It's My Life ...& Welcome To It.: Hallo Hamburg

Sep 3, 2012

Before you read, two points: you can see the photos larger by clicking on any one of them.

AND, you can see all the days photos by clicking on the link at the end of this post. That's all!

We left Wales on August 30th and flew from London to Hamburg. We're came to Hamburg to visit my nephew, Kris, his wife, Mirjam (Miriam) and his two daughters: Jona, aged five and Maya, one and a half. We knew absolutely nothing about Hamburg, never having been to Germany in all the times we've visited Europe. (Disclosure: Stacey was in Dusseldorf once upon a time for three days in 1968 ... does that count?)

Just goes to prove the point: you never know what you're missing. Hamburg has been a genuine revelation: a spectacular city with everything that we love about cities: amazing architecture,, old and new, a long and weighty history, a vibrant city with a lively buzz,and an interesting, friendly and varied population. And how many of you knew that Hamburg has canals, more bridges than Venice and is often referred to as the "Venice of the North." We certainly didn't.

Kris met us at the airport and drove us to our lodging: an apartment of a friend (the friend was away in China and thus, not expected back anytime soon). This building was in a lovely neighborhood, not far from the university; a decidely upscale and wealthier part of town. Our 1880's building was on Hallerstrasse, a street that runs east and west. West, it ran, changing its name every few blocks (they seem to do that in Europe), over to Mirjam and Kris's apartment in the Altona neighborhood. Running to the east, it ran to the Alster - the lake (actually a dammed section of the Alster river, a tributary of the Elbe) that is the centerpiece of Hamburg.

Our home for the week: No. 6 Hallerstrasse.
Built in the 1880's. Stately and grand!

One of the many large and grand rooms in our
apartment. Fifteen foot high ceilings.
A porch that looks out over a magnificent rear garden.

The building that we're staying in was built in the 1880s. Our apartment is huge with fifteen foot ceilings. It is a twin of the door on the left (picture) which is No. 8. The car that Kris borrowed to pick us up belongs to his friend Marie and she lives there as well. Marie is a pediatrician but she also owns the building and with her husband has restored it to its former grandeur. It's landmarked and it's exquisite!

The interesting thing about our apartment and its location: this was a largely Jewish building and neighborhood. The residents were obviously well-to-do and important members of their community. Then the Nazis took power. And then kristallnacht and the nightmare that ensued. It's hard to conjure the reality of that but being here makes it somehow more tangible. Hamburg itself has tried, in some way, to at least not let be forgotten the immense tragedy of those times. So-called stumbling stones -- brass plaques -- have been placed in the sidewalk in front of one building after another (ours included) that memorializes victims of the holocaust. Each one is inscribed with the name of a victim of the Nazi's murderous brutality, and with the dates of their "deportation" and subsequent extermination in some remote concentration camp. It's intensely chilling to come upon these as you walk the neighborhood's streets.

Hamburg's attempt to memorialize the victims of the
Nazi's brutality; stumbling stones.

Each stone, a real human life that was stolen in the night.

In the stairwell of our apartment hangs a framed photograph: here is a group of Jewish children from the neighborhood. It was taken in 1935 during the Succoth holiday (as best as I can make out from translating the inscription). What became of these sweet and innocent children can only be imagined in our most terrifying and depressing ruminations.

Jewish children, 1935. What happened to them?

~~~
Kris left us but not before leaving us with two bicycles to use for the week. Wow! Hamburg, like most European cities is a biking city. Bicycle in German is fahrrad. Many streets have bike lanes but, interestingly, they are not in the roadway but share the sidewalk with pedestrians. We found that a bit strange and more than a bit frightening as we walked along but apparently that was not soto the residents who are used to it. Still, bikes whizzed by, many times in the wrong direction, and often startled us. Having said that, we just loved having bikes at our disposal and have been getting around all of the city on them. It's convenient, fast and safe and everybody but everybody uses them. Mirjam and Kris, like many Hamburgers (I know, I know, but that's just what the residents of this city are called) do all their getting around either by mass transit (very efficient bus and subway) or bicycle. Not to say that there aren't plenty of cars - there are. But we saw young and old, solo and entire families going about their business on bicycle. Wunderbar!

Many bike shops to serve the large
biking population in Hamburg.

The next day, we ventured out on our own for breakfast and discovered the bäckerei (bakery) that offers the staples for a Hamburg breakfast. We had one just across the street on our busy corner of Hallerstrasse and Grindelallee: Stadt Bäckerei (City Bakery). It became our daily breakfast joint and the owner, realizing that and appreciating our loyalty, would offer us a breakfast pastry every morning as a thank you to his two American "regulars." (Did I say that the people of Hamburg are exceptionally friendly? They are! And virtually all speak English as well). Breakfast consisted of the bottom half a roll with some tasty concoction on top of it: herring with cream sauce, smoked salmon with cream cheese, a ground pork pate with onions, salami, lettuce, tomato and cheese, and so on. I tried many of them. Accompanying that little treat: really good coffee. Quite perfect!We can't wait to get home so we can stop eating breakfast every day.

Breakfast sandwiches at City Bakery

Pickled herring with cream sauce on a roll.
Vita never tasted as good.

Later in the day, Kris came to meet us for lunch near the university. With him came the two girls: Baby Maya and Big Sister Jona. Of course, we know them well, they having visited us in New York, most recently this spring. But it was a treat to see them once again, this time in their home town.

Sweet Maya. Almost 1½ -years old. Get a load of those locks!

And this is 5-year old Jona.

We walked around the university area a bit and then they headed home and we returned to our apartment. We'd meet Mirjam and Kris later for dinner in a part of town you might compare to the East Village: it was noisy, grungy, young, hip and filled with restaurants, shops and bars. Stacey and I, as cool as we are, got on our bikes, Google Maps in hand, and rode a few miles to meet them.

Dinner was at a wonderful Portuguese fish restaurant, La Sepia. After, we walked back to our bikes and pedaled home, only to find that Stacey's bike had developed a flat front tire. Fortunately, it was close to home and we managed to "limp" the rest of the way there.

We were thrilled with our first day in Hamburg. Tomorrow we visit the Alster, the lake around which the city is centered. Beautiful!

Stay tuned for more tales of our trip to Hamburg.

To see all of today's photos, just CLICK HERE.