Germany's Gate to the World

 

The day after we had returned from Antwerpen we took the train to Hamburg. In Germany you can buy something called "Deutschlandticket" (Germany ticket) which costs €49 for a month (in November of last year) and allows you to ride any local or regional train for free in that month as well as public transportation in many German cities. You cannot ride the high speed ICE train (nothing to do with Immigration and Customs Enforcement) or any long-distance trains. It's only allowed on regional trains, but that can get you through the entire country if you don't mind changing trains in between (and sometimes missing a train because of delays or even cancellations). The ICE from Münster to Hamburg (about 250 km) takes less than three hours; taking the regional train takes much longer. There is also a DB (Deutsche Bahn; German Rail) app that is really helpful in planning your route as well as informing you whether your train will be late, if there is a change in platform etc.

We had time and didn't mind the longer journey. We had to change trains twice - in Osnabrück and in Bremen. Our train was delayed, so we didn't make our connection in Osnabrück and had to wait an hour for the next one (thankfully on this busy route the trains run fairly often). There was a nice café in the station where we sat, ate some pastry and had a good cup of coffee. I enjoyed the train ride a lot - I was knitting, looking out the window, reading, chatting with my family. Many of the regional trains are double deck and we loved sitting on the upper deck. We had no problem getting our connection in Bremen and arrived in Hamburg sometime in the afternoon where we then took the subway - for free, since Hamburg is one of the cities where you can use public transportation with the Deutschlandticket.

My mother-in-law met us at the subway station and we first went to her place - she lives in a tiny appartment - and later took a stroll down to the Elbe (the river that runs through Hamburg). As you can see, despite being a big city - the second-largest city in Germany after Berlin - it has a lot of parks and many tree-lined streets. Often there are playgrounds in these parks, and the "kids" in my family couldn't just pass by.

Down at the river we found a nice restaurant where we had an early dinner and also tasted a flight of eggnog (called Eierlikör in German).

For Bleubeard and Elizabeth's T Tuesday

We eventually said our goodbyes and we took the subway to our accomodation for the following two nights. The next morning we went to a nearby bakery that also served breakfast - we had coffee and freshly baked rolls with boiled egg, Mett (yes, that is raw ground meat) and Fleischsalat (salad with strips of bologna-style sausage, gherkins and mayonnaise dressing) - pure heaven!

Also for T Tuesday

Then to the subway and a ride to Baumwall station.

What are they photographing?

This funny shaped glass building.

The Elbphilharmonie, one of the coolest concert halls on the planet.

Elphi, as it is nicknamed, was built on top of an old brick warehouse near the historical Speicherstadt (warehouse district) in the Hafencity quarter of Hamburg. Depending on who you ask, the modern construction resembles a hoisted sail, a water wave, an iceberg or a quartz crystal - take your pick. I like the description of hoisted sail best since Elphi is located in the harbor of Hamburg - this port is the reason why Hamburg is also called Germany's gate to the world. The Elbphilharmonie was officially opened on January 11, 2017, almost ten years after construction had begun.

It is a truly amazing building. Here you can see a bit more of its unique architecture.

However, this was not the "real" reason why we went to Hamburg, even though the Elbphilharmonie has been on my list of "must see". Our destination was located within these buildings, the historical Speicherstadt. Those of you who are more familiar with Hamburg might already know where we were going, otherwise you have to wait for the next post. It's worth it, I promise.

The Speicherstadt has gone through quite some very careful redevelopment and has become a very interesting quarter. I had to laugh about the sayings on the trash bins.

Left: Do you have a bag of shit? - Right: Your trash has potential with me

After we had spent almost eight hours at our destination in the Speicherstadt, we returned to Elbphilharmonie. We got tickets for the very special escalator to the upper floors (the escalator is free, but you do need a ticket). Why is this escalator (called "Rolltreppe" in German, rolling stair) special? Well, it is the longest curved escalator in Europe. It is 82 meters long (about 270 ft) and takes you up to the Plaza on a unique, slightly curved path. The escalator is also called the "Tube".

And here we are, riding the "gewölbte Rolltreppe".

Going up to the foyer of the concert hall and the Plaza.

The Plaza is the viewing platform that offers panoramic views of Hamburg, the port and the Elbe River. If you're on the platform, you're actually on top of the warehouse brick building I mentioned above and at the base of the "hoisted sail".

The view of the port

and some part of the Speicherstadt

As you can see that the weather was rather poor - quite typical for Hamburg which is a bit like Seattle; it rains a lot. We were lucky that it was only grey, but didn't rain.

It was getting dark quickly.

Of course there is a shop on this level and of course we had to go in there. I couldn't resist buying the following item - Nivea is made by Beiersdorf and the headquarter of Beiersdorf is in Hamburg. Of course I had to buy this! (three "of course" in one short paragraph!)

A last view at Elbphilharmonie at dark. If you are interested in (classical) music and acoustics, this video about Elbphilharmonie is very interesting.

Another view along Kehrwiederfleet to the Speicherstadt - so pretty at night!

Then we crossed Zollkanal via this pedestrian bridge to Deichstraße ("dike street").

Deichstraße is the oldest remaining street in the old center of Hamburg, dating back to the 14th century - it was first mentioned in 1304. Deichstraße contains some of the oldest buildings in the city. You can find many bars, pubs and restaurants here. We went to Fisch & Co., a small place where each of us got a Fischbrötchen (roll with baked fish) to go - ah, such good memories of my childhood! I have always loved Fischbrötchen which you could buy only at the farmers market where I grew up.

And here I end this post with a joyous Moin Moin! (an all-day greeting in Northern Germany)

Belgian Faces

 

After our magical evening in Brugge and a good night in a beautiful little vacation home in the country (I could have stayed there much longer) where we had a lovely friendly chat with the landlord, we made our way to Antwerpen, but not before some cuddle time with their cats.

