2022 Sping Fling: Intermission - Ranting on Covid and QR Codes

Gym's Essential Traveling Tips:

It is important to inform the reader, that in these uncertain times of Covid, that there are a few new traveling principles that one should adhere to, so that your trip goes smoothly. They are as follows::

1. Always remain calm; 

2. Get Vaccinated as many times as you can;

3. Get a PCR test as often as your nose and throat will allow; and

3. Don't lose your iPhone!

Gym feels sorry for anti-vaxxers, they haven't been able to travel, at all!

And then there are people with no cell phones, forget about it! 

In this age of down-loading QR codes, you can't even get a sundowner without downloading the QR code for the cocktail list. Some places even use an e-key to open your hotel room. For god sakes, what is the world coming to?

Having said all that, it is important that we also regale the benefits of the new e-society:

1. You can access your local newspaper and get real time news from home when your are 12 time zones away and your wife is talking in her sleep beside you in your Heavenly Bed;

2. You can trade stock like the baby in the E-trade commercial without phoning a broker and incurring long distance charges; 

3. You can download the last bit of bank data you need to complete your tax return and even file the darn thing electronically;  

4. You can try to take underwater pictures of parrotfish with your iPhone in a special dive bag and darn-it they work; and finally,

5. You can WhatsApp your new granddaughter and see her smiling face in real time from thousands of miles away.

Just a few rants from Gym....

Back to the beach in the next post.

2022 Spring Fling: Part 1b - March, 2022 - Indulging in Istanbul

 1B - Layover in Istanbul

One important lesson that Gym learned on this trip was to always remember to pack tooth floss. If you have that one tight spot where the turkey bacon always gets caught, you know how a slug of protein like that can feel between your two favorite molars. And if you leave it too long, you risk getting zombie breath, a condition Gym really wants to avoid. It won't surprise you though that he forgot to pack it on this trip and when he begged Mrs. Gym for some of her's, it became apparent that they had a general shortage of the commodity. He had to buy some and found out the hard way, it was the most precious item in all of Turkey.  One spool of the stuff was $16 US. This was a very harsh transaction for a guy that tries to get by on the free stuff the dentist gives him but he paid it and fortunately, it was of a decent quality. It reminded Gym of the time he needed one more pair of underwear to get through a long weekend in Vegas. It cost him $80 US but it was a damn nice pair.

Our dynamic duo spent a total of 5 full days in Istanbul. During the first three days, they checked out some of the most popular tourist attractions and those were covered in the previous article. On their last couple of days in Turkey, they explored the neighborhoods around the hotel. Although they experienced pretty poor weather the whole time in Turkey, it was not too bad for a couple of Canadians that had packed a jacket and gloves. Istanbul is also a very hilly place and the exertion of hiking around also helped to keep them warm.

On Day 4, they turned away from the Golden Horn, veering right upon exiting the hotel gate. They were headed in the direction of the Kempinski Hotel. Across the street from the Kempinski is Yildiz Park. The mission on the day was to fully reconnoiter that massive green space.

Yildiz park was once the hunting grounds of the sultans. It rises up steeply from the Bosphorus to the sprawling Yildiz Palace at the top. It is completely enclosed by a high, rock wall. The majority of the 160 hectares is forested and is criss-crossed by well maintained stone pathways. A watercourse bisects the park and it runs down to the sea, forming small lakes and waterfalls along the way. Gym and Mrs. Gym hiked up to the apex of the park below the palace and climbed to the opposite side. On their descent they decided to cross the central waterway on several of the ornamental bridges that are all ideal photo stops. At the bottom, 9 feral cats lined up to bid Gym a warm adieu. 

Yildiz Park - you can see from this shot
that even though visited in late March, 
our intrepid travelers experienced some
snow in Istanbul. 

The central waterway is criss-crossed by 
paths which come down the slopes and cross
on scenic bridges. This picture is taken
from one such bridge.

Near the middle of the park is a sizable lake. The
ducks have a shelter built on a little island to
protect them from wild cats and dogs. 

Near the exit, feral cats line up to make sure no one 
leaves with leftover tuna sandwiches.

On Day 5, they explored a couple of other smaller parks near the hotel and got a great feel for the Besiktas District. This district is the prime business and shopping area of Istanbul. It also has several historic sites but not as many as in the Old Town. The area has the highest per capita income and the highest per capita education level of any district in Istanbul. 

