Diverse Hamburg

I´ve visited Hamburg for more than a few times now, and it keeps surprising me.

My first impression a few years back was that there is nothing specific about it. I thought it is just a big city with a center that does not have much to offer other than the Rathaus (City Hall). That impression was false.

Hamburg is actually a very diverse city. Some parts are very industrial, especially south of HafenCity. Furthermore, there is a lot of construction work going on in the Hafencity area. I believe that most of it are going to be new residential buildings, but I could be wrong. However, don´t be quick to disregard HafenCity. The harbor is interesting as well. A special mention are the Landungsbrücken (Landing bridges), which I am not sure how to explain. Imagine bridges connecting the land with a surface on the water where boats stop to pick up passangers. On the bridge connected surface are also lot of restaurants where people mostly eat fish.

A few minutes away is a true gem of Hamburg, the Speicherstadt (Warehouse district). Hamburg has a huge port; therefore around 1900s a huge district of warehouse buildings was made. It was a free zone, where no customs were payed. Today, it serves mostly as office space. However, even more interesting than the story behind it is its appearance. Speicherstads has a very steampunk look. I have not seen that anywhere before. It it truly enjoyable to just wander around around between the big red-brick buildings and metal bridges.

Photos of the Warehouse district:

Moving away from all the industrial and steampunk neighbourhoods, is all the wonderful nature. There are so many green oasis in Hamburg. I´ve heard once that Hamburg is the greenest big city of Europe. There a lot of huge parks within the city.

The first one I´ve visited is Planten un Bloemen. It was on gloomy autumn day, so there weren´t many people there, but it was quite nice. One thing I really like about Hamburg parks is that they have comfy wooden chairs spread out throughout the park. Another treat Planten un Bloemen park has to offer is a botanic garden in the middle of the park. To make it even better, the entrance to the botanic garden is free!

Photos of the Botanic garden in Planten un Bloemen park:

Planten un Bloemen made a really good impression on me. Then I´ve visited the Stadtpark (City park) in Winterhude neighbourhood. That park is something special. It´s really huge. So huge, you can rent boats there. If that doesn´t paint the picture, it is so huge that there´s a “Naturbad” swimming pool/lake in the middle of the park. The entrance is cheap too, about 3 euros. Then there is an inevitable wide green grass surface where people just chill, drink and grill. I was lucky because when I was there, there were 3 guys playing some chill bluesy music in the park with drums, a guitar and an accordion. Noteworthy is also the Liebesinsel (Love Island), although a duck did threateningly hiss at me. I´m not going to lie, it was slightly scary. It did that because its little ducklings were sleeping and eating next to it, but nevertheless.

Furthermore, there a few caffes and restaurants inside the park. I personally liked the Bucht, because it was on the water. Even the toilette had a nice view. Finally, the park ends with a Planetarium. So there is enough activities for the whole day to do there. Although what I was thinking the whole time there is:

- This is a nice place to lay down.

- This is a cosy play to lay down.

- Maybe we can lay down a bit here.

- How about we rest and sit here a bit.

You get the point.

Speaking of nature, Blankenese was a real surprise. Blankenese has a fantastic Mediterranean vibe going on. The fact that I was there on a sunny spring day surely helped, but it´s not just it. Blankenese consists of big beautiful houses, or villas to be more accurate, that are located on a hill next to the river. The passages between the houses are narrow stairs, and all the gardens have a lot of greenery. Walking through that Treppenviertel (Stairs block) gives that Mediterranean impression. In the bottom of the hill is a sandy beach, and a few restaurants are located on the water.

Photos from Blankenese:

Moving away form the nature and the industrial parts are the trendy neighbourhoods with clubs and bars. Those would be the Sankt Pauli and Sternschanze. Sankt Pauli is the larger one. It is also famous for its “Red Light District”. However, unlike Amsterdam´s one, it does not have a touristic purpose. St. Pauli has a lot of interesting clubs like burlesque bars, drag shows, strip bars, etc.

The Sternschanze is smaller, but I like it more. It has an alternative chill vibe. A place to have beer anytime of the day. Also, almost all of the swing dancing events I´ve been to in Hamburg were in Sternschanze. That definitely gives it the cool rating in my book.

Those are only some of the diverse aspects I´ve noticed in Hamburg that showed how wrong my first impression was.