retiredmartin

If in doubt, stick a cat pic in your post. Even a grumpy one.  Pub cats aren’t that common in Hamburg.

On Day 3 of her Hamburg trip, Mrs RM stayed put to rest her foot, so I took elder son James out on the traditional 15 mile walk our youngsters so look forward to.

For a change, have a birds-eye view of the areas we covered, down by the docks.

Altona, our base, is a bit like Kingston, a smart riverside town in it’s own right that looks to the big city for excitement (e.g. burnt-out cars).

Like it’s London counterpart, there’s more cafes than bars, no craft scene (that’s further north), and the civic architecture makes it seem more important than is. The burrito place near the station did make us a quinoa salad, though. So it’s catching up with the New World fast.

Ten minutes from Altona station you’re through the park and at the cruise docks.  If you look very closely at the birds-eye map you’ll see an odd office building designed to look like a cruise ship, with some great steep stairs to stretch those calf muscles (top).

By the time we’d been up and down (and overtaken by ten year olds) and got lost at the Fish Market, it was time for lunch. I’m not sure James realised how close to the Reeperbahn he was, or I doubt he’d have stopped near the Popeye sign.

I think this one is called Eis Café, but all the signage is for Ratsherrn (July 2023 edit – no it IS called Ratshernn Eck).  There may be a dearth of classic old German kneipes in Hamburg, but seemingly all the cafes have interesting beer on.

Ratsherrn is the brand that kept popping up in bistros and burger joints, time and again. “It tastes like BrewDog“, said Mrs RM, not for the first time. And she was right.

Grumpy service, “Diamond Life” played in its entirety, great chunky soup with fresh bread, and a gorgeous 6.5% Oat White IPA from a full chilled bottle selection.  Stuffed and sated for £12 for two.  A great little place for office workers, thought James, who’ll no doubt have Pret a Manger to look forward to when he starts work in 3 years time.

I’m always amazed BRAPA doesn’t get into more trouble than he does. I embarrassed my son, as usual, by taking away the advertorial map that had been laid out as placemats and was now covered in crumbs and beer stains.

“Tsk, tsk” she said.  We ran off, shamefaced.  But in the right direction.

Hamburg grows on you, but you need to walk it.  Some would call the docks shabby, but the tunnel under the Elbe is a work of art.

Almost as good as the Woolwich Foot Tunnel, though that gets you to the wonders of Woolwich, rather than a fairly faceless Hamburg industrial unit.

We gained the admiration of the German tourists by walking up the emergency steps rather than waiting for the rickety lift, and rewarded ourselves with calories in Café am Michel, the nearest place to the KPMG offices.

As the rain crashed down, we took cover in a church named after the café.

And then back to the safety of suburban Altona, stopping only to admire recent handywork of demonstrators in St Pauli.