Hamburg, Germany - We're back in Germany!

15 -16 Jun 2017

Our entry into Hamburg - escorted by a $200,000 McLaren.

A sobering view of total war - after a 1943 bombing.  Of course we only saw modernness and restoration.

Hamburg City Hall - a shiny new building from 1897.  Even shinier - more of that modern eclectic architecture - a condominium.

Our tour book suggested we take the ferry on the River Elbe - Hamburg is about 60 miles inland from the North Sea, but this mighty river allows operation of a major seaport.

An Airbus A-380 (double decker) sighting - the company paints and furnishes these new airplanes in Hamburg.

The Dockland Office Building - mega yacht shaped, but we thought of the Star Wars Sandcrawler.
https://www.designbuild-network.com/projects/dockland/
The other building is the Elbphilharmonie - a concert hall in the HafenCity quarter of Hamburg, Germany, on the the Elbe River.  We were able to get on the list for visiting the patio portion. 

A matching set of Moto Morini's straight out of the 1980's.

Our calorie break before our tour of the concert hall building.

Going up a super friggin big escalator to the mezzanine level.  And another sighting of an Airbus, this time the Beluga, a version of the standard A300-600 wide-body airliner modified to carry aircraft parts and oversized cargo.

The view from the patio deck.  What looks like ugly buildings is a renovated section of warehouses containing housing, shops, and business space.

Continuing our tour of modern Hamburg - some of us became a bit thirsty.  This "angly" building would not be built in Los Angeles - they don't need any earthquake inspired architecture.

Moving along to Hamburg's red-light district - a highlight being the location (the club is gone now) where the Beatles honed their craft as a group in the early years before they became world wide figures.  Outside this alley location, on the main street, is an artsy tribute to the Fab Four.

(Editor's Note:  Our arrival here in this hood was not wholly our idea.  We place some blame on tour guidebook author Rick Steves - he said "go there, you must get the complete look of the culture to be found in Hamburg."

Hamburg, unlike Amsterdam, attempts to shield the wider public from their actual street of prostitution - a barricade asks that only males over 18 enter (along of course with the "staff").   In this photo, you can almost guess at the conversation:  fellows:  "I don't need to remind everyone - what happens in Hamburg, stays in Hamburg"  , the gals "this sign is killing me, we need to go inside and check it out".

Enough of that, time for another German brewpub.

We could have got really crazy at this point and joined this group of vintage (25-40 yr old cars) car rallyers running this circuit; they had a get together at this open courtyard beer garden.

Other photo is Gerri's dinner - Tex-Mex Deutchland style - a burrito with pickled jalapenos and Mole sauce.

Winding down in Hamburg - a look at the metro terminal.