2025-04-04 : Three days in Hamburg

I lived in Hamburg for about two years, starting in March of 2012, and hadn't been back since 2014. Unlike Berlin -- which I visited regularly between 2012 and 2016 and then didn't visit since then -- I have the sense that the core or heart of Hamburg is roughly the same, despite the gentrifying. 

Given that this was a really packed 3 days and to me had the core of what I think Hamburg is and what you should show someone to get a feel for Hamburg, I wanted to share this as a travelogue post. 

Day 1 (Friday): Eppendorf (Isemarkt) - Zoo - Sternschanze 

• Arrive (w/the train) Hamburg Hbf 10:30/11 
• Eppendorf:
• Eppendorfer Markt for Brunch @ Cafe Karl, Günter & Marie (nice, airy. Tasty food)
• walked along Eppendorfer Weg
• visited  Isemarkt -- a "weekly market" that also has food trucks and music, runs from Eppendorfer Baum to Hoheluftbruecke U-Bahn stops under the raised train/tram way. It is open Wednesdays and Fridays. 
  
  
  
  
  
• Took the bus to Hagenbeck's Tierpark/Zoo  . One of the oldest zoos, about 100 years old, and the first one to use trenches instead of fences to keep the animals in, and some animals have free range of the park (peacocks and some tiny little creatures between a tiny deer and a rabbit). We managed to see a walrus being fed and also go under him in a glass tunnel and see his filter-whisker-vacuum mouth up close. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Checked into Hotel -- Holiday Inn @ Berliner Tor, stop of several U-Bahns and S-Bahns, 1 Stop from Hbf,  well-connected and also safe vibe. I would recommend. They even have a Sauna. 
  
  
• Sternschanze-area: 
• Dinner @  Cafe Mexico  -- authentic Mexican food from a Mexican family. I visited regularly when I lived in Hamburg. Still very good. Price includes chips and salsa. The neighborhood got hipper and I am glad they remained. 
• Sadly, the source of a common meme a few doors down from the restaurant did not survive the demographic shift (location): 
  
  
  
   
• Walked a loop around Sternschanze:
  "The Schanze: This multi-coloured area between the Schulterblatt, Schlachthof and the Stresemannstraße changed back in the ‘70s into a melting pot of foreigners and punks, artists and freaks. A lot of small stores where you can shop til you drop, kebab shops, second-hand shops, Portuguese cafés and the omnipresent Asian Bok snack restaurants characterise the street scene."
   saw the Rota Flora (famous occupied building), pointed out how to get to Altes Maedchen (craft beer bar). Glad to see Oma's Apotheke still exists. 
• Tip: any bar/pub that has "Eck" in the name (another longtime bar, Erika's Eck, also still exists) allows smoking. 

Day 2 (Saturday): Altstadt-Minatur Wunderland - Portuguese 1/4 - Nordic food - Planten un Blomen - St Pauli EveningTour 

Not a bad walk. Route here.

• Altstadt:
• walked along Steintordamm towards the Altstadt. Cool street, lots of food markets -- Turkish, Afghan, Persian, Arab, etc etc. (e.g.) If I'd known about it when living there, I'd've shopped there al lthe time. 
• Turkish Breakfast @ Back Lava. Special things: a honeycomb and sour cherry preserves. If I went back, I'd've done a "build your own" breakfast and picked a different egg dish, the default for the 2 person has way too much tomatoes for my taste and a bit too much sweet stuff. 
• Walked through the "Altstadt"/Town center, and to the Speicherstadt by way of Deichstrasse, which is full of rebuilt very-old houses along a canal 
  
  
  
  
  
• Miniatur Wunderland trains and landscapes galore. There's also an exhibit now on 20 years of history, including budget for each area and the renovations and expansions during covid.  
• Buy your tickets either there in person, for a future time slot, or on line in advance. We showed up around 11 and thankfully the wait time dropped from (max) 90 to 40 minutes and killed a little time in the waiting room before going in. 
• Block around 3 hours for this. Lots of standing. There are chairs but someone is always sitting in them. They open at 7:30 and close at 1am, so you can try really early or really late to avoid the children and the pointing. Lots of cool tours going on, lots of expansions. Goals for next time. 
  
