May 2025
On the third full day in Hamburg, the next generation, Song-i & Thorben, took over as guides and took us to a picturesque old fishing village, Lauenburg, where Thorben’s family has lived for generations.
They were married in Lauenburg Castle whose interior is shown in the picture above. We couldn’t attend their wedding the year before, so visiting the site gave us a chance to have a glimpse of the happy event.
It rained in the morning, so we had an early lunch in Hamburg to give the weather a chance to clear up. Song-i said Hamburgers were used to rain and it didn’t bother them. So we said we would pretend to be Hamburgers.
Six of us and the guides piled into two cars and drove east a little under an hour and met at the parking lot of the Castle. The wedding ceremony picture above shows the ground better than any of our pictures.
The river view from the Castle serves as the background of the lovely couple in Korean traditional clothing showing off their kissing skills.
Another prominent feature on the Castle grounds is the watchtower which once served as a prison.
One important reason they chose the Castle as the meeting point was free parking. The real attraction of the town was the old town by the river, and we could walk there from the Castle parking lot. It would have been very difficult to find a place to park in the old town especially on that day.
It was their annual Fish Festival day, and there were food stalls and drink carts that attracted quite a few people.
There was a band – maybe the senior musicians from the town of 12,000 – playing and people were having fun, rain or not.
Lauenburg’s old town was the kind of place where you would never get lost because it’s compact.
The streets were filled with interesting buildings known as ‘half timbered houses.’
We were sorry that we had eaten before we came here because there were food stalls and restaurants we wanted to try. Thorben’s mom had told Song-i that the Fish Festival was not a big deal & we shouldn’t count on finding good food there. I guess she was worried about disappointing out of town guests & downplayed it a bit too hard.
Elbe Shipping Museum was a nice surprise. The Elbe River, one of the major rivers in Europe, starts from the Giant Mountains in Northern Czech Republic & is 1,094 km (680 mi) long.
This museum showcases the history of river navigation and the lives of people connected to the Elbe & it was well worth a visit.
Song-i had suggested Luneburg as another great town to visit, and I considered stopping there on the way back. However, we were tired enough after all the walking down and up the hill in Lauenburg. There’s always next time.
Small Wide World 