Lubeck

Much discussion was had over what to do in Hamburg. In port from 7am-7pm but the port was 90mins walk/30 min shuttle bus from the town. We could get a train from Hamburg but that's another 15min walk from the shuttle drop-off...and then, a train to where? Or, do we stay in Hamburg...and do what? Last time we were here we did much of the city and weren't that impressed.

We settled on a shore excursion to Lubeck. This was a mission in itself as we couldn't book it through the app, shore excursions was closed and their iPads for booking all froze!

Our fabulous guide narrated the hour-long journey with lots of information about East and West Germany, culture, life and beer, before we arrived in "the Hanseatic town of Lubeck", on an island between two rivers.

The architecture drew us to the town and didn't disappoint. Despite substantial damage in WWII, the combination of what survived and what was rebuilt was very impressive. The picture postcard look was aided by crystal clear skies and snow underfoot.

Purportedly the home of marzipan, we stop by the Niederegger Cafe as we wandered the old town and it's many cobbled alleyways. The Willy Brandy Haus also housed interesting exhibits about the man and a piece of the Berlin Wall.

We wandered the Hanse Museum's buildings although didn't go in due to timing - our guide was very clear the bus would be *leaving* at 1.40pm! So we stopped for a beer instead and enjoyed a slice of cake.Lue lisää