Hamburg, DE, Post 1

(Originally posted 8 September 2007)

Last Wednesday, I had to fly to Hamburg, Germany to facilitate a session for the client's next release, which is to the Germany business units. The session was only 1/2 a day, but as I have never been to Germany before, I decided to take the rest of the week off so I could explore Hamburg.

Hamburg is the 2nd largest German city, after Berlin, and Europe's second busiest port, after Rotterdam. My top 10 observations on Hamburg are:
1. It's CLEAN!
2. It's GREEN! Hamburg is reported to have 43.8 trees for every person - as there are over 1 million inhabitant's, this means there are alot of trees and parks.
3. I was amazed at the number of cyclists - and not on fancy new bicycles, but obviously well used and loved bikes from times past.
4. Second to cycling is walking - lots of pedestrians - and not the frantic kind we get in London, but a leisurely pace, even though I am certain they all had places to be.
5. Politeness - people were friendly and helpful, even if they couldn't speak English very well.
6. There is a great mix of old and new design and architecture. Hamburg was nearly destroyed by fire in 1842, and again in WWII, so there isn't alot of really old left - but what is there is treated sympathetically with the new.
7. WATER! There are canals, lakes and rivers never more then 100 ft away (or so it seems). Consequently, there are alot of bridges. The locals are proud to state that there are over 2,000 bridges in Hamburg, more then Amsterdam & Venice combined.
8. People are obviously proud of their town - not in boastful way, but it shows (see pts 1 - 7).
9. There is a lot of history in Hamburg. Veerrrryyy interesting place!10. Church spires are everywhere, and I have this image of spires poking up amongst trees and buildings. In fact, alot of these are just spires - because not all the churches were rebuilt after WWII. Somehow, it just adds to the overall charm of the place.

BTW, Hamburg is NOT were we get "hamburger" from, although people from Hamburg are referred to as Hamburgers. I suspect they'd get cranky if you tried to put ketchup and pickles on them and take a bite (although it's probably been done in the Red Light District and "theatres" that make up the Reeperbahn). I'll post my 2 1/2 day visit on a separate post, so as not to make this one too long, and try to post some photos, too, when I download them from my camera.