Barbaros Blvd. begins by Besiktas Square on the Bosphorus and climbs north, rising quickly up a steep incline. After about 1500 meters you have risen about 150 meters in vertical height, that's a 10% incline for those that did the math. People who live here can get a good workout just going to the corner store.  Our travelers, climbed up to Yahya Kemal Park and followed its central pathway past the Conrad Hotel. Then they crossed over into the neighborhood and wandered  down the narrow streets to another park named Abbasaga Park. This park is on a very steep hill too. From the top, you might be able to roll a ball all the way to the Bosphorus through this park. It would likely bounce off a feral cat on its way down though. There are scores of very. well looked after felines in the park. At the bottom are interconnected alleyways with numerous indoor-outdoor restaurants and neat little wine bars that must be very enjoyable on warm summer nights. 

Most of the the residents of Besiktas
District live in 3 and 4 storey apartment
buildings but there are also a few older
wooden houses. They have no yards but there
are plenty of parks.

A cat hotel deliberately built in the park
and fenced so dogs can't get in. In front 
of many buildings are bowls of water
and food for these feral felines.

Mrs. Gym in a warm coat standing next
to a statue of a famous Turkish academic.

The way to Galata Bridge

On the way back to the hotel our travelers stopped to check out Barbarossa Park. They had strolled past it several times and they had failed to inspect the stunning statue of the famous Ottoman pirate/admiral and his actual tomb located meters away from the monument. Barbarossa is Gym's kind of guy. He got rich plundering christian ships and settlements throughout the Mediterranean.  The sultans cheered him on because Barbarossa cut them in for a share of the loot. 

Today, it seems that Barbarossa Park is a good place to protest the government. One day. Gym and Mrs Gym were returning to the hotel from the Galata area and they saw a couple of hundred protesters gathering under Barbarossa's statue. Gym advised his dear wife that they would miss their dinner reservation if they joined in, so they kept on walking. It's good they did because about 100 meters later they saw an eager platoon of riot police armed with paintball guns. Gym momentarily thought how it would be much more fun to join the police team.

Several old Ottoman cannons 'defend'
Barbarossa Park from attacks by
enemy ships on the Bosphorus

Barbarossa's monument with protesters.

Barbarossa's monument without protesters

On their last night in Istanbul they walked along the
Bosphorus and looked toward the Black Sea and the
beautiful Bogazici Bridge. It is a bridge
 that connects two continents.

On the 6th day in Istanbul, it was time to pack up and leave the Four Seasons. The beach was calling! They had a prearranged van for the one-hour return trip to the International Airport and everything went very smoothly. Airport security was a breeze. It might have been made easier because our travelers had fresh PCR tests and were triple-vaccinated but Turkish Air didn't really seem to care. The next leg of the journey would take them on an 8-hour flight east across 3 more time zones.  Here is a preview of the final destination (see below).

Stay tuned!

    

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2022 Spring Fling: Part 1a - March, 2022 - Idling in Istanbul

!A - Layover in Istanbul

Yep, it's true! The world is finally opening up again. No more covid testing is required to travel to most places in the world. And although you still must wear a mask in airports, on planes and in hotels, you needn't worry about showing absolutely everyone you meet that you are fully vaccinated. So, Gym and Mrs. Gym thought this would be an opportune time to slip away, before the next Covid variant began to spike. 

Gym and his dear sidekick have turned up in Istanbul for an extended layover. To what end you might ask? Well, given the area around the Black Sea has been hotly contested of late, Gym had the thought that maybe he could offer Mr. Zelensky the services of his dear wife. As many of you know, she is a hell of a scrapper and the Ukraine could sure use her help. .....😄, Just kidding!!!!

Mrs. Gym really only wants to go sit on a beach somewhere. So, our intrepid couple are on their way to a beach. Istanbul, Turkey is a 'stepping stone' on the journey to the beach. And since they needed to changes planes in this great city on the way to the beach, why not extend the layover and explore the place a little.

Istanbul is undoubtedly one of the greatest cities in the world. It straddles the Bosphorus Strait which is the dividing line between Europe and Asia. It is an archeologists dream as it has been the capital of three great empires. Napoleon Bonaparte said that, "If the world were a single state, Istanbul would be its capital".

Our intrepid couple flew into Istanbul on March 16, 2022. Gym found a nice route to the beach that had them pop over to Vancouver and then from there, endure an 11-hour non-stop flight on Turkish Airlines. After exploring Istanbul until March 21 the plan is to grab another Turkish Airline jet and travel 8 more hours east to the final destination but more on that later.

