Elja and Hasse’s wedding took place in the small village of Elmshorn near Hamburg. Most of the pre and post wedding festivities were in Elmshorn itself, but we did get a chance to spend one day before the wedding and one day after doing some exploring of the big city itself. Compared to many of the European cities we’ve visited Hamburg might be the most ‘real’ in that there doesn’t seem to be so much tourist-only stuff and it is a real working harbour city with fully functioning industry. We also noticed that there has been a lot of immigration in Hamburg so there is lots of ethnic diversity and the great shops and food that goes along with that. It was nice to have an Indian curry with some actual kick to it. Here are a few of our pictures from our short visit in Hamburg:
A tour was organized for the wedding guests. Here's our motley crew of Swedes a couple Canadians and a German or two in front of city hall (Rathaus).Big picture of city hall without a bunch of people blocking the view.Our intrepid guide Nina who is a native Hamburger and long time friend of Elja.The inscription reads: 'Forty Thousand Sons of the City Died for You. 1914-1918' Maybe I'm being a little oversensitive, but it seams pretty ballsy to erect this since the Germans were fairly responsible for starting the Great War. I understand it's commemorating those who sadly died just following orders, but it still felt somewhat wrong to me.The Michel church is a city landmark. I'll admit I'm not super interested in churches and have 'big European church overload', but they it was still a cool building.Really big organ in the church. Mostly good for playing In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida.We got to take a boat ride on the Elbe river to see the big port and some canals. It's a really busy place with lots of big boats coming and going. It might be fun to try paddling a OC1 or surfski with all the waves, but since they aren't very organized it might be frustrating as well.Hasse striking his 'German Explorer' pose. Since the boat tour was in German, Hasse tried to translate for the group. Unfortunately the guide spoke with a heavy 'Hamburger' accept so Hasse only understood about 35% and about half of that 'was boring' so he didn't need to say too much.This is the 'Eclipse' yacht being build for Russian Billionaire Roman Abramovich. It is reportedly the largest and most expensive yacht ever built. It requires a staff of 70 to operate and has 2 helicopter landing pads, an intruder detection system and an anti-missile defence system. Might be a little overkill, but who am I to judge?Another big ass churchNot sure what this is all about.The Beatles apparently launched their career in Hamburg and now there is a small square (designed to look like an record, so maybe it's a 'Circle') commemorating the band.Plaque in the middle of the record marking 'Beatles Platz'. It's a little dirty so you'll probably need to expand the photo to read it.The Alster lake that much of the town is built around. It's a really nice recreation area for swimming, sailing, rowing and paddling. We also saw lots of people out running and cycling the path by the water.We stumbled across the 'Hamburger Kanu Klub'. Unfortunately they were done paddling for the day and thus were closed. Catherine really wanted to get one of their club shirts.An interesting way to use an old boat. In False Creek or Burnaby that would be one of the best club boats. This club must have some money!Typical Hamburg architecture...... and some not so typical.
