Day 6 - 7 : Hamburg (Wrap Up)

Spent 3 nights in Hamburg, which is about just right in my opinion.

Safety
Arriving into Hamburg on a drizzly gloomy Thursday late afternoon, in this time of the year, it also meant that it gets dark early. The path from the Central bus station to the hostel wasn't the most pleasant especially in the dark, with a grittier looking neighbourhood with signs of homeless sleeping on the streets. Being new in the city, you never quite know what to expect, so I was on a slightly higher alert.

After spending a few days in Hamburg, overall I can say I do feel pretty safe walking around the streets of Hamburg in the night.

I've noted the area from the Central train station and East of it tends to be less pleasant. Most of the sights that one should visit and see are mostly located in the Western half from the Central train station, in fact, possibly even after the main city centre. I wasn't too big on the city centre, it being mostly a shopping area, and often bypass it.

Things to See and Do

My favourite neighbourhoods would have to be

Speicherstadt

This area is the largest warehouse complex of its type in the world and is a UNESCO world heritage site. The complex is over 1.5km long, with multiple canals and bridges. 

The most iconic view in this area is of "Wasserschloss", a striking building at the end of one of the islands in Speicherstadt, connected by 2 bridges and surrounded by the walls of warehouses. 

It took me a while to find this specific viewpoint, just because of how many beautiful buildings and viewpoints there are in this area. 

But I found it just in time as the sun was about to set, and caught a few shots in perfect twilight lighting. I got really lucky, especially since it had been foggy most of the time I had been in Hamburg, except for a few short hours when the sun decided to pop out on this day. 

There is also the option to take a boat ride through the canals and waterways but since the area is easily walkable, I didn't do the boat option. I did see a boat go through some really tight bends in this area, and that definitely requires good boat navigation skills. 

Walking further down from Speicherstadt, you will find another iconic building, Elbphilharmonie - the bottom half is a renovated warehouse, with a glass modern building with wave like patterns on its roof and exterior, built on top of the warehouse, making it a natural fit along the harbour’s waterfront. 

It's free to go up to The Plaza of Elbphilharmonie, you just need to wait in line to get a ticket from the counter. They do limit the number of tickets by time slots, so if there's a specific timeslot of preference, tickets can also be booked online for Euro 2 per ticket. 

It's also nice walking along the waterfront area. There are a lot of small little cafes/booths selling "Fischbrautchen", which is basically fish in between bread. Not too bad if you want a quick mid day snack. My only gripe is that they were cold, and it would had been nice if they were served warm, especially in cold weather. 

There are a lot of different fish you could choose from, I basically took the staff's recommendation of her favourite version of the fischbrautchen, which had a bit of tangy and sweet taste. 

The store that I went to is located just next to the Alte Elbtunnel - the oldest river tunnel in Europe (opened in 1911), another sight worth seeing. This reminds me of the one in Antwerp, Belgium. 

It appears they were doing upgrades to the tunnel when I was there. Alte Elbtunnel basically connects pedestrians and cyclists from one side of the river to the other, via underground. The length of the tunnel runs 426.5m long, and with a diameter of 5.64m, located 23.5m below sea level. 

It does get busy here, especially with convenient antique lifts that brings cyclists and pedestrians up and down the tunnel at each end. 

Sternzchanze & Karolinenviertel

This area is one of my favourite neighbourhood to explore. A number of funky streets and cool graffiti art. I even saw a street lined with trees that had numerous shoes hanging from the trees. It was hilarious! I don't know the meaning of the hanging shoes, but I always wondered how they managed to successfully tie them up there. 

Even the shops along the streets of Marktstrasse in the area, carry hip and cool clothing which I would consider shopping and buying. 

There's a lot of graffiti art around this area, probably not liked by the government for the vandalism, but I personally find it gives the neighbourhood character. One of the most heavily graffitied building would be Rote Flora and the building beside it. It's said to be where the left wing activist movements are usually at. 

Also check out the Feldstrasse Bunker while in the area. A super solid cemented building that was built to defend Hamburg from Allied air raids in WWII.

