No Maps At Hamburg Station
There were no maps at Hamburg station. But there were cigarette adverts.
No Maps At Hamburg Station
In fact, there were cigarette adverts all over the city.
A Few Hours In Hamburg
I got to Hamburg about eight in the evening and my first priority was to get a hotel. It was a new hotel by the station and I booked for two nights.
Hamburg Station
The hotel was a disaster, or more likely the weather was, as my meter was showing 32°C and 70% humidity. I had to wedge the window open with my shoe and that just made the room hotter, as the air outside got in.
When the Tourist Office opened at ten, I was outside and got myself a free map, after a breakfast of orange juice and coffee, as true to form, there was nothing gluten-free in the station.
The map wasn’t the best, as it was far too large and was gradually disintegrating in the heat and humidity.
Hamburg’s Street Map
As the picture shows, it was impossible to hold with one hand. Luckily there were a few decent signposts and maps.
A Map In Hamburg
Eventually, I found my way to the impressive Rathaus.
Hamburg’s Impressive Rathaus
I had heard of a restaurant called Rudolph at Hafen City, that did gluten-free pizza. If this was as good as those in Munich, then this looked to be worth investigating for supper in the evening. The Internet entry said, that it was near to the U-bahn station. So I went into the U-bahn, quickly and easily bought a ticket and then spent thirty minutes wandering underground trying to find the platform for Hafen City. If I sometimes find Green Park and Kings Cross stations bad in London, they have nothing on the Rathaus station in Hamburg.
Eventually, I didn’t get tpo Hafen City, as the station hasn’t been built yet. So was this a case of “We have ways of getting you lost!”. It was also so unlike Munich, where things the information systems seemed to work well. But I also had a good map from the hotel.
It was then that I said that I should cut my losses and move on. So I went back to the hotel, packed my bag and then returned to the station, where I bought a ticket for Amsterdam.
From Copenhagen To Hamburg By Train
This is one of the more unusual journeys you can do in a high speed train. Usually, high speed trains, are defined as ones, that are capable of travelling at 200 kph or 125 mph. thus, the UK’s InterCity 125 train, built over forty years ago, are high speed trains, despite being diesel-powered. I thought that the train I was on, was a standard DeutscheBahn ICE. But it wasn’t, as it was an ICE-TD, which is diesel-powered.
You don’t notice the diesel engine in each car, and the comfort is similar to an electrically-powered train.
But the big difference on this route, which is called the Bird Flight Line, is that the train is carried part of the way in a ferry from Rødby to Puttgarden. Here are a few pictures.
I nearly delayed everything by falling asleep and was quickly roused by the guard and told to get off the train at Rødby.
The train arrived in Hamburg a few minutes late. It certainly had been an unusual trip in a train. It was also noteworthy as I saw a hare in the station at Puttgarden. But then a few years ago, I saw one on the dock at the Hook of Holland.
The Anonymous Widower 