has been surrounded by scaffolding for maintenance. The view we were able to get was still great.

Rathausee

The surprise for us was the museum on site, underground.  This covered the beginning of the church but had most interesting information on the destruction of Hamburg by the allies in WW2.  It was interesting to learn that the curators of the museum have no blame for the bombing of the city and have a realisation that it was needed to stop the Nazi war machine.

It was then back on the subway and then a walk to Planten un Blomen and the tropical house. We even saw gum trees in the tropical house. We realise when we see things like this we're a long way from home when an everyday eucalypt tree is protected indoors.

After a heavy shower it was back to Henri Hotel and later a visit to Sala Thai, one of the most impressively decorated restaurants we have been in.

Tomorrow - Berlin.

Millard Estate TripAdvisor review

TripAdvisor review of Millard Estate.

22nd August - 29 August

Type of accommodation - Fully inclusive B&B

Overall rating - 5 Stars

What sort of trip was this - Leisure

Rating Service - Mobile phone service was not all the best, phone dropouts

Rating Cleanliness - Staff appeared clean at all times

Rating Sleep Quality - We slept every night

Does this hotel have WiFi? Yes

The Review - Airport transfer service was on time and easy to recognise, impromptu stop in park to see wild deer and have ice-cream was well appreciated. Evening meal was off site with driver and partner. Following day we met the proprietors and they were very welcoming and friendly. Later in the day a private tour was arranged. Other staff dropped in and out through the week, however I believe they may be family.

All staff take a role in this B&B as we had three separate tour guides, the seasoned one (Tony) the London walking encyclopedia (Norma) and the younger and expert on all related to public transport (Stewart).

Other points to note. The room is up one flight of stairs and there is no lift, most mornings the breakfast is self serve, and evening meals will need to be taken from the kitchen to the dining room by oneself.  All evening meals in the dining room were also with the staff.

The B&B is situated in a quiet street with easy access to the River Ember.  Over all this is a lovely place to stay having all the homely touches you need and a wonderful personalised service.

Hamburg Highlights

Being in the second largest city in Germany and the home to the third largest port in Europe it was fitting to start the day with a bi-lingual cruise. Boarding the MS Louisiana Star we saw the working harbour. Commentary was provided in both German and English.  We knew from this who was German as they (just about everyone) talked when we were trying to listen to the English!

Katie having a Titanic stairway moment

Freight and Cruise ships use the same port

Official emblem of a very proud Hamburg

A free and still used attraction was next, St. Pauli Elbtunnel. This tunnel built in 1911 is 426 meters long and was built to allow the 25,000 workforce to transfer each day without the need for ferries as these ferries were restricting the flow of shipping traffic. 
The tunnel is still used to this day and also allows for cars to transit under the river by the use of car sized lifts at each end. 

After our first ever CurryWurst unt Pommies (sliced sausage with curry flavoured gravy and chips) we went for a look at the Hamburg Rathaus.  I had read about this building  and was looking forward to seeing inside but due to other events in town, there were no tours of the massive building and we only had access to the foyer.

The afternoon was rather low key. We had a walk at the Alstervergnuegen, a festival around the lake in town, celebrating music, ice cream, cakes, fish, bread, lollies, beer, wine, spirits, and the city of Hamburg. It's a cross between Geelong cup, Geelong Show, and a food and wine festival.

Dinner tonight was at the Tilia Pizzeria, an Italian restaurant, that also did Spanish, German, and well you get the drift, they could do just about anything. Great little place. 

Karl loved it too.

Just a little one, they come much bigger than this!

 

Willkommen in Deutschland!

After a wonderful week in London with our English family, it was time to say goodbye to Tony and Norma this morning and begin the next leg of our journey to Hamburg, Germany.
We were up at "silly o'clock" to leave for Heathrow, to get our flight to Hamburg. After a quick breakfast at the airport we boarded our flight on a Germanwings plane. After the comfort of flying on an A380 to London, we were brought down a peg or two, when we stepped on to one of the smallest passenger plane's we'd seen. We were crammed in like sardines! Fortunately, someone didn't show up who was supposed to be sitting next to me, so I moved across to the aisle seat, giving Shannon and I more room to breathe. Although the plane was small, it was a pleasant flight to Hamburg - we were quite impressed with the snack we were given on our flight, which only lasted an hour or so.