And also the Langerit Hamburg building and surroundings, which appears to be used for legal and jurisdiction purposes. 

Reeperbahn and St. Paul District

This is the red light district, but also some interesting vibes here. It also appears to be an area where drag shows and stage performances can be found. 

Beatles platz, a square with metal sculptures shaped to commemorate The Beatles can also be found in this area. 

I went both in the day and in the evening, but perhaps I wasn't there late enough, so it still seemed rather quiet for a Friday evening. 

Inner Alster Lake and Kleine Alster Canal

Located at the city centre, Inner Alster Lake is a picturesque lake, mostly because of the beautifully architectured buildings surrounding the lake. In the centre of the lake is the Alster fountain that jets out water quite high, reminding me of the one in Geneva. 

There's also the Alster Arcade along one side of the Kleine Alster Canal which gave off a Venetian vibe when I first saw it. 

Not too far from the Canal is the Rathaus or City Hall Building. It's free to enter and worth just taking a look in the area, which doesn't take too much time. You will then exit out into the courtyard, which is worth taking a few photos of. 

Churches

There are also a number of noteworthy Churches to visit, including 

St. Michael's Church 

Music was playing beautifully out of the pipe organs shortly after I arrive. It was so mesmerising I sat and stayed for a while to hear it play. 

The interiors are also very classically done, I could almost imagine myself being in a theatre hall, with the pipe organ music playing in the background. 

There's also the option to visit the tower and the crypt, which is a paid entrance that I didn't go for. 

St. Catherine's Church

It was built in the 14th and 15th century. This city loves their pipe organs it seems, as even the one at St. Catherine is worth taking a look with the sculptures. Interiors are rather simple though, but I love the huge coloured glass window. 

St. Nikolas' Church 

Built in 1845 - 74, on a site of a 14th century church that was destroyed in Great Fire of 1842. It was later destroyed in 1943-44 leaving just the tower and outer walls, the ruins are maintained as a monument against war. 

St. Peter's Church 

The oldest church in Hamburg, dating back to 1195. Not my favourite, but since it's located in the centre of town, it's easy to just pop in and have a look. 

Dining 

Food wise, a lot of places only had menus in German, so I was very hesitant about dining out. To a certain extent, I went with more comfort food, especially with cold foggy days in Hamburg. I had a Korean Chicken Hot Pot stew the night I arrived at Seoul 1988 - not the best Korean stew, but it certainly warmed the tummy very well, and gave me my proteins for the day. 

One of the best meals I had was ramen at Momo Ramen, located not too far from Rote Flora in Sternzchanze. I felt I got the best seat in the restaurant with the beautiful geisha background. 

I ordered the Momo Special Spicy Miso Ramen and it was absolutely delicious and hit the spot - such a great balance in spice in the thick and creamy broth that was served piping hot. Even the Matcha lemon soda was super tasty. The damage Euro 20.20. 

I would also recommend a meal at one of the Portuguese restaurant in Portugisenviertel (Portuguese Quarter). Reservations are strongly recommended, as the 1st two I wanted to try were completely packed. The 3rd restaurant I went to was Taparia O Pescado, and I ordered a plate of mixed fish - it came with a variety of 4 different types of fish, 1 prawn and 1 squid, served with some potatoes and grilled vegetables. The seafood was slightly over done in my opinion, but for the sizing and 500ml of red house wine in a nice restaurant for only Euro 22, I call that a really good value meal. Staff were very friendly too. 

I also walked past a pizza restaurant Luigi's which had a long queue, so I decided to have it for lunch the next day. There are mixed reviews online about the staff, but I had the most hospitable staff that were really patient and curious about me, asking where I was from (I said Singapore, and one of the staff asked if it was next to India, which I corrected and said next to Malaysia). I loved the vibe of the restaurant. The staff at the pizza making counter were also entertaining the restaurant guests with pizza spinning antics. 

