Day 2

Weather : 22'C

Big day today. We unfortunately fell asleep at 5pm yesterday afternoon and as a consequence were both wide awake at 4am this morning. We relaxed and read till about 730 then decided to start exploring. We walked to the main restaurant street nearby (about a 5 min walk) but discovered most places open from 10/11 till 1900. However we found a Das Backhaus (bakery) and had sweet breads and terrible lattes for breakfast.

We then caught the train further into the centre of town to see the Hamburg Rathaus (city hall). A neo renaissance building rebuilt between 1886 - 1897 after the original building was destroyed in great fire of 1842 (which seems to have destroyed most of the city). A few cheesy photos and then we were off by train again to the Museum fur Hamburgische Geschichte (Hamburg history museum). Good fashion through the ages exhibition and model railway but the highlight was the most extraordinary wooden model of the temple of Solomon, constructed in the 1600's based on a description in the book of Ezekiel. The museum is also situated in gardens called the Planten un Blomen which we wandered till it was time for lunch.

The number one activity on all top 10 lists when visiting Hamburg is the miniature wunderland so this was next on the list. We decided to walk as it took us past the beautiful odd port buildings - Hamburg was once the biggest shipping port in the world. The wunderland is

definitely worthy of its reputation. It consists of several large rooms of intricate mechanical models mostly of Hamburg but also other large European cities. The lighting in each room also transitions between light and dark - simulating day and night, with different mechanism working for each time period. From concert arenas full of people, to sports stadiums, fairgrounds, mountain ranges, airports to large models of Mount Rushmore and Las Vegas. There were even model planes taking off and landing in the airport and an entire model building that opened up to reveal a concert hall with a moving miniature orchestra playing Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf. It was truly AMAZING!

From there it was back to the cafe strip for a Croque (toasted sandwich) and a bier in the sunshine. A cute bonus was the national costume dress shop we passed -now we know where to go to get that authentic Oktoberfest outfit. Tomorrow we head via train to Berlin where we stay for 3 nights at the Steigenberger Hotel am Kanzleramt.