Hamburg Day 2

The bike in our hotel room was tempting me to take a ride. The incredible heat and humidity convinced me that it would be foolhardy to brave the elements.

The air conditioning in the hotel couldn’t cope and our room was very similar to the outdoor weather: hot and humid.

Didn’t matter though. We had stayed up until 10pm local time before calling it a night. And we slept through until 7am. Not too bad.

Our second day in Hamburg was really just a morning. We planned to make our way to the ship by noon. Sailing was scheduled for 5pm.

This was our table for breakfast.

There is something just right about having a nice breakfast on an outdoor patio in the morning of a beautiful sunny day. Especially before the heat kicks in.

As we made our way from the hotel to explore Hamburg by foot, yet more bicycles stood in our way, tempting us to spin.

We found out that Hamburg is a very bike friendly city. Pedestrians and cyclists share the sidewalks for the most part. One part of the sidewalk is darker than the other part. Cyclists ride on the dark part.

Don’t ask me how I found out.

There are numerous canals in this part of the city. And most of the buildings favour a geometric design although every once in a while you find an outlier.

We stayed in a part of Hamburg called HafenCity, a major urban redevelopment in Europe.

Der Spiegel occupies this impressive structure designed by Denmark’s Henning Larsen Architects.

In the old town, the structures show their history. This building has been completely restored on the interior and reconditioned on the exterior although it almost looks like an abandoned warehouse from the street.

Most of the structures in HafenCity feature incredible designs like the Sumatrakontor complex pictured below. Such a dramatic contrast between the historic buildings and the new redevelopment in this port city.

The morning went by quickly and we returned to our hotel to collect our bags and make our way to the ship. More on that part of our journey tomorrow.