Hamburg, Germany

Our first excursion took us to Germany’s second largest city, Hamburg. It was a 1.5 hr drive, but the guide gave us a lot of history along the way (i.e. the bride-groom tree). We saw most of the city from the bus because much of Hamburg was destroyed during the war and now it sprawls. We saw the beautiful City Hall, the impressive St. Michael’s Church and the narrow lane of Krameramtsgasse. The day we visited was a car-free day in the city after 12pm so we had limited access, but were still able to enjoy drive around Alster Lake and the “Speicherstadt” with its romantic canals. After a typical German lunch, we were able to see some great architecture (i.e. Chilehaus), and took a quick drive through the ''famous'' red-light district in the St. Pauli quarter (referenced in a beer named St. Pauli Girl). See the pictures here.