Paragraph 1 of Day 5: We slept in and had a leisurely breakfast and it was great.
Paragraph 2 of Day 5: Doris, Hedda, Kendra, Kirsten, and I all went into Hamburg with hopes of taking a tour of the Alster Lake which forms the northern boundary of the central city and has many large houses all around it and of the canals which criss-cross the southern part of the central city before reaching the Elbe River. Unfortunately we didn’t get there in time so we had to go with the less popular tour of the canals north of the Alster Lake which wind their ways through the backyards of very opulent houses and apartments. It was neat at first especially going across the Alster with the skyline all around us but eventually it just became a pleasant boat ride as the houses started to look the same. But still, the name of the game was relaxation today so it was nice to sit for a couple hours on a boat and enjoy each others company without running about.
Prior to getting on the boat we had a little bit of time to kill so we strolled about the central area – mainly searching for camera batteries. It was very bustling with people rushing around. It strangely seemed busier than Berlin even though Hamburg is just a bit over half the size. Perhaps it’s because we visited Berlin on a weekend and today was Monday and near lunch hour. Anyway, there were a lot of people about. Not so many bicyclists but just as many dogs as in Berlin.
The dogs here in Germany are so well behaved that leashes seem to be an afterthought. It seems that two times out of five a dog will be off his leash and will be contentedly walking alongside it’s owner without any problems of running around. I don’t think I’ve known any dogs that could be trusted off a leash in a busy urban setting like that so we decided that it was clear that dogs understand German. I mean a whole European country can’t be better dog handlers than I and everyone I know, can they?
After our boat tour we made a beeline for St. Michaelis church to see the inside and check out the view from the top of the bell tower. The church itself dates back to the mid 1600s but has had a few fires and the current building was actually completed in the early 1900s. It is a huge and very bright and airy church. The windows are all clear glass and the walls and ceilings are all painted a simple white or pastel blue. The result is a very cheerful church but still managing to be humbling with its size and beauty. There were a few items that were saved from the previous churches but most of it was from the 1900s.
The view from the top was amazing, you could see that Hamburg is a very low profile city and the skyline is still dominated by church steeples, which was neat to see in a city of nearly two million. We took some great photos and I drooled over the Olympia Looping Bahn roller coaster operating in the distance at the Hamburger Dom. I’ll be hitting that come Wednesday. Hopefully twice! It’s only the holy grail of us American roller coaster nuts.
Kendra, Kirsten, and I took the stairs down and got to see the apparatus that controlled the hands on the clocks and the chime and were amazed that it was just a system of gears, ratchets, and cables. All of which were controlled by a simple pendulum. The whole shebang was stamped 1911 – those Germans and their engineering. . . Completely awesome! We also walked past the swinging bells that play on Sundays and were astounded at how big they were. They were controlled by modern electric motors and rubber belts but I could imagine actually bell ringers jumping up and down on ropes back in the day.
After finally leaving St. Michaelis we hustled back to Roland and Susi’s home for a delicious Wiener Schnitzel dinner. Susi taught Kendra and I how to make it and we’re soooo going to attempt it when we get back. Just delicious!
It was a very relaxing day which is just what we needed after hustling around Berlin for the weekend and a full day at Heide Park tomorrow. Auf Wedersehen for now.
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