We went to the Palace of Contemporary Art in Gluckstadt on our second full day in Hamburg to see the exhibit of a Korean German artist. Founded on the banks of the Elbe River as a Dutch settlement in the early 17th century, Gluckstadt is just a little over an hour drive toward the North Sea from Hamburg.
Our Hamburg cousins’ close friend, Hyun-Sook Song, is a well known artist in Germany whose art works are “too expensive for us to buy,” according to the cousins & that was good to hear.
Her paintings contain the old memories of watching the textile weaving in the rural village where she grew up.
“Palace” may sound like a rather ambitious name for an art venue in a small town of 12,000 people, but it once was some noble man’s palace, and the exhibition rooms were quite spacious with good lighting. We were impressed by all the volunteers there to guide visitors, and there was a constant stream of groups coming in. Thankfully, the chairman of the town’s arts foundation volunteered to be our guide since he could speak decent English.
Gluckstadt itself was an attractive town well worth a stroll.
We had not-so-light afternoon snacks at an outdoor cafe in the town’s main square.
Since it was a riverside town, there had to be a boat themed bar. But Moby Dick? Why not? Good literature knows no boundaries, right?
Eating? As I said earlier, we were in Germany to see my relatives & that meant eating. This time it was a feast at my cousin’s house in Hamburg: home grown vegetables, homemade kimchi, seafood, beef etc.
My mother ended up marrying her best friend’s cousin, thus, her best friend became my aunt. This aunt decided to go to Germany to get a PhD & took her 3 boys with her since she was a married housewife with kids. She did become the first Korean to get a PhD in German literature from a German university, and her kids became German citizens. She went back to Korea to teach but the boys remained in Germany. Eventually the boys all got married & now there are 3 nephews and 2 nieces for me to visit in Berlin, Hamburg, and Munich, and I try to see them whenever we are near Germany.
After dinner, we took a walk to digest the feast. This would allow us to have dessert.. Conveniently, there’s a park/natural preserve in the neighborhood.
The next morning, Mr. & Mrs. Hamburg Cousin volunteered to show us around. Pat and I have been to this city several times, but we didn’t mind having a refresher course.
When German sailors and soldiers were returning home from abroad in olden days, the sight of the tall spire of this church signified being back home. So our tour started from St. Michael’s Church, the biggest church in the city.
Teleman was the the music director, C.P.E Bach was buried here, Brahms was baptized at this church
Hamburg is 75 miles inland from the North Sea, but it is one of the top 3 ports in Europe. How could this be? The great Elbe River connects the city to the ocean.
The port is in downtown Hamburg & it seems to be an integral part of the daily lives of the “Hamburgers.” (Google AI tells me a female from Hamburg is called Hambugerin. Who knew!) And, yes, the beef patty sandwich was named after the city of Hamburg. More on that at this link.
Previously, we had traveled on their public ferry system to enjoy the scenery of the Elbe.
Another way to go across the Elbe is through the Old Elbe TunnelMy cousin said Block Brau was full of tourists but actually loved by the locals as well as a typical brew pub.The waiter talked us into getting their 6-beer special deal which turned out to be too much since only 4 of our group (of 6) drank beer.We had to try the pork knuckle – pretty tender and delicious
Their philharmony hall is Hamburg’s love and pride. Known for architecture and acoustic quality, we will have to attend a concert there one of these days.
Our cousin-guides took us to an art exhibit out of town the next day, and that will be a separate post. Their daughter and her husband showed us around a little fishing village where he grew up in on the 3rd day.
The 4th day we were on our own, and we explored the city center. The plaza in front of the city hall pictured above really is THE center of this town.
We slowly walked north toward the botanical garden. There were plenty of interesting buildings all around.
The botanical garden is a peaceful, beautiful place only a 20 minute walk from the city hall. We were lucky enough to catch their water show one summer & it was impressive.
Time to eat. We had has enough German food in the 2 previous days, we went into a Vietnamese restaurant. Well, not many restaurants were open before noon anyway.
