My Vacation: Hamburg
Part three in a series on my journey through Europe to retrace my Great-Grandmother’s 1914 travel diary on the centennial of its writing
Fair warning, I’m feeling a bit lazy at the moment, so rather than attempt to weave Daisy’s diary into this entry in a coherent and interesting manner, I’m just going to paste it below for your reference.
July 7th, 1914
When every one was ready we took our train for Hamburg. This ride was delightful on our first German express. We passed through the German country scenery. The windmills loomed up and we exclaimed over them. We passed farm houses with tiled roofs and we exclaimed over them. We kept near the shore and saw the top of the Steamer Pennsylvania as it steamed toward Hamburg. We landed at Cuxhaven because the steamer must wait for the tide to enter Hamburg harbor.
We rode in a second class car and the German railroad service was an oddity to us. We passed through the gate where our seat card was given us. Without any conductor and with meeting only a bagge man we rode to Hamburg a distance of 60 miles. The car had an isle along one side, then the other part was divided into compartments with 3 seats on either side. These could be closed by doors. They were very comfortable and our journey to Hamburg was pleasant. We noticed especially# how very clean we kept on the journey.
Before two we reached Hamburg and Dr. Kelso met us. I can imagine Dr. Vance breathed more comfortably at sight of him as his burden of responsibility was now lightened. We went to the Reichshof Hotel, found our rooms, ate dinner then went for a launch on the Alster.
The Alster is a big lake in the center of the city and the launches are used as a means of transportation. The rain was coming gently when we left and it soon poured. We reached the other side got out and walked but returned soon for it was pouring harder. We found another launch, rode down to the heart of the city. By this time my rain coat was fading blue on everything I touched. We took a street car back to the Reichshof. We landed wet and I was blue. A hasty change and it was dinner time. We ate dinner at Hotel Fürst Bismark.
I arrived in Hamburg around 3 p.m. and walked out of the enormous central station to find beautiful sunny skies. A student from the University of Münster warned me on the train ride in that Hamburg is known for its rain, but during my two and a half day stay I enjoyed perfectly dry weather.
Daisy didn’t fare so well, as her ride across the Alster left her soaked through. She stayed in the city for one night at the Hotel Reichshof and thankfully it still stands to this day. It opened just four years before Daisy arrived so I imagine it was quite impressive at the time.
Today the hotel still has an early 20th century charm with it’s gilded balconies and banisters, traditionally German concierge, and extensive use of marble, but it also reminded me a bit of Wes Anderson’s Grand Budapest Hotel in the later years when it had lost it’s former prestige. I blame the faint smell of mold for giving me this feeling.
I stopped in for a beer and spent an hour or so searching for someone to stay with in Berlin. My current plan for this trip is to use a website called couchsurfing.org to find places to sleep, and so far at least it has worked quite well, though as I write this things aren’t looking promising for Munich.
The concept behind the site involves connecting people with open couches who want to practice a language (or just make new friends) with foreign travelers who need a place to stay and are interested in meeting locals. I’ve had a great experience with it so far as the people I stayed with in Hamburg and Berlin (Marcus and Bodo respectively) were incredible hosts with extensive knowledge of their cities.
I’ve included a photo of Marcus to the left for your reference and I want to thank him formally for his hospitality.
He’s a talented programmer who has run his own business in Hamburg since graduating from the city’s University, and hosts travelers on an impressively frequent basis. We had several interesting conversations about what the internet was like in the early 90s — when he was studying computer science — as well as one about the chaos after 9/11 when the U.S. discovered that one of the hijackers was a former student of the University of Hamburg, and by extension a former customer of his business which provides internet to the school’s students.
After I finished my beer at the Hotel Reichshof I walked a few blocks over to the Hotel Fürst Bismarck — Daisy describes going to it for dinner during her visit — and took some photos of it that you can see below. In addition to this, I took a long walk around the Alster and have included a photo of it after the ones of the Fürst Bismarck.
During my second day in the city I met up with Jorina Suckow, a former high school classmate of my girlfriend, and Eike Polcyn, Jorina’s boyfriend. They were kind enough to spend their whole afternoon and evening showing me around the city, and I saw an extensive swath of Hamburg from the city hall to its famous port. I could write a great deal about it all, but I’m short on time — my train to Munich leaves in a half hour — so I’ll just include pictures for now and add more later if I get the chance.
