Tuesday 12th
After a slow start we left the motorhome park at about 12, we had planned to leave earlier but discovered that they had free wifi and we spent some time uploading the blog , checking e-mails and face book etc. before we left. We also said our farewells to David and Gail as they went to visit Bremen. We arrived at Hamburg at about 2.30 and found a parking spot near to the fish market, a bit dearer than I had thought but a close spot, near to the centre of town with views overlooking the harbour, included in our view was a World War 2 U Boat which had been turned into a Museum. The parking place was 14 euros for 24 hours and there were about 10 other motorhomes parked up as well.
After a coffee and some time to relax we decided to go for a walk along the harbour, boats of many descriptions were offering tours of the harbour, even a paddle steamer which looked out place in this busy industrial setting. After exploring the harbour we made our way to the Miniature Wunderland, this was one of the reasons we came to Hamburg as Jenny had found it on the internet and thought it would be worth a visit. Our initial plans were to investigate the opening hours and we then found out that is was open until 9pm. As it was only 4.30 and it didn’t look busy we decided go in and investigate.
For more than three hours we looked through the Miniature Wunderland and were amazed at the detail and effort put into the displays. It was much more than an elaborate train set, with moving cars, planes taking off and landing at the airport, emergency service vehicles attending to fires and accidents, and scenes of various locations from Germany, Switzerland, Austria and the Nordic countries. The detail in the models were amazing, with added humour and almost every scenario had been thought of. To get a better idea of what it was like go on their site and look at the video. http://www.miniatur-wunderland.com/
The seedy side of town!!
At the end of our visit we enjoyed a coffee and headed back to the “Bunyip”. We went a different way home as it was getting late so we thought we might buy a take away for tea. As we walked up a street that looked promising for food we discovered that the women were wearing less and less and frequented the streets more and more. We had discovered the red light district by accident and although plenty was on offer, it was not food. Heading again back to the motorhome we walked through the next part of the city which seemed the drug dealing section. Men standing on street corners for no reason in particular, except to sell what was on offer. Glad to be back at the harbour and in our cosy home we prepared a very late quick meal and had a quiet evening reading until bedtime.
Lubeck
We left Hamburg midmorning and took the secondary roads to Lubeck, stopping at a large shopping centre for some essentials. The main roads are so busy with trucks that it becomes unpleasant to sit behind them for long stretches and the fumes become a problem with Jenny’s asthma. We enjoy the smaller roads that wander the countryside and through the many small towns and find we see more of the everyday life of the locals that way.
In Lubeck we stayed at a motorhome park next to a bowling alley/sports centre which is 9 euros per night including power, water etc. It has about 30 sites and on the second night there were 33 motorhomes including one that was the size of a large bus. The first day we arrived mid-afternoon and decided to relax and go into town the next day. That night we took out our TV for the first time and watched some programs while enjoying some wine and schnapps.
Thursday 14th May 2015
As the camperstop was only about 3 kms from the town we rode our bikes in to the edge of town before setting off on foot to explore Lubeck. The air was quite cold and as it was late morning our first port of call was a bakery where we enjoyed the warm atmosphere as well as coffee. For the next three and a half hours we walked the streets and explored a couple of churches. On the edge of the river we heard music and discovered a band playing on a truck stage in front of a crowd drinking mainly beer around several temporary and permanent bars. The crowd seemed to be mainly over 50, a lot of them wearing black and the music was of our vintage, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, ZZ Top, Steppenwolf, Black Sabbath etc. They had a great sound and kept us entertained as was had our lunch by the side of the river.
Back on our bikes and a short ride later we were home again, spending a quiet night in. Not sure when we will have wifi again so our next blog might be a few days later!!
Sorry for so many photo’s this time but it was hard to cull them down. In Lubeck we had two camera’s operating. Onward we go in the direction of Rostock, Germany.