Hamburg is one of those modern major cities where ethnic restaurants thrive, and the competition elevates the quality. We were happy with what we ate and how much we paid.
What makes Hamburg a water friendly city is not just the river and the port but the presence of the big lake in the middle of the city. Alster Lakes are actually one lake divided into two. The city hall and restaurants and shopping areas are around the smaller lake, and some big houses are around the big lake, we were told.
One area of Hamburg that we didn’t get to introduce our friends to was the Beatles Plaza and the night life district. The fabulous boys honed their skills here before they became breakout stars in the early 1960’s. We visited there one morning some years ago and witnessed what things might have been the night before – the remnants of the wild drinking and having crazy fun.
Don’t get me wrong. Hamburg has its share of great churches, too. In fact, you can spend more than a day just visiting churches if you so desire.
Parking: coin and card operated 3 hour street parking spots were available in the center. Public parking garages were readily available when we were there (about 3-4 euros/hour). Some neighborhoods required a resident or guest permit for free street parking.
We’ve been to Berlin (population: 3.7 million) on numerous occasions in ‘two nights here, three nights there’ kind of fashion. But, still, we’ve seen enough of the city and sites & have a general understanding of the city. Not having an urgent need to be tourists, we were there again in May for 3 nights just to reconnect with some relatives. 3 nights translates to 2 full days when you travel, and that meant basically eating with the family members during this trip. So you will see mostly food pictures here.
It was an uneventful 3 hour drive from Hamburg. We had a home exchange loft in the yellow area above, Wrangel Kiez, which is on the eastern edge of the old West Berlin. The Wikipedia description says, “the area has undergone gentrification, but remains known for alternative lifestyle and counterculture.”
Our building entrance. It was a lovely, artsy loft inside but we were not sure what to expect when we first got hereOur next door neighbor:was a hair salon
My Hamburg cousin’s son, So-ang, chose a Turkish restaurant for dinner. We happened to be near one of the Turkish areas of Berlin, the city where the largest ethnic group is the Turks.
In Korean culture, adults treat the youngsters when you go out. But, as the youngsters turn into adults, they are expected to treat their elders. It’s a delicate question as to when this change occurs. When we saw So-ang’s mom in Hamburg, she specifically mentioned we should let him take us out to a nice restaurant since he was doing quite well financially. So I told him, “hey, you are in charge!”
He went to town and ordered all sorts of delicious things. Clearly, he knew what he was doing. The boy was no longer a boy.
This restaurant, Hasir Ocakbasi, had only 3.5 stars on Google reviews – people mostly complaining about the high prices. But we didn’t find it expensive at all – 10 to 20 euros per dish. We would go there all the time if it were in Los Angeles.
The ice cream here was excellent – quite surprisingly – sitting among bustling Turkish restaurants. We bought some baklava from a bakery and went home. Berlin is very serious about baklava, we found out. Delicious!
Next morning I had arranged a 3.5 hour walking tour of the city for my brother, his wife, and two friends who tagged along. Most free walking tours last 1 to 2 hours, but 3.5 hours? That would cover all the major sites for the first time visitors, I thought. But it was raining in the morning. The two friends went to a free concert at the Berlin Phil, and my brother, who had been to Berlin before, took his wife on a quick personal tour. This left us with a quiet morning on our own.
We popped over to an Italian restaurant right around the corner from us. A huge surprise! One of the best Italian meals we ever had outside of Italy!
Then we walked around the neighborhood and witnessed the funkiness of the area.
Oberbaum Bridge which used to link the two Berlins over River SpreeSome unusual buildings on the riverbank This Sicilian ice cream shop had a long lineWe approved the taste and the portion.
Dinner was with another cousin’s son and daughter. The cousin was out of town, but the kids were willing to see us! They picked an Austrian restaurant & we ate great schnitzel.
The next day we went to Potsdam and spent most of the day there.
We went back to the Italian restaurant next door for our last meal in Berlin. So good!
Small Wide World 