On the evening of March 16, 2022, our travelers settled into the Four Seasons Bosphorus, a nice base camp for their extended layover in this giant city of 22 million Turks.

Then on March 17, 2022, Gym had a couple of notable experiences. He suffered the consequences of his casual consumption of an innocent looking red pepper on his plate. There is no truth to the rumor that he can eat anything. Then he and his dear wife had a much more agreeable experience when they walked down to the Dolmabahce Palace. There, aided with an electronic guide, they took a tour of this home of the last Sultans of the Ottoman Empire. Gym reported that the palace tour was much more agreeable than the red chili incident.

Later on March 18, our travelers went further along the strait and inspected the fishing techniques of the abundant fishermen hoping to hook a tasty shad, mackerel or sardine from the Galata Bridge. There were literally scores of anglers dangling lines into the Golden Horn, in spite of the foul weather that day. Once across the bridge, our duo wandered through the Istanbul Spice Market and found some respite there from the cold and damp. The spice market was very visually and aromatically appealing.  After they recrossed the bridge, they hiked up the rainbow stairs and the steep narrow lanes leading to the base of the Galata Tower. After paying a small entrance fee, they climbed the ancient edifice to look out upon the city. They drank in the wonderful views of the Old Town and the Bosphorus Strait, the scenery only marred by a somewhat obscured horizon. They completed the expedition by slogging back to their basecamp on a very wet and cold day.

On the third full day, they ventured out with a private tour professional named Kenan Ucar. Gym and his dear companion invaded the Old Town with the guide's assistance and visited three very notable venues. In the morning, they were stunned by the grandeur of the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque, formerly a Christian church in the Byzantium and Constantinople times. It was a successful public works project ordered by Emperor Justinian and completed in just 5 years, obviously without the assistance of cranes. It served the Orthodox faithful for almost 1000 years before Constantinople was conquered by the Ottomans and it was turned into a mosque in 1453,  Then that afternoon, they split their time between the amazing Topkapi Palace and the the maze of shops in the massive Grand Bazaar. Temptation got the best of our poor pilgrims when they fell into the snare of a Turkish Delight shop. Those damn things are just so delightful.

By the end of the third full day, our adventurers had clocked over 46,000 steps and climbed 34 floors to visit some of the most notable places in the city. The pictures below with the captions provided, only scratch the surface of these initial experiences. 

We will cover the final two days of this layover in a separate post.  

Stay tuned!

BTW Brenda A., the Blue Mosque is sadly under renovation at this time.

Mrs. Gym in front of the Four Seasons Bosphorus. 

You can see it was cold when our travelers explored Istanbul.

Look mom no hands!

Dolmabache

The front gate of the Dolmabahce Palace, 

about 3500 steps from the Four Seasons

You were not allowed to take pictures inside but were able to 

get one of the most impressive room as you exited the tour. 

This is the main reception hall which is massive.

The previous picture was taken at the top of the stairs shown here.
The side of the building faces the Bosphorus.

This picture shows the grounds between the palace
 and seawall looking back towards the main entrance.
In spite of the sub-zero weather they experienced,
it is interesting to note palm trees grow here.

Galata

Sleet did not stop the Galata Bridge anglers.

And it seems it was good fishing weather

Spice in the Spice Market. The aroma was intoxicating.

Olives come in so many colors here,

The very agreeable interior of the market.

Starting the climb to the Galata Tower on the 

Rainbow steps,

then climbing up the narrow lanes 

to the base of the tower.

A view from the top of Galata Tower.
The Asian side can be seen
in the upper left of the picture.
The Old Town can be seen on the other side of the
Golden Horn, that flows into the Bosphorus,
 from the right side of the picture.
The Topkapi Palace grounds sit atop
 the part of Old Town shown here,

Inside the top of Galata Tower.
There is also a balcony
running around the outside.

On the descent to sea level from the Galata Tower, 

a 'local' bids Gym farewell.

Hagia Sophia

The Royal Door from the narthex into the nave of the
church was only for the Emperor but that is where Gym entered Hagia Sophia

Today because it is an active mosque, muslim faithful bow to
Meccca just in front of the Apse. This 'mosque cat' is acting as 'rear guard'.

