Holiday in Hamburg Pt. 2
In my last article about my holiday in Hamburg, I mentioned that the best way to get to know a city is to walk through that aforementioned city. And that is exactly what we did on the day we were in Hamburg. We walked through the city to get to the places we wanted to go.
Before we made a trip down to Hamburg, we did a bit of research on where we could go. Since art wasn’t our forte nor our interest, that is why art museums were out. Since we also weren’t history buffs, historical museums were also out.
We are both somewhat children at heart when it comes to attractions so the museum had to be something we are either interested in or something interactive. And funnily enough that strikes out many museums. As it turns out and I am surprised by this is that interactive museums are not all too common.
So on our rather short list were some things including a spice museum. I, for one, like spices for what they are and that is the simple way to make meals tastier. Technically, you can also ruin a meal with too many spices but that is a story for another time.
Nevertheless, my boyfriend loved spices, especially the spices which are actually spicy. For the fact that I am Asian, I actually can’t take any spice but he, on the other hand as a German, can take spice and a lot of it. Long story short, we found a spices museum online and we went there.
Luckily for me, there were also not spicy spices. Unlucky for me, it was a full sensory experience. So there were stations where you can try spices from all around the world and boy were most of them, not spice-sensitivity friendly.
Besides that, I actually mean what I said with a full sensory experience. The moment you walk up the stairs to the museum, you can already smell all the spices. The moment you enter the museum, you see how the spices were packed and transported. The moment you start to explore the museum, you could taste all the spices as mentioned.
And there were spices plates where you can feel the texture and smell the spices. For the fact, that a lot of the spices on display were there for a very long time, the smell has somewhat faded or at least it is not as strong as it could have been. As a whole, the spices museum was interesting whether you are into spice tasting or spice history or generally want something to do in Hamburg. The entrance fee wasn’t too expensive and came with an entrance present. It is most certainly a nice recommendation.
For the next few hours, I can only say we wandered the city looking for something to do. Most of the places we had on our list were too full due to it being the easter holidays so tickets needed to be pre-booked and that was something we didn’t know considering that we wanted a spontaneous day trip to Hamburg.
Eventually after finding out that the miniature wonderland, Yullbe Wunderland a VR Experience attraction and the chocolate museum were all full, we eventually found a museum we could visit. Together, we just walked through the beautiful city of Hamburg through the architectural city streets to the automotive museum.
On our way to the automotive museum, we passed the international maritime museum but we unanimously agreed that cars are more interesting than ships. Now in retrospect, the maritime museum was bigger than the automotive museum so if we wanted to spend time strolling through the museum we should have chosen the one over the other.
Eventually, a rather interesting American Japanese fusion restaurant caught our eye. It was a Hamburger restaurant with a Japanese twist. And let’s just say, not only did that seem exotic but I also always wanted to have eaten a Hamburger in Hamburg.
When we entered the restaurant, it seemed pretty popular since there were a lot of people awaiting their unique Hamburger creations. Nevertheless, we were lucky enough to get a table without much of a wait.
The menu presented us with many options and it did take us some time to figure out what we want to eat and drink. Even the drinks were interesting, to say the least. We did manage to pick out what we wanted after some time.
Due to popular demand, it did take some time for the food to arrive but I can say, now looking back, that it was worth the wait. During the wait, we also decided on the next museum we wanted to visit so waiting for the food wasn´t all too bad.
After lunch, we went to the optical illusions museum but due to it being the easter holidays, it was also full. So instead we turned our Hamburg trip into a shopping trip since we were on the shopping strip so we might as well make the most of it.
Since all that shopping made us a tad hungry, we decided to go to a Korean restaurant to try out since we craved Korean food ever since we walked past that restaurant in the morning. The Korean popcorn chicken there was to die for.
After some more shopping and strolling, we both felt very exhausted and decided to call it a day. Back at the hotel, we switched on the TV and I fell asleep in front of it somewhat immediately while my boyfriend finished the movie and then went to sleep.
The next day started with a delicious breakfast buffet at the hotel. While eating to our heart's content, we also checked out the places we could go for the day. Since it was easter Sunday, many places were closed since it was a public holiday, and it is a Sunday in Germany.
