This week we went to Hamburg as the university was on ‘winter break’ for the week. We stayed in a Generator hostel for three nights. This was a new experience for Fionnuala and I as we had never stayed in a hostel before and we had a variety of concerns about how clean the rooms and bed linen were and who else would be staying there. To our pleasant surprise, the hostel challenged our preconceptions; our room was modern, immaculate and very comfortable and we seen a few families and young couples staying. Furthermore, it only cost us £30 to stay for the three nights! This positive experience has encouraged me to consider booking hostels in my future travels.
The first sight we seen was the busiest and biggest train station I have ever seen (Hamburg Central Station). This is no ordinary train station; the atmosphere is electric as crowds of people shift through platforms - we almost lost each other in the crowds! The place is also surrounded with fast-food restaurants and shops, as well as a police station. Unfortunately it was also surrounded by homeless people which was very humbling and shocking as they peered through every bin they came across, regardless of who was watching. I have never seen this extent of homelessness back in Northern Ireland.
We took a bus tour around Hamburg and the top attractions and sights were pointed out to us, including; the river Elbe (the second largest port in Europe), the Town Hall (Rathaus), St. Michaelis Church and Miniatur Wunderland. We visited all of these places and each was fascinating. The river Elbe had a 20cm ice-cap (the last ice-cap was 15 years ago) which gave us the opportunity to walk on water. However, we weren’t adventurous enough to run, ice-skate or sledge along it; like a majority of the German people!
Minatur Wunderland (43 000 square feet) is a must-see for everyone! I thoroughly enjoyed seeing all the different mini-worlds; including the USA, Scandanavia, the Netherlands and Hamburg. The detail of every piece was incredible, there was even mini people doing a variety of worldly things in the day and night e.g. jobs, swimming, driving, running in fields, sunbathing etc. The trains that travelled through the worlds made the experience even more special.
 |
| Mini Hamburg |
Rathaus, Hamburg’s town hall was more like a palace and the inside tour allowed us to see how luxurious and valuable it was e.g. leather wallpaper, gold doors, renaissance paintings covering the ceilings and wall borders. Astonishingly, it was one of the only buildings in Hamburg not destroyed by the Second World War.
 |
| Me standing alongside Rathaus I feel that visiting Hamburg has been one of my biggest highlights to date and it has instilled in me a desire to travel and see more of Europe and experience more cultures. I am particularly excited at the opportunity of us being able to travel to Berlin as I have just finished reading ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’ by John Boyne and am keen to see the sights that are rich with World War history. I have also learned how easy it is to travel around Europe by train and see no excuse not to, while I have free time during the ERASMUS experience. |
No comments:
Post a Comment