The Christian alter would have been centered 

under the central window but the Iman 

must face Mecca which is slightly 

off centre in Hagia Sophia. 

The dome of Hagia Sophia, is a truly spectacular sight.

Topkapi

Gate of Salutation,  Topkapi Palace

One of the sultan's thrones. They surely used gold
 to adorn them but I'm certain this one
 has no precious metal

Sultans were big on swords. In fact, instead of a coronation with
a crown they were given a fancy sword in a special ceremony. 

The area used to make sweets in the Palace. The palace 

employed 1000's of people who toiled to feed the 

Sultan, his family, his soldiers and the diplomatic corps

 of many foreign kingdoms and countries. Dozens of people 

would have spent their whole careers making turkish delights

 for the entire host of Topkapi inhabitants.

Grand Bazaar

Gate No. 1 of the Istanbul Grand Bazaar. 

It is good our travelers had a guide

because there are 22 gates and 3600 shops

 in the 560 year old bazaar.

This is the inside of the Grand Bazaar where
Mrs. Gym and Kenan make a plan of attack

This is a tiny little jewelry shop in the bazaar. 

Our pilgrims didn't buy anything here.

Gym etal went to a pottery shop and workshop.
They were shown lots but again didn't buy anything here.
In the picture are very fine examples of handmade
quartz and clay pottery that are colored using traditional,
 natural dyes from such things as coral, lapis lazuli
and the mucous gland of snails  

Don't try the free sample at this booth. Gym did and we bought some stuff here.
They also have delicious teas and other goodies - and so now does Mrs. Gym

The oldest and most important monument in Istanbul
 is the Column of Constantine.
It was finished by Constantine the Great
during his reign in 328 AD.
It was dedicated to the establishment of the city.
It once supported a bronze statue of the emperor,
 holding a spear. Even without the statue
it might have been the tallest Roman monument 
of its kind, rivaling the height of the Colosseum.
Unlike in Roman times,
a Light Rail Tram now runs by its base.

Saying good-bye to Old Town Mrs. Gym and 
Kenan head out to the extraction site.
"Gym Bey" (Mr. Gym in Turkish), follows as rear guard.

Gym's Germane German Stuff: September, 2021

Final Post from the 2021 Baltic Vacation (sorry it took so long)

Two important German cities were explored by our intrepid hero and his dear companion on their trip to northern Europe. They visited Berlin and Hamburg which are the two largest cities by area, in Germany. Berlin was toured in the early part of the trip, August 30, 2021 and then after leaving Sweden, they flew to Hamburg and spent 2 nights in Hamburg, on September 11 and 12, 2022. After 48 hours in Hamburg, they hopped on a train and made their way down to Frankfurt, to fly home.

Berlin

Even though Berlin was visited early in the trip, the author wanted to lump all the German stuff together, so he stuck it in here. Let's just say it makes sense to the author.

Berlin is the the capital and Germany's largest city. It was a long haul getting there from the Baltic coast.  A 3-hour bus ride was required, from where the ship that was parked in Warnemunde. You could probably do it in 2.5 hours in a BMW but a bus has to use the slow lane. Notwithstanding the time involved, it is a very scenic drive. You cruise through beautiful, rolling green hills that are about half covered in pine forest and the rest in productive looking farmland. This greenery extends all the way down to Berlin. Even once you enter inside the city limits, it is hard to tell you are there because the autobahn comes in along a green belt and you don't see the urban sprawl.

The days are getting shorter as you get into the fall and although our travelers had more than 12 hours of daylight on August 30, they would use up half the day in a bus going to and from Berlin. It really only left them about six hours to see a few of the numerous points of interest in this great city and have a bit of free time. Was it worth it? Absolutely! Gym and Mrs. Gym saw some of the sights that should be on everyone's bucket list. These points of interest included beautiful monuments, historic buildings, remnant's of Hitler's Berlin and what was left of the Berlin Wall (see the pictures below).

During their free time, Gym and Mrs. Gym got to rub shoulders with Berliners and try some currywurst. Currywurst? Yes, don't knock it until you've tried it. It's a german sausage, smothered with a tomato based sauce that is heavily spiced with curry and served with fries. There are dozens of currywurst places in Berlin. It is very popular and served in restaurants and street-side kiosks everywhere.

Berlin was not the dark and foreboding place that Gym had thought it would be. The darker expectations of the city were developed from the history films of WW2 and the Cold War that Gym had formed his expectations upon.  In reality and in spite of visiting the capital on a grey day, the city proved to be a warm and inviting. There were many wide boulevards, numerous parks and lots of friendly blonde people everywhere. 

