A muddled day

Yesterday some of the rooms, if not all, on our floor got a new bed and mattress. We both slept well. After breakfast we set off for the Rijks Museum. We had a timed ticket to an interesting exhibition of Frans Hals, which we enjoyed pottering through. Then we went straight to the floor where the Rembrandts  were but  Noel unfortunately got a bit wonky on his feet and we adjourned to the coffee shop for a rest and sustenance. We had been shuffling along slowly for a while and he does much better briskly walking. By that time there were crowds and going back to the gallery rooms was going to be more slow shuffling and standing - not ideal, so we ditched the gallery and came back to the hotel.  After lunch Noel was feeling better. We went on a tram tour - a loop around the centre of Amsterdam on 3 separate trams. After we got off the last and walked a little way we stopped at a cafe near a canal and had a hot chocolate. Very plesant watching the boats go past. 

Canal ride

Sometimes , when arriving in a new place, it is hard  to work out what sight or activity to do first . We discovered that I had forgotten  to check the availability of entry times to the Van Gough Museum and the Ann Frank Museum . They are both booked out till mid May. Ah well. So we decided to do what we both would be most annoyed to next miss out on   - a canal boat ride. It was a lovely sunny day and we went on a roofless boat and enjoyed the anecdotes and history the skipper told us. One amusing story - apparently  every year some cars go into the canal and often the insurance companies pay for bollards to be installed at particular bridges. One year, a few years ago, there was a marked increase in car numbers in the canal. In particular the brand new Tesla's. Apparently  the driverless system couldn't distinguish between water and a car park.

We ate our lunch in a cafe on the main square, the Dam, watching the passing parade. We enjoyed pottering around, found a supermarket for a few things , then had a drink watching the passing parade from a different angle. My friend was not a happy camper. His gin and tonic was served in the 'wrong' sized glass and with far too much ice. We ate our salad for dinner sitting in our room looking down onto yet more of the passing parade. 

To Amsterdam

This morning we went for a walk before breakfast - along the waterway near us and back through some local streets. Cafes, shops, just looking.Nice feel. 

We had planned to catch a train from Hamberg, change trains at Osnabruck and then end up in Amsterdam. The time at Osnabruck was to be 30 minutes but ended up being 2hours and 30 minutes. The cause was a combination of factors but the major person at fault was not Noel. We had brought food with us from Hamburg and found a place where we could get coffee from and eat our own food. But on the plus  side,  there were seats on the next train , we were not charged, and we ended up sitting with 2 people who lived in a little village an hour out of Amsterdam and we talked to them for 2. 1/2  hours.

Walking the 700m to the hotel from the train station was hard work. There were many many people wandering the streets, cobble stones are not our bags preferred surface, we were not expecting the temperature to be as low as it was. Still, we are here and happy.

Mainly St Michaels

After overindulging in another big breakfast we set off walking to St Micheals , the main Lutheran church in Hamburg. On the way we stopped at a coffee shop that was one of a list of good coffee shops  that a discerning coffee drinking friend had given me. He was right. It was good coffee ( Breakfast coffee is drinkable but weak and comes out of a push-a-button machine) We were sitting on a bench outside enjoying the sun after yesterday's grey cold and a guy came to talk to us . Turns out he had been to lithgow high school on exchange 20 years ago. We pottered along looking   at buildings and shops and bridges over canals. Another older gentleman approached us. He saw me looking at my phone for directions.  He was very chatty, mostly in German. Sometimes we got the gist of what he was saying, mostly not. He walked with us a little way. He showed us a building where Felix and Fanny Mendelson grew up. 

St Michaels Church,  apparently just called Michael by  locals  is large, brick outside, white and light and airy inside, Baroque in style.  We timed our visit so we could go to the weekly 3/4 hour organ recital. The church has at least 3 organs. We heard 2 with  quite distinct sounds. We went up the tower and really enjoyed getting a 360 degree view over Hamburg. We also looked at an extensive crypt.

After lunch  we pottered back, through an interesting local area, but not too fancy,  with lots of outdoor seating areas and cafes . Yesterday the weather was quite unpleasant, today has been lovely. There were many people out enjoying it. As we got closer to one of the lakes, the clientele became richer and the shops and cafes reflected this. Along the lake there were heaps of people just sitting on some stone benches, like an amphitheatre.  We have just had dinner in the restaurant here. Very nice.

We were told that yesterday a train got stuck under a bridge in the main train station and the station was chaotic. Apparently the work on freeing the train was expected to go on until Monday. Tomorrow  we get a train from this station to Amsterdam but we change trains half way, so hopefully we will get away OK.

Harbour and waterways boat trip

Today we woke to rain and cold. We decided to still go, as planned, on a boat trip . We first talked to a very helpful gentleman at the train company information desk.  We needed a subway ticket to get to the port.There was no way we could work out the automatic ticket dispensing machines on our own with very limited German. He suggested it was better to pay an extra few Euros and get a day ticket rather than just pay for 2 rides. What if we got a train in the wrong direction and then had to get another one and had no ticket, got caught and got a hefty fine? He also suggested we could catch a local ferry to explore the waterways rather than a tourist boat. We said we wanted the commentary.  We went to the ferry wharf, by the correct train, and found a boat trip that we liked. We knew we would have to download an app to listen to the English commentary. Trouble is it wouldnot download onto my phone. So we heard the German commentary for 1 hour and understood not 1 word. Not true, we recognised some place names.

Boat trip : narrow waterways thru old warehouses, now fancy apartments, huge size of Port area, several corvettes, many many tugboats, impressive new Philharmonic hall, many cranes. I like being on the water, wherever it is.

After the boat trip we were cold, caught a subway train to an area we had driven through yesterday and thought there were quite a few restaurants.  However, the area was sleasier than we remembered, nothing was open except maybe a Burger King or a dodgy pizza places. We were getting colder and I was getting grumpier.  Ms Google told us of a good coffee chop, but it only had a few stools. The pleasant woman told us of another place that we would never have found. It was delightful, quite full of locals, tulips on all the tables, nice chairs, airy,  colourful, ideal for a biggish lunch. We caught another train back here , had a rest and then went downstairs for a hot chocolate and a shared piece of cake. Bread and cheese for dinner again.

A bus trip

We arrived here yesterday in the mid afternoon. We were tired, but well. We had had many meals and snacks in the 34 hours we were in transit but still felt the need for a little something in the nice bar. We shared a hamburger for our meal. Quite fitting.

 Hamburg , the 3rd largest city in Germany,, has a long history of being marauded, burnt down several times and bombed but today seems like a well organised,  thriving city. It is on the edge of a lake/ river with spacious parks. We are staying in a hotel near the main railway station. The area is a bit dodgy but the hotel is good. It has been  rebuilt to replicate what it would have been like in its early life in the early 1900s , marble pillars, large chandeliers, lots of timber and brass.   After a slow start and a sumptuous breakfast, we went on a bus tour and learnt more of the history and all sorts of interesting anecdotes.  We had an interesting and delicious pork dish for our main meal and went looking for a  shop to buy some bread and cheese for dinner.  We looked in about 3 shops without any luck , but no wonder, they were all quite small and Indian or middle Eastern. We finally found one that was predominantly Turkish and bought some cheese and flat bread. After that we felt the need for a piece of apfelstudel from the bar. 

Photos coming.

Hamburg

We are happily in Hamburg. No problems.