  
  
  
  
• Walked along the Portuguese Quarter, which thankfully still exists. 
• Had a really nice savory pasteis (with spinach and feta) at Cafe Sul as well as bacon-wrapped cheese things and some tea. They'd decorated with the traditional tiles, I felt very much like in a piece of Lisbon. 
• Looking for water, saw in google maps "Finnshop" nearby and discovered the Nordic Sailor-Missions. Finnish next to Norwegian-Swedish. They were both having (separate) easter parties. 
• THE FINS HAVE A GROCERY STORE IN THE BASEMENT. And a Sauna. 
• The grocery store includes Pirakka ("open" pirogi) and even gluten-free Maemmi (molasses-carmelized bread-based pudding? Hard to describe. Tasty though). 
• Continued walking, ran into another Swedish church and easter thing, with some live music. They had a tiny fridge in their crafts-etc sale area where they had the swedish cheese brand we like as well as the herring we like (abba), even in nice flavors (e.g. ginger) 
• Kept walking to Alter Elbpark/Große Wallanlagen/Planten un Blomen. They have signage now explaning its history:
• Int'l Garden show in Prussian times then again in modern times => the former walls and area around it are a nice park. Walked through the "wall" parts, by the Bunker and the old botanical garden, before needing a break to put up our feet and change clothes 

• Evening tour from the Sankt Pauli Tourism office. 
• The tour guide has lived in St Pauli for 5 years but has gone there for years because her mother used to live there -- her dentist was based there since she was 3, etc. Her dad also did some of the construction work at the Zoo. Interesting stories. E.g. the "big freedom" in Danish-owned Altona (1640 to 1840ish) was not just religion but also career/guild. 
• Only negative was a stop in a smoking bar (Picadilly, an old cult gay bar), so we popped around the corner to Maa'deyo, a nice latin american restaurant and warmed up with some corn tea. I'd go back and try the food next time. 

Day 3 (Sunday): Fischmarkt - Ferry- Hamburg Bunker - rest of Planten un Blomen

• Altonaer Fischmarkt -- ran a bit late, 8:45. Next time, would plan to arrive at 8am latest. Arrived Reeperbahn, everything was quiet and clean, walked 10 minutes. Grabbed a quick flammlachs for breakfast and managed to snag good deals on bundles of cheese and sausage. Even watched a little of the dutch plant auctioneer and listened to a little music in the main hall.
•  It's (in)famous as where people go to keep drinking after a night of drinking, as they open at 5. They used to be really strict about shutting down at 9:30, clearly in the last few years, that's become more a gentle suggestion. 
• Afterwards, we had a nice brunch around the corner at Special Connection. Good flat white, great eggs and nice gluten-free bread.
• Hopped on a Ferry (Ferry lines are included in public transit day tickets). Caught the wrong one, so ended up at the Oevelgoenne beach and then stepped out and took one going the right direction. 
• Standard advice from locals: do not do a harbor tour. Overpriced and boring. Just hop on a few ferries instead.
• Headed to the Hamburg Bunker (they only had two! Mannheim had 54 ish?!) but got refused entry with our metal water bottle, so returned to the Hbf to re-store our stuff and came back. 
• interesting "mountain path"of reasonable stairs up to the top-- there is a tiny park, trees
• obviously some nice views, a kiosk/imbiss, a restaurant, and a public set of displays about the history of the bunker. It was started reallllllly late in the war (1944? The one I live by was 1942 & 1942) and was intended to be re-used after the war so had built-in windows that were filled in a kind of temporary way, which explains why it could be repurposed.
• THIS THING IS MASSIVE. My bunker looks like a sad smart car next to a tour bus or maybe a plane by comparison 
• There's a dance club (Uebel & Gefaehrlich) that has been there since I lived there, actually longer as well as a school for sound engineering and I think music in general 
• There is also a climbing hall somewhere inside. 
  