Hamburg

It was two weeks since the Berlin tour and following the time spent in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland and Sweden, it was time to conclude the tour with a visit to Hamburg. In the early morning of September 11, 2021, our intrepid travelers left their hotel in Stockholm. They crossed the lane and entered Stockholm Central Station where they found the gate for the Arlanda Express. It was easy to find this train. It's bright yellow and since it originates from Central Station with several trains leaving every hour, an idling train is always there. The Arlanda Express was fast, reaching speeds of up to 200 k/hr. It covered 36 kilometers in 20 minutes, making one short stop before reaching the airport. Mrs. Gym doesn't really like trains but she handled the trip well. Gym sat quietly pondering about the identity of the man who first thought of putting wheels on suitcases and what his IQ must have been.

Following the Arlanda Express train ride, they had flown down from Stockholm and settled into the Westin Hamburg. The Westin is located in the Hafencity district, on Grasbrook island. The 244-room hotel, is in the eastern end of the Elbphilharmonie building. The "Elphi" as it is known, is a truly unique landmark which anchors the redevelopment of the old Hamburg dockyards. The building has at its base, an old brick warehouse and it is crowned by a massive glass depiction of the cross-section of a wave pool. It sounds unreal but that's what it looks like. Inside this building is a state-of-the-art concert hall that seats almost 3000 people in three venues.  The concert venues are in the middle of the building and the western end of the structure also contain 45 luxury apartments. The Elphi was a perfect base-camp to explore the historic parts of Hamburg. Everything was a short walk from the hotel. Gym and his dear wife also had a terrific view of the old city and the Elbe River from their spacious corner-room, near the top of the building.

Tragically, Gym and Mrs. Gym were visiting the home of Oktoberfest but it had been cancelled due to the pandemic. And as usual, with limited time in Hamburg, they were only able to scratch the surface of this great city. They did however get a good feel for Hafencity and checked out most of the historic city centre in the Altstadt district. The highlights were the bombed out remains of St. Nicholas Church in Altstadt and the Miniature Museum in Hafencity. It was a fun couple of days for our hero and his bride.

Frankfurt

The last day in Hamburg was a bit of a panic. It was time to say goodbye to the Elphi and that beautiful view, check out and hail a cab for the short ride to the Hamburg Hauptbahnhof. It was intended to have plenty of time to find the gate and board their train at a leisurely pace. This did not happen the way it was planned, as our neophyte train-travelers got to the gate in time but ended up getting on the wrong end of the train. Their first class cabin seats were ten cars away. Mrs. Gym made a beeline for the other end, apologizing to every singe fellow traveler as she blew through ten cars in record time. Gym followed up picking his way through the narrow aisles at a slightly less frenetic pace. It was all good though, after that bit of a workout, they found their seats and Gym relaxed in anticipation of a fun ride on the ICE train to Frankfurt.

As the train progressed across Germany both Gym and his dear companion started to enjoy the scenery. The countryside was a procession of hilly, forested backdrops punctuated by story-book villages and towns in white walls and red roofs. Each town had a central church spire and sometimes there was a castle on a hill, adjacent to the town. 

Then, just before Frankfurt, Gym discovered that there were two Frankfurt stops and their tickets were good only to Frankfurt Central, when they needed to get to the Frankfurt International Airport. With some trepidation, he explained this shortcoming to Mrs. Gym. Until this point, no one else had spoken a word of English except for our two pilgrims. Everyone had been yakking away in German on their cell phones. But when Gym explained the ticketing problem to his dear wife, the lady next to them said in clear, unaccented english; "Don't worry, there is no conductor between the two stops, just stay on the train and carry on to the airport". So Gym and his dear wife did as they were instructed. However, they rode to that final stop with that little drop of sweat that forms on the back of your neck when you are doing something that you are not supposed to be doing. 

They would spend the last night in Europe at the Frankfurt Sheraton Airport. This would be their second layover at the Sheraton. It is no Four Seasons but it proved just dandy for a night.  

