Last November I went to Hamburg for a day. Don't get me wrong, I didn't fly over from UK just for a day, I'm not that rich!!! Hamburg was one of the stops on my cruise holiday that time, and my little girl Snowpea had posted about it here
St Micheal Church
Our first stop after getting off our cruise ship was to St Michael Church, or Michel, as it is more commonly known by the locals. Built in 1786 and standing at 132m tall, Michel is the largest church in Hamburg, and boasts the largest clock faces in Germany! From the outside, it doesn't look that grand, particularly when I compare it to the centuries old cathedrals I normally see in the UK. However, I read that Michel is one of the most famous landmark in the city, so I figured I should come here on my first visit to Hamburg.
You know when people say "don't judge a book by its cover", that's exactly how it is with Michel. After seeing the exterior, I didn't really have much expectation of the church. How wrong was I!!! Instead of being welcomed by dark stone built structures as I normally am by English churches, Michel's interior was built with beautiful white marble. Whilst I'm not religious in any way, it was like an angel welcoming guests with her open arms. It felt so very peaceful and inspiring, walking into the unknown with a lot of hope and future. The contours of the interior was absolutely stunning, and if I remember correctly, I didn't even take these images with wide angle lenses. I just kneeled down quite low towards the floor and zoomed upwards.
St Pauli Elbtunnel
The next stop is another famous landmark, the Elb Tunnel. In London, we have a Greenwich foot tunnel that goes beneath the River Thames, and I posted about it previously. When I learnt that Hamburg has something similar, I was very interested to see it, as both Germany and Victorian days England are well known for their engineering. Just as a little background information, this is how the two tunnels compare
| Geenwich Tunnel London | Elb Tunnel, Hamburg | |
|---|---|---|
| Year built | 1902 | 1911 |
| Length | 370m | 426m |
| Depth | 15.2m | 23.5m |
| Width | 2.74m | 5.64m |
| Use | Pedestrian and cyclists | Pedestrian, cyclists and cars |
My first impression of the Elb Tunnel was that it looked a lot more magnificent that the Greenwich Tunnel. From the ground level, you can either take the lift, or walk the stairs. Walking down the stairs was much easier than up!! The staircase itself was a piece of art, something that I hadn't expected, as my impression of German engineering is always rather rigid and functional. The first part of the staircase was along the side of the wall, and if I remember correctly but I can't be sure, I think you can see all the way to the bottom. Not that I took a good look as I started to get jelly legs already. The next part of the staircase was suspended a little further out away from the wall and that's where you feel like you're suspended in mid air even though we weren't. It was quite an experience descending down.
And after a couple of minutes, we were down under The Elbe in Hamburg. If I hadn't been under the Greenwich Tunnel before, this would have felt really surreal. Imagine yourself 20+ meters underwater walking along a magnificent piece of engineering built over 100 years ago. This was a first for Snowpea, and my girl was very excited. You may have noticed the path behind Snowpea has a walkway on both sides and a space in between. That is for cars. Yes, cars can actually use this tunnel to cross the river! The Elb Tunnels beats the Greenwich Tunnel hands down with this.
I took the lift on the way back up, no way was I going to do the stairs! By the way, this is how the cars get up and down as well.
Elbphilharmonie
In between, we wandered around the city walking past many of the landmarks and our final stop of the day is the Elbphilharmonie, or Elphi. This is Hamburg's concert hall, a spectacular structure, and to be honest my photos does not do it justice at all. This is what it looks like from the outside.
The main purpose of visiting the Elphi was The Plaza. This is the viewing level on the 8th floor where visitors can walk outside around the building to get a 360 degrees of the area. The Plaza visit experience starts with a two and a half minute escalator ride. Yes, that's 2.5 minutes which sounds like a long time, but it's definitely the best part of the whole visit. The escalator is 82 meters long, and is curved, a first in the world, according to their website. As I ascend through the tunnel, white sparkly discs shimmer from the wall, left right and above. I like how welcoming Hamburg landmarks are!
Elphi is definitely a place that can wow you again and again. After the escalator ride, I arrived at the viewing level 2 levels above on the 8th floor. A massive curly wavy window lines up one side of the building allowing visitors to see directly outside. It was fun trying to find the way out and I kept on pushing at some of the gaps, only to find the exit at one end in a quite obscure place. The walk and view outside was absolutely amazing, but difficult to get good photos as the place was so hugh. Let's just say, if you ever in Hamburg, I highly recommend a visit to Elphi. Admission cost €2 which you can book in advance.
Although I can't personally show you some good photos of Elphi, I can do one better and show you something very unique .
Image credit to
Hive's very own 