  
• Walked back to Planten un Blomen to catch the part we missed 
• Late Lunch circa 15h at "Stadt Salat", quick bowls in a "don't get too comfortable" spartan aesthetic 

Notes for next time or ideas for a 4th/5th day: 

• Museum ships @ Landungsbruecken
• Rickmer Rickmers and 
• Cap San Diego. 
• They differ 60 years in age and were both cargo ships. Cap San Diego was in the last generation where they built the cargo cranes ONTO the ship. 
• Alster boat tours (from Jungfernstieg). They seem to run 2 hrs. One goes up deep into the canals, the one I thought looked interesting (Dämmertorn) did a loop and touched on the "Stadtpark" in Ohldorf (which I don't know if I've been to). 
• Musicals! Lion King? Hamburg is known for its musicals. Also, Opera, but I'm not a fan of Opera. 
• Other museums. 
• The "Dialog im Dunkeln" ("blind museum") has evolved to be a "Dialog" Museum also with other disability-mimicking experiences. 
• Emmigration museum was good, I'd go again 
• Kunsthalle Hamburg. I think I'd never been 
• Other St Pauli tours like "Saat Pauli", "Sankt Pauli queer tour". They also have a craft beer tour. 
• Other markets: 
• St Pauli Nachtmarkt aka Nighttime Farmer's market. Wednesdays 16-20h
• St Pauli Nachtflohmarkt in the Rindermarkthalle. Night time flea market in spring/summer, Weds & Thurs. Check the website for times. 
• Sternschanze Flohmarkt. Saturdays. Great flea market. Really has everything you need as a new person in town. Pots, pans, shelves, whatever. Not just piles of clothes. 
• Food/Restaurants/Bar: 
• Groeninger local brewery with a fun cellar. You can buy a tiny keg to share, helpful for treating a group. Heavy german fare like pork knuckle (Schweinshaxe) 
• Moewe Sturzflug. Comfy Bar, old couches. It was where I hosted the English-German Stammtisch I started up when I lived there. The name means "seagull nosedive", and Germans love puns, so, "dive bar". 
• Altes Maedchen (mentioned on day 1)
• Sign up for and use the StadtRad bike share program and cycle around Hamburg. It is a steep learning curve, though. 
• Luebeck. Cute day trip. Maybe half day. Home of Marzipan. 
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2022.04 EasterWkd Celtic Ringwall, Trier, Saarburg, Saarschleife

Intinerary and comments:

Note: we have seen Pompeii, so didn't feel moved to do a real tour of the roman stuff in Trier, in particular all of the preserved baths. There are also nearby reconstructed roman villas, which I'd like to come back and check out. Trier and similar "roman ruins/reconstructions" could eat a full day or two. 

• Day 1: Mannheim to Trier
• Celtic Ringwall and Hilfort of Otzenhausen (1C BC, largest surviving celtic ringwall. Currently 20m tall, originally probably 40!)
• Trier: Porta Nigra, Dom, etc 
• Day 2: Drive south along the Saar before heading back 
• Saarburg
• Pretty view
• Klause bei Kastel-Stadt: Mountaintop settlement, continuously settled since the Celts, with sandstone outcroppings and temple/church atop 
• Tree-top-path, Saarschleife views

a shareable google map of everything is here

Day 1: Getting to Trier, Celts along the way

Celtic Ringwall and Hilfort 

Location via googlemaps. Honestly, pretty easy to route over this when heading to Trier from Mannheim. I hadn't heard of it from anyone, I'd found it by my tried and true method (used for everything on this trip outside of Trier) of zooming out, then in, and clicking on things that looked interesting. 

Hiking up to the TWO walls (there's an outer wall on the hillfort, then the inner ringwall around the old settlement, which is currently 20m tall) is free. There's a little reconstructed celtic settlement at the start of the path that you have to pay something to enter, and we decided to skip. Details here.  They have a virtual tour of the ringwall, even, here. 

After enough exposure, I realize now that often a "Felsenmeer" (sea of stones/bolders) is the remains of an old celtic settlement. 

View towards the modern reservoir, from atop the first ringwall: 

Walking a bit further up the hill, you come to the inner settlement. They've tried excavating the wall in some areas to understand how it was constructed, but it has no mortar, and the stones shift and fall --- it's basically impossible. 

