a weekend in hamburg :: um fim de semana em hamburgo

Ryanair started flying out of Lisbon last year, and I was very excited to see they had flights to Hamburg. So when looking for places to spend a long weekend in the beginning of December this German city was my first choice (I hadn't flown with Ryanair in years though, so it was not the best of experiences but for the price it cost I can't really complain. This post at TravelHack seems to cover a few useful tips)

Hamburg surprised me in a positive way. It's a fantastic city, both old and modern, and seems to combine these two facets seamlessly well. We went for the Christmas markets, of course, but really enjoyed the modern harbour district and the beautiful parks and gardens. Because we went during the weekend the markets were jammed full of people, so we left our shopping till Monday, our last day, when everything was quieter. 

A few random notes:

- We stayed at the Adina apartments, and I really recommend them. We had previously stayed at Adina in Frankfurt and the facilities are very good.

- It was extremely difficult to find a nice place to have lunch on Sunday, so we eventually went back to the Rathaus area and had some delicious flammekueche at the Parlament restaurant.

- I didn't have time to visit a yarn or fabric shop this time, but did pop into the Alsterhaus to get some much needed Mariage Fréres tea (last floor, next to the restaurant).

:: a really weird combination, a sort of potato hash brown with applesauce. Not to my taste but A. loved it

:: at the Planten und Blomen park

:: one of my favorite streets, the Colonnaden

:: the harbour district

:: at the Rathaus market