Sandwich with cold cut (some type of meat)

We were surprised how quickly we got through passport control and out to the street in Hamburg! They literally looked at our passport, then we picked up our bags and walked out the front door. It was very easy to find the train station at the airport. We caught a train into the Haupbahnhoff and walked to our accommodation - Hotel Henri. It's a quirky little place - decked out in 1950's decor, an espresso machine and 'fill your own mini bar'.

After we settled into our room, it was to check out our surroundings. Hamburg is bigger than what we first realised. The main thoroughfare is quite busy and is loaded with shops. We wandered up one of the main strips and had some lunch in the sunshine. It was then time to head to Miniatur Wunderland! Shannon discovered it on the Internet some time ago - the day finally arrived where we would get to visit it - the largest miniature railway in the world. We certainly had underestimated the size of this place. Miniature Wonderland is literally the world in miniature. It is far more than just trains....the creators of this place have thought of everything. Replicas of buildings, teeny tiny people in all manner of poses and outfits. Cars drive themselves, planes fly overhead and ships sail on the water. There are buttons you can press at every turn that make something move, flash or light up. There's a weird sensation when you go from morning to afternoon to evening every 15 minutes. It really is an amazing sight to see - highly recommended for kids big and small if you every get the opportunity to visit Hamburg. The photos below don't really do the place justice, but it will give you an idea of what some of the models look like.

Relax, don't do it

It must be holidays, we're now waking after eight and it feels great. After the past couple of packed days it was time to relax and this morning we lounged around with Norma before a quick walk to the River Ember.

The afternoon was also pretty lazy and we headed to the local shopping precinct of Kingston. With no particular items to purchase we decided an ice-cream with flake was what we needed.

Our first dilemma for this trip was when we tried to board the 411 bus from Kingston upon Thames back to East Molesey. Letting all the locals board first, we then tried to purchase tickets and found out we needed an oyster card (similar to our Myki).  The driver was great and advised we could use paywave, this was ok for one ticket but not for the second. In the end the driver could see we were genuine tourists and let us both on advising we would need to get an Oyster card.

When we got back to East Molesey we had a lovely walk through the town and popped into the antiques shops. Some of the shops however would be better if they were to get a skip and have a clearout.

The evening was finished with a goodbye dinner with Norma and Tony at The Bell Public House. I must say we were all impressed with this pub and the food, Katie and myself were quite impressed to be eating dinner in the pub that was built back in 1460. We finished the evening with some drinks with the rest of the family.

Thanks to all.

"Let Us Go Forward Together" - W.C.

Being no tour guides were available today it was left up to us to conquer the streets, tunnels and bridges of london, and we did a pretty good job. With the centenary commemorations of the First World War our first stop was the Tower of London with its 88,246 ceramic poppies . This highly attended show was packed with many from all over the world looking on and pausing for a few moments thought for those who fought for what we have.

Catching bus 25 we were then headed to the British Museum to see the Egypt section but some how managed to get into the Bloomsbury Hotel for a spot of lunch.

Katie had been wanting to see this for a long time considering she has been teaching it for almost 10 years. The Rosetta Stone was a huge draw card. 

Katie looking at the Rosetta Stone

Once again we were off to the bus and headed to Winston Churchill's War Rooms.  This complex under the government buildings in Westminster were the heart of the war effort and are still in pretty much the same condition as they were at the end of the war.

Crossing the road we ventured into St James Park and had a little Squirrel spotting.

Isn't he cute!!!

Ending our final hour in London we sat outside Westminster Abbey and had a little people watching while resting the feet.

 After returning we were collected by Ross and Emma and had a Mexican dinner followed by a screening of The Inbetweeners 2 Movie, it was hilarious.

Katie and Emma

Ross and Shannon