In the morning it was an early checkout out for Gym and Mrs. Gym. They breakfasted and walked across the skyway to the terminal. Mrs. Gym always likes to arrive hours early for everything. This time it saved their bacon. Our travelers had not anticipated the fact that they needed a negative Covid test to board Air Canada and return home. Was there enough time? Maybe, but just barely but it was tight. There was a convenient testing agency where our intrepid couple could get a PCR test for the ridiculous rate of several hundred euros. That agency guaranteed that the results would be available within 2 hours and they still had 2 1/2 to spare. When our travelers made it to the front of the line though and finally got tested, it was just two hours until their flight left. Air Canada was nice enough to check the luggage and give out boarding passes but if the results didn't come in time, they told our travelers that they would not be allowed to board. Our intrepid couple ran through the terminal and stood by the gate waiting for their test results to be texted to them. All the other passengers had boarded and the ground crew was about to shut the gates when the text came and Gym downloaded the results. Gym and Mrs. Gym flashed the confirmation of negative results and rushed through the deserted jet way, elbowing past the flight attendant at the door. They triumphantly stood at the front of the cabin and Gym was certain that the whole plane then breathed a sigh of relief. A close call, just like in a Mission Impossible movie.

Epilogue

Seven northern European countries were visited on this trip and the consensus was that all the Scandinavian and Germanic people were pretty chill. Many of the citizens of these Baltic countries exhibit the rare genetic combinations that make them blue-eyed blondes. Gym may need to go back and gather more data but based on the work compiled on this trip, it appears that blondes may indeed have more fun. Northern Euros are generally calm, polite, accommodating and happy, making this a great place to visit if you are looking for a laid back vacation.  

Gym and his dear wife were lucky enough to travel to Northern Europe in the lull between the Alpha and the Delta/Omicron variants of the pandemic. They arrived home to continued lockdowns and the build-up of the Delta surge. As Omicron started to push Delta out of the way and then a third and very dramatic surge began, Gym and Mrs, Gym got a booster shot. At the point of this posting, it seems the Omicron surge is over. It is March, 2022 and we understand that most countries are dropping the testing requirement for air travelers. It may be time Gym and Mrs. Gym had another adventure.

Stay tuned!

Berlin Pics:

 

The iconic Brandenburg Gate has seen so much history from
the Napoleonic Wars, to WW2 and then the Cold War. 

Bundesburg, the German Parliament

Bundesburg from the back

This line marks where the Berlin Wall stood in front of 
the Brandenburg Gate

Underneath this parking lot is Hitler's Bunker. There is no marker or monument
because no one wants it to be adorned or become a shrine.

What's left of the jail cells which were below Gestapo HQ.
They would torture political dissidents upstairs
and then throw them in these tiny cells.

One of the last lengths of the Berlin Wall

The site of Checkpoint Charlie where Russian and American tanks
faced off in 1961. Now you can get a bucket of KFC and a corona there.

A life-size model of the checkpoint at the Allied Museum

The Holocaust Memorial - over 2700 blocks of
concrete of various heights arranged in 200,000 square feet.

Perhaps inspired by the Pieta in the Vatican, this is
"Mother with her Dead Son", displayed in the Neue Wache monument. 
It is a shrine to the victims of war and tyranny.

The French Cathedral in central Berlin. Notable for being near a
very good Currywurst emporium.

Hamburg Pics:

The Elphi, a warehouse with a wave pool on top.
The Westin is on the left side. The concert halls are in the center.

Our room was at the top of this corner

It sure stands out 

Miniature World in Hamburg is a place everyone would find fascinating.
There are millions of square feet of dioramas in several huge rooms with model railroads,
model boats and ships and model cars, all in motion at one time. There is even an airport with planes that taxi, takeoff and land. One can spend hours in there without getting bored.

Here even Mrs. Gym was captivated by the intricate depictions of various parts of the world.

Cinque Terre in Italy is depicted here. 

This is a model of the Monaco coastline with with tiny beach-goers sunning themselves.

The ships on these canals move slowly along underneath the bridges. 

Trains, trams, subways and even monorails are constantly moving.

And every 15 minutes day turns to night and thousands of tiny LED lights come on 
including the emergency flashers of emergency vehicles speeding along the highways. 

It was so cool!

back to the real world.....

Heinz Hertz Tower from the promenade along the Alster Lakes

View From the Westin of the Elb River

Only the bell tower is left of the St. Nicholas cathedral.
The rest of the building still lies in ruins since the bombings of WW2.
Today the tower stands as a sombre war memorial.

Haupbahnhof Station where our travelers exited Hamburg

Mrs. Gym relaxing on the ICE train to Frankfurt