Hamburg

The final post from the quick trip to Europe is here. After this, back to regularly scheduled programming. Ha. Here are the photos:

Laeiszhalle, Hamburg

Laeiszhalle interior

A canal near our hotel.

The back of the hotel, a Sofitel

S's view. 

The St. Nicholas memorial

This church was once the tallest building in Europe in the late 19th century for a period of two to three years. It's the ruins of a Lutheran church, damaged during raids on the city by Allied forces in World War II. Hamburg was bombed like crazy throughout the war, as it was a strategic port and manufacturing city for the German forces. But, for three days in 1943, it was bombed pretty much into oblivion. 42,000 people died, some of them who were in bomb shelters, because the bombing was so thick it created a fire tornado that sucked all the oxygen out of the city, including those underground spaces. There are virtually no "old" buildings left in Hamburg, because these were all destroyed during the war. This ruin stands as a memorial to those who died. There are other memorials throughout the city. Google it or check Wikipedia for more information. Here are some more photos:

This church was rebuilt, but in a different location, closer to where people were living after the war instead of in the city center.

These were growing outside the memorial. S took a photo.

I took the camera back, though.

You can actually go up in the tower and down into the crypt. 

We didn't do either part, as we were just wandering by.

This was our rental car.

In order to get the visit in Hannover on the schedule, it was best for us to drive the last portion of the advance. We drove from Munich to Frankfurt, then from Frankfurt to Hannover and then to Hamburg, when we returned the car. The car we had was a BMW 5 series wagon. It did just fine on the Autobahn, where I let S drive - we hit around 130 MPH. The Porches were still passing us. It was amazing the features this car had - we have old cars - the new ones have quite a few nice developments. Ha.

There are a series of interior "lakes" or bays on the way to the larger navigable water port, along a river to the North Sea, which is still a center of commerce.

The second day we were there, it was overcast but not rainy.

Interior of a huge mall near the lake.

Hamburg city hall.

This building is also very historic - one of the older buildings in town, reconstructed in the late 19th century. It is where the German forces surrendered Hamburg to the British in 1945. 

That's about all we got in while we were there. Then we headed out for home, and are glad to be back in the US of A. It was a long, fast trip, but fruitful. 

See you soon.