Nevertheless, we managed to find a wildlife park which was open. So we didn’t waste any time and drove there immediately. The entrance made the park seem ridiculously small but once you have entered the park, you feel like stepping into a huge forest filled with animals.
Even though I am considered to be a grown adult to a reasonable extent, I was somewhat childish in the park since there were a lot of cute animals, who could resist running up to them and taking many photos if one couldn’t pet them?
Casually we just strolled through the park, spotting all the animals we see on the way. Even though there were some disappointing moments when we couldn’t spot the animals or the enclosures of particular animals were closed, we still had plenty of fun.
In total, I believed we made it through the park two and a half times that day but with each round, we spotted something new so nothing was all too repetitive. At the end of the day, it felt like we knew the park inside and out.
On our way, we just stopped whenever we saw something which caught our eye such as adorable animals and we spontaneously decided where to go since we wanted to see a particular animal. Our timing around the park couldn’t have been better.
When we entered the park, there was a feeding of the otters shows. When we made it to the birds of prey part of the park, there was a flying/hunting show with those aforementioned birds. During the bird show, I managed to test out my photography skills and take photos of the birds in flight.
We also saw a lot of adorable animals feeding, sleeping, and simply being adorable. My phone is now full of animal pictures because I just couldn’t stop taking all the photos of all the animals there and I was an aspiring photographer at heart so I couldn’t resist the amazing opportunity.
After the first round of the park, we took a lunch break since walking around the huge park was somewhat exhausting. Moreover, the weather was fantastic that day so it was getting a bit hot walking so a break was a must.
During lunch, we checked the places we have been and marked the places we could go. And right after lunch and some rest, we made our way to see all the animals we missed the first time around. Revisiting animals was also plenty of fun.
For the whole day, we did a little bit of animal petting, animal feeding, animal spotting and a lot, and I do mean a lot, of animal photography. Before the park closed, we decided to watch the bird show another time because it was so fascinating and I just wanted to practice photography.
After the two and a half rounds on the park, we were beaten and the timing couldn’t have been more perfect since the park was closing soon too. So we got some soft ice, sat on the bench near the exit and watched as the people filed out of the park.
However, at the end of the day, I felt a bit unhappy. Not only did we need to leave since the park was closing but I also came to realize that the animals are technically still held in captivity no matter how big their enclosure was. It just made me a bit heavy-hearted since was it worth it to keep all those animals just for our entertainment?
When I felt rested enough to drive again, we got in the car and drove back to our hotel. Again just like the night before, after taking a shower, he switched on the television and I immediately fell asleep in his arms.
To be perfectly honest, I have no idea how we managed to spend a whole day in the park but we did. It was the best part about the trip besides spending more time with my favourite person on this planet. It was the best thing he insisted on, I guess he does know me all too well.
The next morning was the last day of our trip. In the morning, we just ate some croissants we bought the day before and took our time packing our bags. After we checked out of the hotel, we got into the car and drove off.
Just like the Friday before it, Monday was a whole day of driving back, which was exhausting but luckily I wasn’t alone. To be honest, I really hate driving alone since two pairs of eyes are better than one. Driving long distances is boring after some time.
We did take a few breaks in between because the first time, I needed to stretch my leg, the second time, we didn’t want the car to run out of gas, and the third time because I was really hungry after all that driving.
After nearly five hours of driving, we made it back home. It seems like a pattern now but after freshening up a bit, we got into bed and I immediately fell asleep in his arms. It was rather obvious that I was exhausted.
Our little holiday in Hamburg was fun and all but also really and I do mean really exhausting. Not because we did a lot since we didn’t really but simply because we walked around a lot and that is more draining than I expected.
Besides that, our trip to Hamburg was a great opportunity to grow closer to each other since spending some time in a different city where no one knows you, you can only depend on each other which can only strengthen a bond.
To sum it all up, I believe that the trip from start to finish wasn´t always perfect because there were always small disappointments such as missing the bus and an exhibit being crowded or closed sprinkled along the way.
Nevertheless, small disappointments didn’t bring down the overall joy we felt during this trip. We had plenty of fun on the way no matter what we did. Whether we pet the adorable animals or simply walked through the streets of Hamburg.
It was a great trip and hopefully one I will never forget. Moreover, this was our first trip as a couple and I hope it is one of many to come. So until the next trip we take and the memories we are going to make…