I did say the staff were really hospitable with me (read : flirting), so much so that I was pleasantly surprised by the pizza that was presented - a huge plate with an equally huge pizza, in the shape of a heart! And when it was served, the staff said "With Love ♥️". 

I definitely did look at the other pizzas that got dished out of the pizza counter area after that, and I noted all of them were round. 

It's not the best pizza I ever had (the crust wasn't crisp enough), but the extra effort brought a big smile and something I will remember for a long time. How many can say they ever had a heart shaped pizza! 

I even received a complimentary shot of grappa at the end of my meal along with a handful of sweets. 

And since the waterfront is a must do while in Hamburg, so is a must to taste Fischbrautchen, that I had mentioned earlier. 

Others

I struggled to purchase a prepaid phone card in Hamburg, which for some reasons all the Vodafone shops I went to ran out of the Euro 10 prepaid card. It appeared they had ran out of it for some time now, with no indications of when it would be restock, putting the blame mostly on covid. 

The primary reason why I wanted a prepaid card was to get access to Internet on the go. I did download an offline map of Hamburg on Google which helped, but I also noticed that it was fairly easy to get access to free WiFi networks around numerous parts of the city. 

The only thing I encountered where having a reliable WiFi and a local number would be helpful was when dining at restaurants or visiting sights. They needed proof of vaccination (thankfully I had no issues showing the Singapore notarised vaccination cert), but they also required me to complete a "Luca" which seemed to be similar to Singapore's SafeEntry, where personal details are submitted through a QR code. 

The challenge is that one of the verifications needed on Luca is to receive a verification pin on a mobile number, and somehow when I attempted Luca the 1st time, I didn't get the code in a timely manner on my Singapore number and thus could not successfully connect to Luca. 

I've managed to get away with it a number of times after I explained to them about the challenge of not having a local number, and thankfully had never been denied dining at a restaurant (at times I was given an extra piece of paper to fill my details) or at the City Hall Building, which appears also required a Luca for registration (the security seeing that I wasn't much of a threat and especially since it's a very small section of the City Hall we get to see, I was allowed in). 

I've also noted that a lot of things in Hamburg is on a honesty policy mode - the city trains do not have a gantry, so one could easily hop on or off without having to go through any barriers. There are ticket machines at the entrance of the stations, so it's possible that spot checks could be made at any time. Even the hostel I stayed in, the breakfast was on a honesty policy system - after you had purchased breakfast from the reception, you are given a coin, which you then drop into a box at the breakfast area. No one manually collects or check if you had purchased breakfast, so you could also getaway with getting breakfast without paying for it. 

I also feel that if one was able to understand German, there would be more things to enjoy in Hamburg. There could had possibly been some performances I may had wanted to catch, but knowing they were often in German, I didn't bother to find out more. This also applies to deciphering a menu, which all were in German. There are certain words which I may have a rough idea, but very often I would find myself second guessing what a number of items would mean in English. 

All in all, there were a few highlights that had made the trip to Hamburg memorable, including the twilight view of Speicherstadt, the heart shaped pizza and the Momo Spicy Miso Ramen. 

Day 154 : Flying Business Class on Singapore Airlines

This is my first time flying Business Class on Singapore Airlines and I was tremendously looking forward to the flight. 

Travelling in style had been my way of travel on the return leg of the long haul flights of my 5 month travel, following my Business Class experience on Lufthansa 1+ month earlier.

It was fairly empty in the Business Class section of Singapore Airlines from Barcelona to Singapore. 

I recalled that it used to be a direct flight when I took the same route 5 years back, but now there is a stopover in Malpensa, Italy Airport.  At least I am on Business Class this time round, so the additional 1+ hour didn’t really bother me.

My experience on the flight – definitely better than Economy Class, though I had expected a lot more than what I had experienced during my flight on Business Class.

Day 48 – 49 : Merida

Merida is another colonial town located in the Yucatan region. Prior to arriving to Merida, many travellers had told me that they had enjoyed staying in Merida, and I can see why. 

There is a good vibe in the city, with numerous activities happening each day.

