shopping

Day 14 & 15 Update

Off to Hamburg on the very quick Inner City Express train, which takes about 4 hours. When you consider the price, time it takes, and the fact that it drops you right in the middle of town, it’s definitely better than flying.

Saying that, the 7:00am kickoff from Frankfurt wasn’t ideal.

Walked via the Chilehaus to the Maritime Museum. It was good, very well done, but it did drag on a bit. At 10 storeys high it was a bit of a hike, and there were an incredible number of model boats. The funny thing was that in the 10 levels of museum there was only one actual boat.

Across the road I stumbled across “Prototype”, which was an uber cool car museum. From the 40 odd vehicles on exhibit, the two that really get your attention are the first F1 cars for Schumacher (Jordan), and Vettel (Sauber). There was heaps of interesting memorabilia on display, trinkets, posters, photos etc. In the basement was an exhibition dedicated to Wolfgang Von Trips.

From there, we found an open top tour bus and did a lap of the city. The tour guide was incredibly funny. If you knew German. But it was still good. Toured past the harbour, downtown, lakes, university district, with a special feature on the red light district, which is apparently a big tourist drawcard.

Alighted from the converible bus when a rain shower came over, and walked through town to our hotel. Had dinner at a local burger chain (when in Hamburg…), where for €10 you get a massive feed. The upgrade from a glass of softdrink to a 500ml beer is 50c. Only seems fair.

With London lag dragging on, we woke up at 10am. Walked through town before getting slightly disorientated while shopping.

Had to walk back to the other side of town for a cruise around the harbour. Had an afternoon meal on a fireboat, before more shopping and the homebound train.

Day 13 Update

The timing of my flights on this trip has meant that I haven’t suffered any jet lag to date. Unfortunately I did suffer an horrendous post-British Grand Prix hangover, even if no alcohol was consumed over the weekend. 120km of cycling on minimum sleep does that apparently.

Twas woken up at 10:30am, probably could have gone a few more hours.

Headed into Frankfurt town for a walking tour of the city. Started out at the Opera, where fortuitously there was a food/booze fair in progress. Had the obligatory sausage on a roll, before headed off to the 200m tall Main Tower. Impressive view from the roof.

Around the corner was the house where Goethe grew up, then we kept on trekking through the part of town that was restored after the war. Chilled out in Romberberg Plaza (where the Christmas Markets are held), checked out the Alte Nikolai Church, then headed over and along the river.

Visited the Frankfurt Cathedral and the marketplace, before going slightly overboard in the shops along the way.

Had dinner at the Kartoffelhaus (Potato Restaurant), then got dropped at the shops to buy supplies for Hamburg. The 15min walk home was via various strawberry, pear, corn and grain fields. Nice touch.