Hamburg

Our final day based in Osnabrück was fairly relaxed. We boarded a 9am train north to Hamburg, which took approximately three hours with a layover in Bremen. In Hamburg, we walked down to the town center to

see the historic city. Like so many other German cities, Hamburg was nearly burnt to the ground following repeated allied bombings in the Second World War. It has since been rebuilt into a beautiful metropolitan city, with a wonderful architectural blend between new, modern buildings and the few centuries-old structures that survived the war.

We bought tickets to a hop-on hop-off bus tour, and rode it down to the wharf. There we boarded a boat, which gave us a harbor tour of the Elbe river and the port of Hamburg, second largest in Europe. After the boat tour we re-boarded the bus and saw the rest of the city sights. Following dinner at the train station food court, we headed
back to Osnabrück for the last time. It was a long train, making many stops, so it took around four hours to get back. By the time we returned, I had time to shower, pack up, and talk to Katherine for awhile, leaving me four hours to sleep. That's becoming the norm for this trip. I'll sleep when I get back to the States!