There are also a number of beautiful colonial buildings around Parque Grande as well as along Paseo de Montejo.

Most of these buildings are usually converted into a museum of some kind, and entrance is free.

Day 46 – 47 : Campeche

The bus ride from Palenque to Campeche took 6 hours, and was meant as a stop, instead of having to take a really long bus ride direct to Merida.  It would also be easier to get to Edzna ruins from Campeche than from Merida.

About 45 mins before arriving into Campeche, I started to see glimpse of the sea again!  It’s been a while since I was near the coast, and it was also nice to feel the warmth (perhaps maybe a little too much here!), after being in a colder climate the last few days.

A laid back colonial seaside town (but with no beach and very dirty waters), Campeche is famous for its few existing forts and bastions left from the days when it was still occupied by the Spanish. 

Some sections of the bastions are still walkable, which is a nice way to view the city from the top. 

Day 42 – 43 : San Cristobal de las Casa

After a long 11+ hour excruciating overnight bus ride from Oaxaca, I finally reached San Cristobal. I miss the luxury buses available in Argentina / Chile!

San Cristobal is a popular city stop for many travellers as it serves as a midway point towards Oaxaca, Palenque or Guatemala. Another beautiful colonial town, with a long T-shaped cobbled stone pedestrian-only street cutting through Zocalo (town square), and lined with chic shops, restaurants and café. 

At one end of the Pedestrian only street is a sprawling food market, selling gorgeous specimens of the fruits and vegetables that grow abundantly in the Chiapas Highlands: avocados, marble-sized tomatoes, and rainbows of chillies.

Day 38 – 41 : Oaxaca

Oaxaca (pronounced wa-hah-kah), is a colonial town located about 300 miles south of Mexico City, and about 5hrs from Puebla.  It was designated a UNESCO world heritage site in 1987.

Characterized by a similar layout of the main town area with low lying colorful buildings as Puebla (without the colourful, patterned Talavera tiles), but with a more disorganized feel, the streets are constantly filled with traffic and street markets. 

Day 35 – 37 : Puebla

I had spent the last 3 days in Puebla.  Located about 110km away from Mexico city, Puebla is the 4th largest town in Mexico city, with 2.1 million inhabitants. 

I didn’t know what to expect at first, but was very pleasantly surprised by Puebla.  The city is laid out in an orderly fashioned, with low rise multi-coloured colonial houses, many in Baroque style and with beautiful balconies, and covered in the colourful, patterned Talavera tiles for which the city is famous, that it had been designated a UNESCO World Heritage site. 

It was very noticeable that effort had been taken to preserve the buildings in pristine conditions, with some of these houses being converted into quaint cafes, restaurants and boutique hotels.  The city is laid back, a huge contrast from the hustle and bustle of Mexico City, and more pleasant.

Wrap Up : Cuba

Cuba. . . Infamously known as the land of cigars and vintage cars. There's truth in that, though I also found Cuba had a lot more to offer - from beautiful beaches to the rolling hills and pastures in the country side to very warm and friendly people. 

I had spent the last 18 days in the country, a lot more than most tourists would.

The original plan was to see both the Western and Eastern part of the country, but due to unforeseen circumstances and flight challenges, I had to reroute my plans and skip Santiago de Cuba and Baracoa. My final trip route :

• Havana (4 days) 
• Vinales (1.5 days) 
• Varadero (1.5 days) 
• Playa Larga (0.5 days) 
• Cienfuegos (1.5 days) 
• Trinidad (3 days) 
• Cayo Santa Maria (3 days) 
• Santa Clara (2 days) 
• Havana (1 day) 

Day 31 – 32 : Havana City

I wasn’t suppose to be coming back into Havana city, but due to unforeseen circumstances, I am back again!

The moment I arrived, I wasted no time at all and set out to do what I had not when I was first in Havana, and all within 24 hours.

1. Almacen San Jose

This was a scenic walk along the Marina (opposite direction of Malecon), where it took me past a view of the forts, the ferry terminal, and a surprising find of Almacen San Jose, a HUGE market, selling all sorts of souvenirs, artefacts and paintings.  There must had been at least 100 stores in this huge warehouse building, with most of the stores offering repetition of items.  Great for shopping!