This thing is so massive. It is really hard to photograph. It's hard imagining it used to be twice as large. In the 1800s, the local ruler petitioned the grand poobah -- the Czar/Kaiser/whatever to make a law forbidding the locals from carting off the stones to reinforce their own houses (see: why is everything ancient in ruins? Because people are too lazy or lack the know how to dig stones, so they go pillage the old structures).  For his visit, they built some stairs into this wall (kind of visible in the first picture) 

And next, the view from the top: 

Day 1: Trier

Trier is an old Roman town, located at the confluence of the Moselle/Mosel and Saar Rivers. It's quite close to the western border of Germany, kind of close to Luxembourg. 

We arrived, found parking, and had an absolutely lovely lunch at this French place with a German name, the Kraemerei. 

Then we walked around Trier, loosely inspired by this route.  The Basilica is nuts. Dates back to 310, giant, Roman, imposing. And then someone slapped a...baroque? Roccoco? Palace front on the side. Utterly bizarre, but, well, Prince-Bishops and their tastes. 

Pictures from all sides. As you approach from the Basilica side, walking around towards the palace front glommed on: 

Not far away from the Basilica is another Franken-Building, the Dom, which was built in 4 different Eras. They seem to like models of things around here, and placed a helpful one in front of it.  I was totally amused that the Bishop's winery had a wine garden (like a beergarden, but wine) across the street from the church. 

And of course, the building to see: Porta Nigra. Famous Roman ruin. 

We made some dinner in the flat, then went around the corner for turkish desserts at Tatlim Benim. 

Day 2: Drive south along the Saar before heading back 

Saarburg: 30 Minutes from Trier along the Saar

So, I was steering us to some places labeled as being great views, then I saw this town and declared we had to stop. With 1 Euro all day parking, a win. 

What I saw: 

Saarburg has a castle and church up on a ridge, then the old town center is kind of westish of that ... and IT CONTAINS A WATERFALL. 

But, back to the castle and ridge, as that's where we started exploring. 

If you don't know this about me, I adore crenelations. The zig zag things that kids draw on towers when you ask them to draw a castle. 

We climbed up to the highest part of the castle (the crenelated thing was a tiny turret, this was in the other direction) and had this great view down the ridge to the Church, and the old town tucked behind it. 

Heading over to the oldtown, I was skeptical of the thing labeled waterfall...but I could hear it. Nah, can't really be. WAIT WHAT? 

Here's video of it. 

In the 13th Century, the local ruler decided to reroute a local river/stream (smaller than the adjacent Saar) to run through town. The 18m drop let it then power a mill. This mill was later swapped out for a turbine (now housed in that building on the left, the Aemuseum (wordplay/portmanteau on 'amuse' and 'museum'), letting Saarburg be one of the first cities in what is now Germany with electricity. 

[Optional: Beautiful View of the Saarschleife from the East bank] 

Optional because it's kind of a pain to get back across the river (if your car swims, that would make this easier). 

This is the view. Verra nice. 

Klause bei Kastel-Stadt

This was really cool. Continuously settled hiltop village, celts, romans, goths, etc. 

Celts and Romans from 2ndC BCE to 4thC CE. The first picture/map gives you a sense of scale, and suggests some hiking paths in the area (would be good for a return trip, or if you have an extra day)

This next one is an "Ehrenfriedhof". For soldiers. The headstones and whole thing were planned in one go, possible in the post-WWII situation. 

A handy scale model. The darker/bronze looking thing is the chapel on the cliff that was originally a celtic worship area (maybe just inside the adjacent caves):

And after all this and the amazing views, the last stop in our adventure, the tree-top path. 

Tree-top-path (Baumwipfelpfad), Saarschleife views

So, apparently there is a whole...chain? family? of these constructions, and not just in Germany. People found places with nice views, built a giant ramp thing following a "path through the treetops" and people pay admission for it. Definitely worth it. 

The website for this one is here. 

As you enter, pictures of various other ones: 

Then you walk up the path/ramp and through a large, nice park area along the height of the rather tall tree tops: 

Finally the view. I have no idea how to translate this to English. This form on a river ('bend' seems insufficient) is called a "Schleife", or "Loop". So this is a "Saarschleife", and it has more than one of them as it snakes around: 

It was windy that day, and it was super duper windy at the top of the thing: 

Hope this inspires you to check some of these things out if you make it to this corner of the world. 

