hamburg...

thursday we arrived in hamburg...the plan was to met dan (ginny's brother) on friday morning and to spend a couple of days in the city and visiting ginny's friend ellen (another und colleague)...the weather gods interfered with dan's flight and he ended up being re-booked for the following day (to arrive saturday am instead)...the hard ship was softened with a first class seat from atlanta.

once the word came from dan and the alternative plan for his arrival in action, ginny contacted friend ellen.  friday we spent the day visiting and sight seeing...here we are...marking our spot....the red and white shoes are ellen's :)

we took a quick tour by car in the downtown area and then found a place to park near shopping and alster lake.  after eating lunch and having a little coffee, we took a boat ride on alster lake...a lovely day and a great chance for ginny and ellen to chat...

after the ride we saw a few more of the sights...here are ginny and ellen...

we stopped at city hall..this is a pic of the inner courtyard...

this sewer cover says hamburg...so here we stop...

on saturday morning brother dan arrives and he is eager to hit the streets (he actually slept a little on the flight...must have been those full reclining seats in first class...)

along the harbor we found a beach bar...the signage alone was worth the stop...hot beer...lousy food...bad service...welcome

the 24-26th were harley days in hamburg...motorcycles EVERYWHERE...

this is the bus we took...fahrt (fart) means trip...hee hee

on saturday night we were invited to dinner at ellen and frank's...frank is in his 80s and has been hunting since the age of 16...there were over 120 pairs of "horns", tusks, antlers etc...proudly mounted and marked with the location of the kill and the year...it was AMAZING...i was dumbstruck...

we had a beautiful dinner and then we went out into their gardens...

there are two large ponds on the property...full of fish of course...

the flowers were fabulous...

this is the ginny flower...

after a little wine and dessert we returned to the city of hamburg...full tummies and eyes full...

thank you ellen and frank for a wonderful evening...

sunday morning we will leave for copenhagen (a short trip to sweden is on the itinerary)...this swedish girl is very pleased about that...