We disembarked the cruise ship at Hamburg, Germany. Interestingly, we had discussed travelling to Hamburg during the winter while watching a travel channel show. (The show featured a young woman who was barge captain and expressed how much she loved her city...)
Disembarkation morning is always busy and structured but somehow still feels chaotic. We collected our bags and off we were to get a taxi to our hotel. O-M-G the line for a taxi was worse than any amusement park ride in the middle of summer!! However, Germany being Germany and efficient as it is, had just about every taxi in the city on call and it was the quickest cue/line we've ever been on. Taxis were constantly arriving; so to the front of the cue/line we were and off we went for a mid-morning drive through the city. First impression, lots of greenery, well cared for older buildings, plenty of modern ones too, and great roads. We arrive within 20 minutes to our hotel: Atlantic Kempinski Hotel. Lovely turn of the century hotel, period details, elegant lobby/lounge area and modern room decor. Rooms were not ready for checkin at 9am, so we left our bags with reception and off we went to investigate Hamburg.
Lucky for us, it was Sunday. The streets were calm and gave us a chance to admire the buildings, stroll and check out a few places where to dine. The old and new seem to intertwine as we rambled street after street. We found the town square and the magnificent Rathaus (city hall). It was incredible and hope the photos can do it justice (but I doubt it!). Afterwards, we were ready for lunch and, of all places that were suggested, it was Cafe de Paris! A French bistro! With no reservation we sheepishly asked if they could accommodate us considering the place was jam packed with locals. Quick as can be, we were shown to our table (two were pushed together for the 4 of us). The brunch menu was fabulous and we spared no time in ordering - with a bit of help from the bartender who was more than willing to help translate some of the menu items. During the meal he, as well as our server, checked on us to be sure we were content with our order. Afterwards, they suggested other places for us to check out in the city. How nice was that?!
We walked the city that day and the following day; we covered lots of territory, enough to warrant a few "pit stops" each day for beer or wine and give our feet a rest. Hope you do the same right now: put your feet up and check out the photos!
Fifi
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