Year 3 Day 348- “Living the Dream”. Sunday, 4/14/2024. Day 13 of 28-day European Vacation – day 11 of 18-night Northern Europe MSC Euribia cruise. Today is our second time docking at Hamburg, Germany.
Here’s a few facts I learned today. Hamburg, Germany is 1,200 years old. Hamburg has over 2,500 bridges, the most of any city in the world. That’s more than Amsterdam, Venice, and London combined. Hamburg’s red-light district is the biggest in Europe. The city of Hamburg became a state within the Federal Republic of Germany in 1949, which today consists of 16 states. Here is a link to our first experience here at this port. Living the Dream Year 3 Day 341 – Day 6 of 28-day European Vacation – Day 4 of 18 Night Northern Europe cruise on MSC Euribia – Hamburg, Germany – three videos (Breakfast Buffet, Crane moving luggage, Lubeck church bells) – Deestimes – Make every step of the journey count It looks like a nice partly sunny windy day in the high 50’s. We must be picking up a lot of supplies today. This morning there are 14 tractor trailers lined up and supplies are being forklifted off of them at 8:30am.
At 9:30am we are on our nice motor coach and headed for our four-hour Hamburg Highlights Excursion. All the excursions we have been on so far have had beautiful comfortable motor coaches with USB chargers. Much different than the Caribbean.
Hamburg has the largest train port in Europe.
Hamburg is located on the Elba River and is the last city where you can cross the Elba River. Today we take one of the bridges over into the city.
There is also a tunnel. In the 1980s the port was moved over the Elba River. They took the old port area and built and are still building HafenCity. HafenCity is Europe’s largest inner-city urban development project. It is a model for the new European city on the water. HafenCity was not diked despite the risk of flooding; it is not cut off from the water. Instead, the entire area is raised to around 8-9 m above sea level. You can take tours of this city.
We then pass into the warehouse city. Speicherstadt. It is the world’s largest complex of warehouses, spanning an area of 260,000 square metres. It was built into the Elbe River between 1883 and the late 1920s on thousands of oak poles as a free economic zone in Hamburg’s port. We then passed the ELBPHILHARMONIE & LAEISZHALLE concert house. This is a gorgeous new building. You can walk up to the balcony area which is over the brick and before the glass top of the building.
So far everything is gorgeous and clean. The area is very quiet today due to it being Sunday and people are not working. Our guide is excellent. We passed St. Nikolai Memorial. The ruins of this church, bombed by Allied forces during Operation Gomorrah in 1943, now house a WWII memorial and museum. The dancing office towers were very cool looking. The top of the building is a restaurant, and the basement is a music club. We then went through the red-light district.
The Beatles came here in 1960 and spent 2 1/2 years here.
We then came to the Este River which appeared like a lake. It was beautiful with many sail boats and canoes in the lovely sunny spring day. So far, I am in love with this city and Germany. My favorite place we have been to so far in Europe. Nivea cream is produced here. Nivea is a German personal care brand that specializes in skin and body care. It is owned by the Hamburg-based company Beiersdorf Global AG. This was the origin of Eucerin brand. Nivea comes from the Latin adjective niveus, nivea, niveum, meaning “snow-white”.
I lost track of the different areas/neighborhoods we passed through. Hamburg is structured into 104 city districts in 7 boroughs: Hamburg-Mitte, Hamburg-Nord, Wandsbek, Bergedorf, Harburg, Altona, and Eimsbüttel. We passed through an intersection with the Sierichstrasse which is a fully reversible, two-lane city street. This is the only one-way street in Europe that changes direction instantly in the middle of the day. From 4 a.m. to 12 p.m., traffic on the two-lane road only goes into the city and from 12 pm to 4 am traffic only goes out of town.
More pay rest rooms in this city and they cost 60 cent Euros to use. This church made a lot of money from tourists using their restrooms. There was a line down the sidewalk.
Every place has a McDonalds and in every McDonalds the ice cream machines are broken. Germany is no exception.
Everyone on this cruise is so nice and friendly. I keep running into people that have been following me on Facebook. It is so much fun to hear about where they are from and to learn tips from them. There are a lot of new passengers getting on board today.
When getting on an MSC ship you are greeted by Do Re Mi. Do Re Mi is a mascot created by MSC. He is a large compass and is a fun character who greets everyone on the gangway as you board the ship.
Then you are greeted with the overhead constantly changing shows. The LED ceiling show is awesome today in the Galleria Euribia.
Here’s today’s Daily Planner, and the dinner menu.
Things to ponder today! Have to leave you thinking.
RFID Blocking Wallet – Minimalist Leather Business Credit Card Holder –Here’s a link to today’s Amazon recommendation: https://amzn.to/3yzVX7D I love love love these business credit card holders. I carry three of them in my pocketbook. All different colors – One for gift cards, one for business cards, and one for credit card, license, and insurance card. Look at the great assortment of colors. A perfect way to stay organized. It is so convenient to grab the one with your credit card, license, insurance card, and even a few dollars. Slip it in your jeans pocket and you are set to go. The colors are the best. Get a few in different colors. Everyone should have at least one of these.
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To view the complete daily diary, click here – This starts at Year 1 Day 1: Living the Dream – Deestimes – Make every step of the journey count