Saw a store which made Pina Colada from fresh pineapple, and I just had to have one too!

Day 29 – 30 : Santa Clara

Santa Clara, located almost in the middle of Cuba, was a stop over point for me before I make my way back into Havana city. 

The city is centered around Parque Vidal, where most city life and activities take place. 

On the night I arrived, there was an awards ceremony, attended by the governor of the area.

A short distance walk away is a street called “Boulevard”, and while walking through the street, I felt I had been whisked away into a Hollywood production set in the 70s, except that this is not on a production set, but a glimpse into the daily life of a Cubano.

  

The most famous attraction in Santa Clara is the massive mausoleum, monument, garden, memorial and museum dedicated to Che Guevara.  Entrance to the museum is free, but strangely, they do not allow people to bring in bags, cameras or phones. 

Day 26 – 29 : Cayo Santa Maria

I had spent the last 3 days at Cayo Santa Maria, an island located about 1.5hrs north of Santa Clara, and connected to the mainland by a bridge of about 42km in length. 

I stayed at the Hotel Valentin Perla Blanca, a 5-star Adults only Hotel Resort located on the far eastern part of this island.  I am officially a high class backpacker!

Day 23 – 25 : Trinidad

Trinidad, a UNESCO World Heritage site declared in 1988, the main historical square is lined with cobbled stone streets, colourful low buildings with a combination of dwellings as well as shops selling paintings, trinklets, cups, cigar holders and other typical Cuban souvenirs. 

One could hear the sound of horses' hooves trotting down cobbled car-free streets at any time of the day.

Established by Diego Velázquez in 1514 just inland from the central-southern coast as the third of Cuba's seven original "villas" (colonial cities), Trinidad is one of the oldest European-founded settlements in the Americas and recently celebrated it’s 500th year of founding.

Day 22 – 23 : Cienfuegos

Cienfuegos is a small town located off the bay of Bahia de Cienfuegos.  Located about 1.5hr from Playa Larga and Trinidad, it is a stop over town before I make my way to Trinidad later today. 

I personally found that the people in Cienfuegos are friendlier and the discrepancy at the shops for either locals or tourists is lesser, which means things are priced a lot more reasonably here in Cienfuegos than in the other cities I had been to in Cuba. 

I also met an Italian guy Alberto, who was also staying at Hostal Teresa, along with his girlfriend Aleti, a local from Cienfuegos, who were a crazy and hilarious couple.  It was from Alberto, that I found out there is a popular song on Facebook in Spanish (or could be Italian) – Can’t believe someone would actually make a song about Facebook!

Anyway, it’s worth stopping through Cienfuegos for 2 nights if passing through the area.  Things worth doing here :

Day 8 – 10 : Munich (Wrap Up)

3 days in Munich City, with lots to see and do. 

Being here during the period of Oktoberfest, there are more tourists than usual in the city. 

Hostels were charging close to Euro 100 just for a bed in a 6 dorm room! 

It was a good thing I managed to find someone to host me during my stay.  Back to real backpackers life and no more hotel stays :(

Overall, I love Munich.  I personally feel it can be regarded as another romantic city like Paris, though Paris in my opinion felt to have more things to see and do.

On the last day of my stay in Munich, I was even invited by Terry to the Oktoberfest - On my 2nd night in Munich, I was craving for beef noodle soup and found a Vietnamese restaurant.  As the restaurant was full, Terry shared a table with me and we ended up chatting.  Terry is an American, who had lived in Germany for many years.

This year, he had reserved a table at one of the beer stands for the last weekend of the Oktoberfest, and had invited some friends to join him, and extended the invite to me.

Even though I had already been to the Oktoberfest with Frank, I wanted to experience the atmosphere the German way.  It was a short night for me, as I left after 1 drink, since I will be flying out to Mexico city that evening.

