Wednesday Sept. 19th Sightseeing on waterways of Hamburg
“It was a place to see and be seen.”
After a leisurely breakfast with Gudrun, we again ride the U Bahn into Hamburg Center. This is a lovely sunny day; just right for the river boat ride on the Alster River. The three of us step into the long covered boat and soon we are moving away from the dock area. This is a 2 hour boat ride around the outer Alster and through the inner Alster. For the first part of the boat tour we circle around the outer rim of the river admiring the panoramic view of Hamburg’s tall buildings
and church spires from the water which is a completely different view from the land. We see at once that many Hamburgers love boating on the Alster and you see all manner of boats being enjoyed: paddle boats, row boats and sail boats and model sail boats.
We see many lovely houses and villas lining the waterway. Gliding in and out of Alster Park we see how families are enjoying picnics on the grassy areas under the long branches of shade trees.
Before we know it we are quietly moving through the many canal areas with low hanging tree limbs. We are in a different world…silent and lovely. Two hours pass too quickly and before we know it the boat ride is over.
We walk a little way across the Hamburg square and down the steps to the water taxis. We are soon on a boat taking us along the Elbe River to a section of Hamburg known as Altona.
This is the section of Hamburg where Gudrun and her sister Karin grew up as children. Getting off the boat we walk along the harbor to the outdoor restaurant that Gudrun has picked out for us. Soon Karin
joins us and we are a party of four enjoying a midday meal near the water.
After lunch the four of us walk along the harbor promenade past large homes overlooking the harbor. “Our mother used to dress us up in the same dresses and take us walking along this promenade on a Sunday afternoon,” Gudrun tells us. “Lots of families were out walking here. It was a place to see and be seen.”
We say good bye to Karin and spend some more time sitting by the water until it is time to go to the “Elbphilharmonie” which is the new concert hall in the Hafen City section of Hamburg overlooking the Elbe River.
This new concert hall opened January of 2017 and it is a tall glass construction of modern design towering over the harbor. The concert hall is affectionately nick named “Elphi” by the townspeople. It is one of the largest and acoustically advanced concert halls in the world. Inside the tall structure are two concert halls; a very large hall and a smaller hall. Tonight we will hear a concert in the smaller hall.
Inside you will also find a hotel, eating areas and a plaza that serves as an outdoor walkway around the concert hall high up! We enter the building at the ground level and step onto the moving escalator which takes us up and up and up in a vast open room. The immensity of the space overwhelms me and I close my eyes to keep my bearing. We walk around the walkway looking down onto the streets below.
Soon we take our seats in the concert room and notice the unusual looking walls that make the sound of the instruments sound so good and clear. The concert starts at 7:30 p.m. We listen to the small group of instrumentalists with pleasure. We are so thankful that Gudrun was able to get us tickets for this concert. After the concert we take an elevator down to the ground floor. We take the U Bahn back to Gudrun’s apartment grateful for another wonderful day in Hamburg.
Next Day of Journey