2019.09.06-09.10 around the Savoy Alps - Chambéry, Lyon, Gorges du Fier, Annecy

Looking into places to stay in the French Alps, I had been attracted by nice pictures from a hike around Annecy some friends had posted on FB, but the remaining hotels didn't convince me, and nothing was located that well relative to the hikes. Looking around, I came across Chambéry, which is not hard to reach by train and which is about an hour from Lyon and from Annecy, so one could easily adapt to changing weather -- and the forecast was for rain at least on Sunday.

CAVEAT FOR OTHERS: restaurants in this region (even in Lyon!) are largely closed on Sunday (and often Monday as well!) 

• Friday:  Short stop in Aix-les-Bains, walking around Chambéry
• Saturday: Hike from Col du Granier, south of Chambéry in the Chartreuse mountains 
• Sunday: day trip to Lyon for food ("Gourmet Capital of France") and the old town
• Monday: visit to Gorges du Fier and very short stop in Annecy for lunch and to look around, finished with bouldering and a drink in Lausanne 

Regional map for context:

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Friday:  Short stop in Aix-les-Bains, walking around Chambéry

For what it's worth, I made good use of my French (asking where the machines for TER tickets were, how to stamp my ticket, how this girl had managed to stamp hers, and telling the conductor that I had tried to stamp it and it had failed) up until Aix-les-Bains, where I was asked a question I wasn't sure how I'd answer even in English ("Are you here for the tour?"  In my head -- what tour? Does it cost anything? Do I want to go on a tour of Aix-les-Bains?). 

Aix-les-Bains

Since I have time off, I went down early on Friday and stopped first in Aix-les-Bains, which feels  like a French Alpine version of Baden-Baden...which makes sense, as that is roughly what it is. A spa town, full of old people seeking treatments for rheumatism. Lots of clinics and rehab and some schools for "thermal medicine".

Chambéry

On to Chambéry to wander around. It is a cute town, very alive, lots of industry around it and a cute old/center town. Saw the "famous" elephant fountain. The savoy region flag reminds a bit of the Swiss flag (or the Danish flag).  

Stayed in a very solidly-constructed hotel in Chambéry, the Kyriad centre. Very thick walls, door to the hall and door between the sleeping area and separated toilet and shower, which made it incredibly soundproofed. Very new, good mattresses. Suprisingly well thought-out kitchen nook, with cleaning supplies and an obvious place to let dishes dry, enough dishes and utensils and pots and pans, and a water cooker for tea/coffee.

Saturday: Hike from Col du Granier, south of Chambéry in the Chartreuse mountains 

This hike was...demanding. I was really glad to have bought hiking poles right before this trip. Didn't see the giant fossil, maybe that was the point of the first small detour. Took at least an hour break, and with that in mind, actually kept the pace suggested by the hiking guide.  I highly recommend these hiking guides --- by Rother Wanderfuhrer, they have GPX coordinates for all tours and  hikes in three grades (this was "intermediate" (red)) and many regions. This is from the book for the Savoy Alps. Not all tiles are available in English. 

Pictures semi-chronological. Is a loop starting and ending at Col du Granier, here seen from roughly halfway, in the back right of the picture.

A story about this peak (the Col du Granier):

This sharp side of the mountain was made in November of 1248, when a giant piece split off and rolled 7km in the direction of Chambéry, destroying several villages and killing at least 5000. (The Chartreuse Abbey is nearby, so maybe those are the chronicles from which these come, referenced in the hiking book)

From wikipedia:  "This event created the sheer 700 m north face of the mountain. Five villages were partly or completely destroyed by the avalanche...Two villages were partially destroyed"

Sunday: day trip to Lyon for food ("Gourmet Capital of France") and the old town

Lyon!  Things to know about Lyon (tourism website): 

• Famous for food (Les Halles, the big food market) 
• Old town with medieval walkways 
• Funiculars (covered by the metro day-ticket! (6 Euros))
• 2nd largest city in France -- and it is not car-friendly 

Things learned: 

• Toll roads expensive in France. Chambéry to Lyon was about 12 Euros each direction. 
• Parking is difficult. There is a big lot under the Perrache station, for about 20 Eur/Day. Easy Metro or Tram to anywhere in the city. 
• Day ticket (6 Eur) for transit is worth it, and includes the funiculars.