Antwerpen - I prefer to keep with the native names - is also in the Flemish Region of Belgium and is the second largest city in the country (with Brussels being the largest). We parked on the outskirts and took the train into the city center which was a good idea since all the roads in the center were a huge construction zone.

We first passed by the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal (Cathedral of Our Lady) where I noticed this beautiful monument, dedicated to Jan and Pieter Appelmans, the architects of this Gothic style cathedral. Look at these stone masons!

In the Handschoenmarkt, once home to a glove market, we saw this beautiful sculpture in white marble of Nello and Patrasche outside the cathedral. It is made by Belgian artist Batist Vermeulen and depicts the characters of the 1872 novel A Dog of Flanders by English author Marie Louise de la Ramée. The novel has been a popular children's classic in Japan, Korea, Russia, Ukraine, and the Philippines. It is about the boy Nello and his loyal dog Patrasche, partly taking place in Antwerpen and ending in the cathedral (a rather sad ending, actually). Interestinlgy enough it was only translated into Dutch in 1987 and several monuments were created to please tourists. Quite the story, isn't it?

 On our way to Bakkerij Diné we crossed Grote Markt (market square) with its beautiful guildhalls...

... and passed many narrow alleys.

Finally we reached Bakkerij Diné - a very small bakery and coffee shop. The coffee shop was quite packed - there were only a handful of tables - but two guys got up from their bigger table to sit at a smaller one so that we could have the big table. I can't mention the friendliness and consideration of the Belgian people often enough. Everybody we met were just lovely. This was breakfast and dessert (why not have dessert in the morning?):

It was so good! After that the Geek wanted to go to a special frites place (French fries) that Kaefer had visited a few months before. They serve frites with all kinds of interesting mayo sauces, some really unusual flavors. We love to try different food in the countries we visit, no matter how weird they may be. Unfortunately I didn't take a picture - this was quite the spot!

Throughout the city I saw some interesting faces - they and all the other ones in this post are for Nicole's Friday Face Off.

How could I not take a picture of this lovely little shop?

A well stocked cheese shop...

... and some delicious dulce.

Finally we took the train back to our car and then it was back on the road, driving home to Germany where we arrived in the early evening. 

Next time we'll go to the North of Germany!

Shrouded in Mist

 

Let's go back to Europe. When I last wrote about our fall trip we were on the beaches of Normandy. A day later we arrived in Dunkerque where we visited the Musée Dunkerque 1940 Opération Dynamo. It was heart wrenching. I didn't take any pictures here except of the numbers of allied troops evacuated and a model of the evacuation.

After that we left France and went to Brugge where we arrived in the late afternoon, when it was already starting to get dark. The entire day had been overcast and gloomy.

Brugge (West Flemish) or Bruges (French) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders, in the Flemish Region of Belgium. The two other regions are the Walloon Region and the Brussels-Capital Region. And there are also two main lingusitic communities found in Belgium, the Dutch-speaking Flemish Community and the French-speaking French Community. There is also a small German-speaking Community. This alone shows the diversity of this relatively small country that is quite important within Europe - it is one of the founding members of the European Union with Brussles as its de facto capital.

We hadn't eaten anything all day (except for snacks in the car) and were now looking for a place to eat. Belgium is famous for its French fries, called frites. Kaefer was the one who had found a supposedly good place on the internet and we were now looking for it - it was across the building in the picture above.

The place was packed, but two young guys invited us to sit at their table. This was our first encounter with the friendliness of the Flemish people, and it wasn't the last. They are a very friendly people! I had my fries with seafood (fish, calamari, shrimp) accompanied by a Belgian beer. Both were delicious. 

This is for Bleubeard and Elizabeth's T Tuesday

After this very satisfying dinner we explored the city. The historic city center is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is criss-crossed with canals and therefore sometimes referred to as the "Venice of the North". It is definitely a very beautiful place. The foggy evening added to its magic.

There were gates and mysterious corners lit by street lights.

While we were walking along the canals and across bridges and courtyards we could hear the bells ringing - it sounded a bit like a Glockenspiel, but also was dissonant at times. I recorded it, if you like, you can listen to it.

This old bridge I found particularly beautiful. 

There were many more bridges because there was water everywhere.

The light was so magical! So were the reflections in the water.

The following four photos show my favorite part of the city. Look at the warm light and those fantastic reflections!

Where there is water, there are swans - we saw quite a bit of them! I was very happy to also find some crooked trees, an enigmatic silhouette against the illuminated sky.

If you wish you can do some great shopping in Brugge. There were many small shops and little restaurants and bars. We didn't see any chain stores, at least not in this part of the city.

Belgians are known for their excellent food, and especially for their sweet stuff. Macaroons...

... marzipan, nougat and chocolate...

... and, of course, beer. There's more to Belgian beer than just Stella Artois.

There were also a lot of places to eat. We could have eaten our way through to our hearts content.

The Provinciaal Hof (Provincial Palace) and Belfort at the Grote Markt (market square), beautifully illuminated.

Narrow alleys right out of some dark mystery novel (or movie) - let your imagination run wild with all the mist hanging over it.

On our way back to where we had parked the car we repeatedly saw more little corners and beautiful courtyards with a lone street light illuminating a dark corner with reflections in an artificial pond.

It was a bit of a challenge to get out through all these narrow streets - we had a moving truck blocking our way, but people were super nice directing us around it (it was just centimeters between our car and the truck) - did I mention that people here were super friendly? Then a draw bridge over one of the canals was drawn up and we had to wait until the boat was through and traffic could move again. Everybody was patient and quite stoic.

I would return in a heartbeat!