Landkreis Lüneburg

Hi folks

Des yesterday described our fantastic day at Hamburg’s Kunsthalle - amazing paintings, and a Rodin sculpture to boot!

After an obligatory drink at the Cube cafe, we headed back to the hotel to uplift our bags, before getting a taxi to the jetty where the Elbe Princesse was berthed.

Predictably the taxi driver dropped us in the wrong place 😡, so after advice from a security guard, we pushed/pulled our suitcases half a km 🤪 to where the EP was waiting for us.

Then things got heaps better. When we got to about 50 m from the boat, three of the staff came running, took charge of our luggage, and welcomed us aboard 😃.

Once we’d settled in our cabin, and had some time to freshen up, we joined the other 50+ passengers in the lounge. We were plied with champagne, and introduced to the 25 crew.

Dinner followed, and I can’t speak highly enough of both the food and the table service. That has continued in the other meals we’ve had since.

And so to bed.

This morning our bus tour of Hamburg was cancelled because of the Ironman competition being held in the city.

So we went back to Lübeck. It turned out to be thoroughly worthwhile, for a couple of reasons: highlights were the Holy Spirit Hospital, and the Niederegger Marzipan Cafe.

The Heiligen Geist Hospital dates from the 13th century, and was a place of refuge for sick and elderly for over 500 years. Amazing stained glass and artwork around what had been the church.

The Niederegger Marzipan Cafe formed the last item in our walk around Lübeck’s old town. The coffee was great, and the marzipan and cakes were to die for!

On our walk there also a number of interesting buildings we had not seen before. The Rathaus (Town Hall) for example, also dated from the 13th century, and had as many different architectural styles as Te Papa.

Back in the bus, we ran into the cycle leg of the Ironman. As a result, the one-hour journey took 2 1/2 hours, as our driver tried to find a way round a massive traffic jam that bought the central city to a halt. We saw the same landmark going by again and again!

But the absolute highlight today occurred tonight, as our boat was lifted 38 metres in the Scharnebeck ship elevator - I’ve never experienced anything like it. The boat and all the water around it were lifted. Imagine lifting a bathtub full of water - that’s what this was like, but with a 93 metre boat inside it, plus thousands of tonnes of
water. Not a bump or a jolt. An amazing feat of engineering.Leia mais