Altona and the Harbor

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We were slow to wake up today, and bad luck, the hot water went out after Cheryl got her shower. But, we all managed to do some version of "hit the high spots and hope for the best" and after a wonderful breakfast, we were off by bus to Altona.

Our first stop was Stuhlmannbrunner ("chair man fountain"). The fountain was working, which, according to Andrea, was remarkable; it was working so well that Laura, Tiny Beethoven and I got a bit wet. We walked further toward the Elbe, and ended up at Altonaer Balkon, another park and scenic overlook where we spent some time looking over the scene. We then headed down to the ferry dock Dockland to wait for our tour boat. It turns out that the harbor ferry is a much more cost-effective option for a tour of the harbor, as long as you have a friendly local guide (Hi, Ulf!) to tell you what you are seeing. We rode around on the boat, saw many container ships and many expensive houses along the river, made a pun about how (a)stern Tiny Beethoven looks, and generally had a good time.

After the boat ride, we got off at Neumühlen and went to Museumshafen Café for some Kaffee und Kuchen. I had the chocolate cherry cake and it was delicious. I was reminded that in Europe (the bits I've been to, anyway), the desserts are as rich, but not as sweet as in the States. If you ever get a chance to have Sachertort, you should definitely try it, but be forewarned: if your palate is attuned to super-sweet desserts, this will not be like that. But, the mingled flavors of the cake, especially when accompanied by a Großer Schwarzer, are complex and sophisticated (and tasty!).

We got back on the boat to finish our harbor tour, and rode to Landensbrücken and disembarked. Ulf had a surprise for us; we were going to walk under the Elbe in a tunnel built over 100 years ago. Barb, Joe, Laura and Ulf walked down about a billion stairs to get to the tunnel, and Cheryl and I took the elevator down because walking down stairs and bad knees do not mix. The Alter Elbtunnel is open to cars, but since only only one of the tunnels is currently open, they switch up the direction depending on the time of day. Also, the way the cars get down to the tunnel is by an elevator. We walked through the tunnel, went up the elevator on the other side, and there was a small park/overlook there, where we took a rest and watched the river for a little while. Then we took the elevator back down, and walked back through the tunnel, and headed to our next destination.

St. Michaelis Hauptkirche is a main Lutheran church for Hamburg; one might say it was a Cathedral, if one were not Lutheran. You can read more about the church at its Wikipedia entry. We first sat in the nave and listened to some nice Orgelmusik, and then took the elevator up to the top of the spire, which affords a great view of the city. Notable is a World War II bunker which is visible from the tower, and which looks very solid. I am told that after the war, they tried to destroy and remove one of these bunkers and found it to be impossible, even from the inside!

Next, we walked to Krameramtswohnungen, which, if I understood Ulf correctly, started out as affordable old-folks' housing. The narrow cobblestoned alleyway is lined with shops, but if you look up you can see some of the oldest surviving architecture in Hamburg.

Finally, we made our way to the U-bahn station and began the journey back to the house, which involved a train, two busses and about an hour. As we neared home, Joe requested that we stop at the Apotheke for some ear-clearing remedy, but it turned out that it was closed, so Ulf hopped on his bike and rode to the mall which was still open and acquired the necessary. Then, we all sat down to a lecker (delicious) dinner of stuffed peppers, and conversation and bier.

It was a good day.

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Photos

Stuhlmannbrunner
It's Laura and Tiny Beethoven at Stuhlmanbrunner.

Altonaer Balkon
Tiny Beethoven likes his parks.

Tiny Beethoven Looking (a)Stern
Here we are on the ferry, where we got a very cheap tour of the harbor.

Alter Elbtunnel
Under the Elbe

WW II Bunker
Apparently, these bunkers are virtually impossible to destroy, even from the inside.

View from St. Michaelis
We went to the top of the bell tower, and this is what we saw.

Comments

[J&J]

Beethoven
Your pictures are beautiful of the sights. We want to see more! "Beethoven" is getting too much attention! Love the music history too. Can Cheryl put her pictures on a Travelblog to add to her adventures. And more Flicker pictures! : )