The experience at the beer tent was amazing though – Terry had a table on the upper floor, so I could see the hordes of crowd on the lower floor and in the whole tentage. 



The atmosphere was incredible and unbelievable.  You can see it for yourself here.

Other than that, key attractions within the city includes :

Day 4 : Salzburg City

We make our way back into Austria towards Salzburg, which is about 45 mins drive from Eagle’s Nest. 

My impressions of Salzburg – I really like this city.  It’s very pretty, and the river running through the city centre enhanced the personality of Salzburg.  Salzburg is also famous for a few things : The movie “Sound of Music”, and the birth place of Mozart.

Didn’t realise that they also had an Oktoberfest celebration in Salzburg, so the city centre were filled with crowds on the streets.  I would really like to see Salzburg without the Oktoberfest event, as believe it would be nicer.  So glad that I didn’t choose to stay in the centre of Salzburg, but at Hotel Seebrunn next to the lake.

We walked through the city centre, that was filled with crowds dressed in the traditional Oktoberfest outfit. 

We got curious and went into a proper store that specialises in making the traditional Bavarian outfit and Frank checked the cost of Lederhosen (the pants for guys) – we were shocked that the price can go from Euro 600 up to Euro 2,000! 

On the surface, it looked completely the same to me as those which were selling on the street stores for about Euro 60 (or less).  The lady at the store said the reason why it cost Euro 2,000 was because it was made of deer skin (I agree it feels softer, but it also didn’t feel like leather), and was hand stitched.  I wonder who would pay Euro 2,000 for a pair of pants!  I could buy a lot of things with that amount.

Key sights in Salzburg :

Schloss Hellbrunn (Hellbrunn Palace)

Schloss Hellbrunn is a villa designed in a Baroque style, and was built in 1619.  It was built as a day residence in summer for the Archbishop, and is famous for the hidden water fountains in the gardens.  We didn’t enter the grounds and walked around the exterior of the Palace. 

Attached to the Palace is also a park, and also houses the Pavillion that was used in the “Sound of Music” film.

Hohensalzburg Fortress

The fortress is over 900 years old, and is one of the largest preserved mediaeval castle complexes in Europe.  The area of the fortress with 50 buildings covers and entire area of 33,000m².  It was originally built to guarantee the safety of the archbishops; while also serving as barracks and a prison.

We took the lazy way of going up via a funicular, particularly since the fortress was situated at an altitude of 506m.  Inclusive of the ticket for the funicular was admission to the museum. 

The view from the top was definitely worth making the visit, as one could see entire Salzburg city below.

We didn’t have lunch today, and as it was rather close to dinner time, we decided to order a slice of cake to ward of the hunger pangs. 

One of the most famous cakes in Austria is the Sacher cake, which should officially be eaten at Hotel Sacher. 

I had a slice of Sacher at the Vienna branch of Hotel Sacher earlier this year, so wasn’t too hard up of needing to eat it at the same hotel, which also has a branch in Salzburg.  Frank ordered the Mozart cake, which is also a specialty in Austria.

St. Peter’s Monastery

Located next to the base of the funicular is St. Peter’s Monastery, a Benedictine monastery and former cathedral.  It is considered one of the oldest monasteries in the German-speaking area, and in fact the oldest with a continuous history since its foundation in 696.

What I found intriguing is the catacombs, as they are carved out of the rocks behind the monastery.

Bridge of Love

This bridge caught my attention.. a sea of padlocks attached to the fence just below the railing of Salzburg most modern pedestrian bridge, the Makartsteg. 

I had seen something similar when I was in Paris, with each lock written with their names or in a number of cases seen on this bridge, engraved on the lock, to represent a couple declaring their eternal devotion. 

Schloss Mirabell & Gardens

Another Palace, this was built in 1606 by the prince-archbishop Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau, as a token of his love for Salome. 

The design of the castle includes the famous sprawling Mirabell Gardens.

Mozart Museum

This building has become a tourist attraction, as it is where Mozart was born on 27 Jan 1756.

 

 

 

Other Images from City Centre