And in to Hamburg
Our first visit to Scandinavia finished with us checking out of the Comfort Hotel and crossing Central Station to find the Flixbus stop. It was time to leave Malmö. And Sweden. We had a six hour journey ahead of us. On a bus. Not something to be savoured. Our next destination was to be Germany and we were headed to Hamburg, a city neither of us had been to previously. Although Victoria will be adding a new country to her list.
Sweden had been very good to us with the weather. Sun. Blue skies. And warm. A few hours into the Flixbus journey we were once again crossing the border. Yes, that imaginary blue line again. Did the world know that this blue line existed? As if by magic, when crossing into Germany, we had dark clouds and light rain.
Exploring Hamburg
The bus circled Hamburg Central Train station and shortly afterwards was dropping us off at the bus station. This part of town looked a little sketchy. And we had chosen not to stay at a hotel too close to here. This was further confirmed when looking at Google reviews of potential places to stay and some had photos of what people were claiming were drug drops right outside their hotel.
We widened our search and this is how we found ourselves 30 minutes later walking through the back streets of Hamburg to check into the Premier Inn. Something that felt familiar. Staying at a Premier Inn is something that many people in the UK will be familiar with. Yes, very generic. Not too exciting. And a great place to base ourselves for the next two days as we explore Hamburg.
Leaving the hotel the skies had brightened. We even had sun. A perfect time to explore and we started at the town hall. Known locally as the “rathaus”, Hamburg Town Hall dominates the city centre. Built in 1886 to replace the previous town hall that had been destroyed in the great fire of 1842, it took a full 44 years before it was finished. We were able to walk in and through the courtyard, marvelling at the fountain dedicated to Hygieia as the goddess of health and hygiene in Greek mythology. The fountain was built in remembrance of the cholera epidemic of 1892.
Getting thirsty we headed across the square from the Town Hall looking for a beer. We sat ourselves in a little street side bar and had our first beer in Germany. Asahi, from Japan. We had hoped for something a little more local. It would have to wait.
The Reeperbahn in Hamburg
Whilst in Hamburg we had read that a visit to the Reeperbahn was mandatory. What would be classed as the red light district we found the area to be more run down and tired looking than we expected. I found it all a little sad. One bright part of the visit though was discovering the football team based in the area, St Pauli. I hadn’t heard of Hamburg’s second team until our Flixbus ride. A guy on the bus had both a St Pauli shirt and baseball cap. Googling through the bus ride I discovered that they have a storied history. How many football clubs have a second “official” badge that is a skull and crossbones?
Hamburg football rivalry
Whilst in the city I had to pay a visit to the club shop of the most famous football club in the city. A club graced by the one and only late Kevin Keegan. SV Hamburg. Hamburg have been a team in my imagination ever since Keegan played for them. Becoming the Balon D’Or winner. In consecutive years in 1978 and 1979, sadly losing in the 1980 European Cup final.
Hamburg, like much of Germany, has a lot of history. A lot of it is related to the various wars. We visited the St Nikolai memorial and were in awe of how the tower still remains standing despite everything around it being destroyed in the second world war. What remains is now a monument to peace. When visiting these types of places around the world I always wonder why we need the atrocity before we call for peace.
Berlin
You can’t travel through Germany without having these conversations. Our next destination, Berlin, was no different. I had previously had a very fleeting visit to Berlin. In 2006. When I flew in with a couple of mates to savour the atmosphere of the 2006 World Cup final, held in the city. I remember very little of that trip so I was seeing the city as if for the very first time.
What I do remember is the size of the city. And this hit home when our bus dropped us at Alexanderplatz. As the navigator for our world travels it was my job to locate ourselves so we knew where our accommodation was. I checked Google Maps. Then checked again. Almost a one hour walk to the hotel. A hotel I thought we had chosen for its excellent location. The problem was that the excellent location, near Berlin train station, was a long walk from where the bus had dropped us. And off we went again, trundling our bags behind us as we both tried to keep smiling.
Once at the hotel, almost an hour later, we were indeed in an excellent location. And it was our base for the next two days for us to explore Berlin. Brandenburg Gate was on our doorstep as was the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, a very moving place to spend quiet time.
The Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall separated East from West Germany between 1961 and 1989 and no visit to Berlin is complete with a trip to the Berlin Wall Memorial. A time in history that in retrospect looks unbelievable. That someone would decide to build a wall to keep citizens of the same city apart from each other. Reading of the history of that period, the Cold War and Checkpoint Charlie, brings back memories of football tournaments over the years that have included teams from countries that no longer exist. Such as Yugoslavia. And how it broke down with the death of Tito as various nations proclaimed independence. New lines were drawn on the world map.
Being in Germany we had to visit a bierkeller. We were getting by on a steady diet of bratwursts washed down with strong German beer. How much fun it would be to be back later in the year to experience Oktoberfest. That bucket list item will have to wait for another trip.
The longest World Cup in history continues
Coinciding with our stay in Berlin was the huge World Cup match between England and Mexico. I knew we couldn’t get it anywhere to watch, with the kick off being at 2am local time. I did set my alarm and woke up to listen on the radio. However, on waking up I heard that due to the weather conditions the game had been pushed back an hour. Bleary eyed, I just gave it up and went back to sleep. It was to be later in the morning when I discovered that we had a last eight match versus Norway.
We didn’t know where we would be for this next match, but we did know our next destination. It was back to the bus station. We had a four and half hour Flixbus ride to the capital of the Czech Republic. Prague, we are coming for you.
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