I didn’t know quite what to expect for our weekend escape to Hamburg. I suppose the reputation of it’s famous Reeperbahn kinda provided images of seedy Amsterdam that I’d rather not visit... but hey, the flights were cheap and at a convenient time for once. One thing’s for sure; it wasn’t going to be as cold as Berlin – apparently the sea breeze keeps the frozenness that you find in other parts of Eastern Europe away for most of the Winter. Wet. Wet and cold. Not freezing. Nonetheless, the Gluhwein stalls provided a very welcome break whilst walking round the city’s huge shopping malls and markets on the endless quest for that last Christmas present… We walked as far West as St Pauli district and decided to stop at the famous Church of St Nicholas which was bombed during WWII and remains in ruins as a war memorial apart from the tower. Coincidentally, it has close links with Coventry Cathedral apparently and a couple of years ago the funding they raised allowed them to install a lift so that people can view the city from the top of the old spire (76 m high). Luckily for us the sun came out just as we reached the top (it only takes 50 secs - this is Germany remember): it was a magnificent, panoramic view! A bit eerie to think of all the thousands of civilians that were killed on the night in July 1943 when the church was bombed (about 35,000 apparently). Down below in what was the alter are 3 modern Breckwoldt sculptures and the glass triangle which leads down to the crypt and some exhibitions.
I loved the Speicherstadt area best of all though. So many bricks!!! You’ve never seen so much Victorian looking architecture with red bricks and ornate corners and roofs. This literally is ‘the city of warehouses’ – the largest in the world – and no, we’re not talking nasty, modern DIRFT here, this is proper, 1900’s customs houses linked by miles and miles of canals and black, semi-circular wrought-iron bridges. Think Birmingham’s Brindley Place meets central Boston - only much nicer and a million times bigger. Although many of the storage and customs warehouses are still in use (an ancient by-law apparently allows the purchaser to avoid paying any tax on the items stored here, until he goes to sell it), perhaps not surprisingly a lot of these old rooms are being converted into luxury apartments overlooking the harbour….mmmmm… if only...

I actually think this is a city best seen in the Summer. Although the views across the vast expanse of Elbe's meanderings within the city walls was very idyllic – there’s something about staring out to sea that makes me want to get on a boat and actually experience it (!) As, by the way, lots of (brave) warmly-wrapped-up people were doing! Although it turned out these were natives, carrying basket-loads of fresh fruit and veg’, just going about their daily lives on the water-buses.

Although Hamburg is a lot nearer to the UK than Berlin, strangely there are a lot less references to English here. No English signage or bi-lingual menus anywhere. Fortunately Germans have a much better education system than us and so we didn’t struggle anywhere to be understood (no thanks to my pathetic attempts with my phrase-book or iPod translator…). They really are a nice bunch the Germans. One guy even came up to offer us help when we were struggling with the ticket machine outside the central train station (keywords now memorised = ‘exact change only’)!!! The 1906 architecture of the station makes you go ‘wow’ and the sheer size of the roof space means unsurprisingly it’s the largest in all of Germany. Good news for shoppers too as unlike the rest of the city these shops are allowed to open on Sunday.

Food was excellent wherever we went (even the breakfast at our city-centre hotel). Lots of fish too (as you would expect in this area). Not too much of the sauerkraut and lots of fresh veggies. All excellent value. The spotlessness of everywhere is really surprising – even though we’d been to Germany a few times before. Even the bins and ashtrays (no smoking ban here of course) are immaculate! I found a handmade German Teddybear called ‘Benny’ to take home with me from one of the craft markets and lots of other unusual things... not to mention the honey and stollen...

We walked for miles and only saw about half the city over the weekend. Definitely a place to return to next year…

Couldn't remember when I was last at Bath - but as we drove into the centre (after 3 hours of slow traffic) it came back to me how parts of it are just so neglected and run-down and yet other parts are the exact opposite. It's a strange part of the country. There's no doubt that the architecture is amazing - especially when it's all lit up by the Christmas lights reflected in the river running through the centre of the city.

We stayed at the famous (5 star) Bath Spa Hotel which is as fantastic as you would expect (!) the service and rooms were wonderful, the facilities - including the 5 different spa rooms all at different temperatures from freezing to boiling - were excellent. The food was the only slightly disappointing aspect of the hotel - but then there were catering for a few of us.

We were right near the centre of the city and so had lunch booked at the (apparently) famous Browns. But its only really a gastro pub and as they were short staffed the wait for the food went pear-shaped. Not that we minded - outside it was pouring with rain and we were in no rush. Santa was ringing his bell pointing people to the Christmas market stalls but these were also a bit disappointing. But then we're off (again) to see the real thing next weekend. The Germans are the only nationality who really know how to do Christmas...