Food at Les Halles

First stop was lunch at Les Halles "Lyon’s mythic indoor food market with an international reputation for offering the very finest gourmet food." A video visit.  More pics on tripadvisor.

Lunch was fish and veggies at Maison Rousseau, because they had a tiny enclose salle where you could avoid some of the noise of the market. It was very light, which left lots of room for desserts. 

Half the desserts were from Bahadourian, mainly lebanese (e.g. Mafrouké Libanais aux Pistaches, seen here). The non-dessert part of their food included these rather adorable mini foie gras burgers.

Half the desserts were little amuse-bouche cakes from Maison Seve.

Impressions from the market: 

Old town with medieval walkways («traboules»)

After lunch, got a map from the tourist office and walked through the old town. Found one of the covered walkways by noticing a tour group clustered around a door. Timing was perfect, as there was a short rain shower, lasting the time it took us to walk through. 

Miscellaneous impressions of the old town: 

Found a custom-built retro E-Bike store. These are both E-Bikes:

Funiculars! There are 2 in town. We took the one up to the Church, then walked down. 

There is a funicular song. My very first experience coming across a funicular (in Switzerland, between Lausanne and Vevey) involved another math graduate student singing part of the funicular song. (ya pi ya pi ya funiculi funicula funiculi funicula!)

view looking down to Lyon from the Church

Ended our trip in Lyon with some tea to warm up by the river in the sun. 

great menu

the thing atop the hill is the destination of the second funicular

Dinner back in Chambéry was at Café des Inities. In part because almost nothing was open. They had a nice menu, good prices, and awesome wine. 

I had the Savoie Chardonnay (AOP Domaine Philippe Ravier) then the Bordeau Blanc (AOP Chateau Recougne). Both were really delicious. 

Monday: visit to Gorges du Fier & Annecy

Les Gorges du Fier 

Chateau de Montrottier: There is a story about one of the dukes of this castle, who ignored his wife to go hunting all the time and partying with his buddies. She was bored and lonely and went on long walks around the gorge with a faithful page (young guy) following her around. At some point she crossed paths with the duke one castle over, and then she started sneaking away to meet him. The page followed, saw them, reported it to the Duke of Montrottier. He laid a trap, caught them as well, but the other guy ran off on his horse. Supposedly the page caught at the horse's tail to try to stop him, guy cuts off horse's tail and escapes. Angry duke locks wife into a tower where she scratches lines to mark the days, waiting on her death. Said marks are still there. 

 

From another blog: "The Fier River runs through the Haute-Savoie and Savoie départements. It has its sources at Mount Charvin in the Aravis Range and flows 71.9 km before it empties into the Rhône at Seyssel.[...]The suspended footbridges were completed in July 1869. Workers were transported inside barrels moved via a system of pulleys to fix solid metallic consoles into the rock walls. The track is suspended some 20 to 30 metres above and stretches 252 metres over the stream"

Something really startling to learn was that the gorges flood regularly. Which is hard to comprehend because of how wide the river valley (or flood plain) is which feeds into the gorges. It has to be a LOT of water for the gorge to then be flooded up to (and sometimes past) the walkway. Last big flood was in 2015. Learned the word for flood(s) from context. At the end of the visit is a room showing video footage from the last flood, which is pretty incredible. 

the gorges is in Lovigny, to the west of Annecy

 

Lunch in Annecy 

Lunch was quick and delicious at Tête de Cochon

Followed by a little time to play tourist in the old town streets and walk to the lake (very large, very clear and clean). Took inspiration from tripadvisor and others' recommendations on things to see in one day. 

Palais de l'Isle (it is exactly the size of the island)

"Venice Street":

And wrapping up with the Lake of Annecy:

Bouldering and a drink in Lausanne 

Lausanne is 1.5 hours from Annecy. I stopped there overnight and went bouldering for the first time (used to climb semi-regularly back in grad school. Our gym got a climbing wall after renovation) at a relatively new bouldering gym. Day pass 13 CHF, shoe renal 5 CHF. Had a bar as well, which we didn't indulge in, went to another bar afterwards for a drink i(at swiss prices! Which seemed "reasonable" until you notice it is 5 CHF for 0,1 L (instead of the normal 0,2L)).

Headed home the next day, which was a pretty long train ride. à bientôt!