By the numbers
30,930 steps
22.88 kms
I thought I would have a bad night with being kept awake by
a cold, but I slept really well. Now I am wondering if it is in fact hay fever
of some sort and not a cold at all. Only
as I seem to be sneezing when I am near flowers. I am not worried as I had a
good sleep and was soon under way. I wanted the train to the Reeperbahn for one
thing only and that was for the street art of the Beatles at Beatles Platz,
which is right outside the station. The plan did not work so smoothly at all.
The train, I had no problem catching, although finding the
right one was even more fun. I couldnt remember if it started with an S ort a
U. I could remember a number 1, but found it wasn’t the U train. Once I got
myself on the right track, I had no problems.. It was two stations away the
train stopped and would go no further due to unauthorised persons on track.
They didn’t cancel said trains, but were saying they would be delayed. After 10
mins, I got up and decided I would walk. My map was a little slow in updating
as I had data turned off. I use it when I really need it and promptly walk in
the wrong direction until I realised where I was walking happened to be very
familiar. I was walking in the wrong direction. That is a pretty Brad thing to
do actually, walk the wrong way. Once I turned around and headed the correct
way, I had no problems. I walked pretty fast through Reeperbahn as it was the
Red light distreict, but I think I was safe during the day. I did find the
Beatles and there wasn’t really that much tro see. I had a quick tour of one of
the alley ways in Reeperbahn and headed down towards the Uboat museum that was
a Russian submarine. The walk was mostly down hill and I was very happy my toes
were no longer sore or blistered. When you kinda have a blister running nearly
the length of your little toe, then you know you have problems.
The area the Submarine is located in has something to do
with the fish market area. All I knew was that the toilet here wasn’t open and
unsure when it would be open. All I knew was I wanted to visit the submarine.
It was open by the time I got there. The Submarine was built in 1976 and is
90.16 metres in length. It doesnmt look like that in person, although it is
underwater. I took a walk from one end to the other, although going through the
portholes were tricky as you don’t want to bang your head. Each section carried
a certain amount of men. I really would love to know how 32 men could stay in
one small area unless the marines were on patrol within the submarine. I wasn’t
allowed in the coning tower due to it beingt closed outside of a tour group. I never asked when
the tours were and it didn’t take that long before I appeared at the other end.
I had bought my list with me as I knew I would forget about
something on it. I knew there was a tunnel that went under the river that was
near to the submarine it was known as St Pauli Elbtunnel and once I got there,
I was unsure if I should get on a lift as I think that costs money to do. I
soon realised that you could walk down a series of stairs. The tunnel had been
constructed in the early 1900s and has seen an interesting change in the city.
It was once used by cars and now mainly used by pedestrians and cyclists. The
tunnel still has restoration works to be done and was alkso nearly destroyed by
the Nazis and again by the Allies when they wanted to blow up a dry dock area
and didn’t expect protest about damaging the tunnel. I walked to the other end
and back. Those stairs are a killer after a while, but I made it. It was around
20 metres down and then a 100 or so metres to the other end. I cant quite
remember. Once I made it back to the correct side of the river I stopped for
lunch that ended up being curried bratwuirst. They seem to love curried
sausages over here.
I walked along the waterfront before turning around to catch
a train. There were two boats that I could do a tour on and have a look around,
but I thought I would leave that until next time. There was a cemetery I wanted
to visit and that was in Ohlsdorf. What I wasn’t expecting was the sheer scale
of the cemetery when I wandered in. All I knew was that I wanted to visit a kiwi
soldier who had earnt a VC during WWII as part of the New Zealand airforce. The
cemetery had several bus stops throughout and I soon learnbt why. It took me a
while to reach the War graves. I was there for some time and I was lucky yo
have access to data as I had to use it to search for the grave I was after.
Luckily the Commonwealth War Graves website had that information and it was
quicker to find that way instead of going down each row. That made it easier to
find. There was an elderly German chap who was wandering amongst the graves. I
thought he was looking for someone too. I noticed he was in bare feet and I
never asked who he was looking for, but he wasn’t going up and down like he was
searching. He must be a Hamburg regular to the cemetery. I was in awe over the
sheer scale and then realised I didn’t want to get stuck here even though I was
getting distracted. Some of the
headstones were huge and I could have sworn at times I was on a country estate.
I think I had several elderly ladies walk faster than me as I know one vanished
into the distance as I ambled along. How that happened I have no idea, but at
least I could find the headstones interesting. There was a nursery for plants
too as I had wondered what one section was, but then seen a vehicle loaded with
plants arriving. All the bus stops were helpful as the provided a map and a
marker to point where you were. I had wondered if I would make it to war graves
and when I did, I realised that I had been on track with directions. The fun
part was walking back. I needed a bike or something like it.
I was buggered by the time I reached the station and was
glad when I could jump straight onto the train. It didn’t take long to get back
to the station. Along the way some guy was asking for money. I don’t know what
he was saying, but I just stared him down without saying a word. He got the
message and went to other people on the train who shook their heads. I do know
I have to sort myself out for the next part of my trip to Copenhagen. Hopefully
that isn’t full of drama where I have to catch a bus. Lets see if they are nice
about the whole deal.
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