We woke up this morning, or I should say that I woke up both of us by getting off the bed early because despite the tiredness, I could not sleep well last night, partly thinking about the adventures today. The kids in the street outside talking and laughing at 2am did not help. We set out a little after 6am to catch Fish Market Sunday in Hamburg which would have started at 5am. We are lucky that the first and only full day in Hamburg is a Sunday which is the only day that the Fish Market is open. We took a scenic route by mistake and ended up at the market around 7am but it does not disappoint.
Fischmarkt
Even before we are at the market, we saw people lugging huge baskets of fruits home. It has to be good. We watched a video about the Fischmarkt and thought we knew what it is like but the reality actually beat the expectation. The market has everything and surprisingly not a lot of fresh fish. We saw traditional market vendors such as flowers, clothings and souvenirs. What we are not used to is the abundant of foods in different forms. There are burgers or sandwiches of all kinds of fish. There might be more traditional sandwiches but if there are, we did not pay much attention to them. There are fried seafood and fishkebab, etc. In other words, all kinds of fish foods. And the market extends a long way, Our first plan was to take a quick tour of the entire place and then double back to the fish food vendor that we like for breakfast. Turns out that we never got back that far. We did walk through the entire market but by that time, the first place that we liked has been superseded by something else down the line. We finished at the Altona Fischmarkt Ferry pier where there is live band playing in a building. They are also selling beers there so eventually I could not resist and had a beer after fishkebab breakfast at around 9am. Back to the fruit baskets, we first saw one fruit basket being put together for one of the customers. Essentially, it is like a buffet where you stuff anything you can into the basket. In the case, the vendor would fill it unless you have specific fruits you like. From my limited German, I thought he said the basket costs 50 Euro. We left thinking that is reasonable with that much fresh fruits. Further down, we saw a big group of people gathering around a truck bed served as a stage where a vendor is stuffing a series of about 12 baskets. He kept putting stuff in until they are completely full. After that, people moved up to get the baskets, they are only 10 Euro each! Gigi wanted one but it would have made travelling a bit awkward and how are we going to consume all those fruits with one day left in Hamburg!? In any event, there was no way we can get ourselves up to the front to get one of the remaining ones .. unless we wait for the next batch of baskets being made. Anyhow, the Fischmarkt is quite an amazing place. No wonder that is completely packed with people. Next time we come to Hamburg for any extended period of time, we know where to get our fruits.
Fruit Basket Truck
Altona Fischmarkt
Fish Breakfast
Fishkebab
From the Altona Fischmarkt, we got on Ferry No. 62 to begin our poor man's boat tour of the Hamburg Harbour. The ferry is like a bus with several closely-spaced stops. We stayed on to Finkenwerder and then turned back, taking the same stops and finally we got off at the other terminal point at Pier/Bruck 3 of Landungsbucken. We are blessed with very good weather, a bit cooler air threatening to rain but never did. We did see all of the Elbe River sights with the cargo terminal and the Hamburg skyline. Perhaps a little bit of information from a guide might have helped but we enjoyed the clear sky, the cool breeze and the sights for 45 minutes along the river.
Lion King themed Ferry
Walking Tour
With the transit card (9am group ticket) that we got from the airport, we took the U-Bahn from Landungsbrucken to Rathaus for our 'free' walking tour. There is no charge to join the walking tour but there is customary gratuity at the end that people pay whatever they want. The tour guides typically say that you should pay what you think his/her tour is worth rather than gratuity. That puts it in another category. Our experience with Sandeman's free walking tours in Madrid and this one are both excellent and we highly recommend them. The Walking Tour stayed true to its billing. Since Hamburg has points of interest that are quite far apart, that took a bit of walking but we are pleasantly surprised that it took us to all the important points of interest, and a few more that you don't find on the internet. Our plan was to cover whatever is left ourselves after the tour but there were only one or two left that are really optional so we did not go back. Having visited St Pauli on our first day and this complete tour today, we are really happy with our visit of Hamburg.
Rathus - City Hall
ChileHaus
One of the stones commemorating victims of the Nazi
St. Nikolai Church
Ground zero for the big fire of 1842
Foods
As I said, we finished all that in the early afternoon so we headed back towards our hotel on the U-Bahn knowing that the Rindermarkthalle's restaurants will be open even though the market is closed. We went back to the restaurant Markt Koenig that we saw the first day and sample the other German staples, schnitzel. I also had the salmon burger, just because. That has to be one of the better lunches that I have had for a while.
In the evening, we were introduced by the hotel staff to have Pork Knuckles at HofBrauHaus a short distance away but beyond walking distance. This time the whole group went and everybody got to experience the subway in Hamburg. And we are all somewhat surprised by the honest system employed here. All through the entire day of travelling, there were no official entrance, turnstile or ticket checking on the subway or the ferry. All that unlimited travel or 11.80 Euro for up to 5 people. What a deal! The pork Knuckles are good but make sure you get the individual serving rather than the half serving that they put in with the combo platter.
Schnitzel and Salmon Burger
Dinner
Dinner
Good News
It was an amazing day in Hamburg that was rounded out with the arrival of our friends who were stuck in Heathrow for a couple of days. Their luggage did not make it but at least they will be on the cruise tomorrow.
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