So many cities in Europe have a tall place to look down at the city from. Hence the from-above series on Ctrl-Alt-Travel. This post is Hamburg. To get these views, you need to go to the top of the tower at St. Michel’s church. Often you need the TV Towers, but increasingly we are encountering church towers that are the best view of the town. They are often right in the center of the old town, giving better views of the pretty bits. Usually you have stairs, but Hamburg’s St Michel’s has an elevator.
St. Michel’s Church
So it isn’t JUST an elevator. You have to climb a few flights of stairs to where you get to the line for the elevator. In that waiting room one window looks out on the back of a great angel statue.
Party and Bismark
One the right is the Ferris wheel in the Hamburg Dom(German). I like that in Hamburg Dom means some sort of carnival party place. Dom is however the word for Cathedral in Cologne. Germany is so regional even linguistically.
On the left is the gray statue of Bismark. I know that is Bismark statue because I was in Hamburg on my first trip to Germany. I remember very clearly walking through his park.
Fernsehturm
We didn’t go over there, but I believe there is a restaurant on top of the TV Tower like in Berlin’s Fernsehturm. I liked that St. Michel’s is much closer to the harbor.
Landungsbrucken
Hamburg is a port city first and foremost. Everything is in some form hooked to the water. This is the waterfront. On the city-side is Landungsbrucken, the piers. This is a neat place to go wander and sit and watch the ships go by. You can find harbor tours and fish sandwiches too.
Speicherstadt
I wrote recently about Hamburg’s Speicherstadt, so you can check out more info about it in that article. Here it is from above with the Philharmonic building looming in the background and the tightly packed houses down below.
Rathaus and Alster Lakes
Finishing the circle we look back north at the Rathaus with its green tipped roof. Beyond it are the Alster lakes. Water is everywhere in Hamburg, even in the center of the city.
Diorama Filter is Fun
So I usually get annoyed at the weight of my camera, but the diorama filter is pretty cool.
SpeicherStadt
I especially like this one because just the day before we had been in Speicherstadt at Miniatur Wonderland. It is a model train place in that area of town. So this was a nice little joke to see the actual city as if it was indeed small.
Rathaus
Check out more of the from-above series.
This post is from Ctrl Alt Travel - Travel is in the details. as Hamburg from above.