Words on Wednesday

Thistles and Kiwis

Hello from Hamburg! Yes…we got here but what a journey! As regular readers may remember, we were supposed to fly via Dubai straight to Hamburg, but international affairs got in the way, and we flew the following week Wellington-Auckland-Hong Kong-London-Hamburg. Not ideal of course, but there are a lot of people trying to either get home from Australia and New Zealand or get to Europe for holidays or to see family. Anyway, I won’t bore you with all the details but…

  • What a fuss with passports as we were transiting – yes transiting in the UK. I had to show both passports to get boarding passes, and Karl had to find an email with his ESTA. A big thanks though to the lovely young woman at Auckland airport who had to deal with all this for us.
  • The flight to Hong Kong was the bumpiest I have ever been on. Unbelievable.
  • A very short connection time to the next flight to Heathrow meant we were running to get on the flight, and of course that meant our luggage did not make it. Fingers crossed we do get our suitcases. In the meantime, local branches of H&M and C&A have supplied us with clothing, though there is a whole lot of other stuff we need.
  • Hong Kong to Heathrow is a 14 hour flight. It was long, but could have been worse.
  • We landed early in London, and made it easily to our final flight to Hamburg.
  • Of course, Karl sailed through passport control but I had to stand in line with my New Zealand passport (the UK one I have is of course no longer any use going to Europe).

Anyway, the little flat we will be staying in for the next 5 weeks is small, but so close to a big shopping area and transport that it is a perfect location. It is also so quiet, with the only interruptions being from church bells and distant sirens. There is a small area to sit outside when the sun shines too, with this little frog to keep us company.

We went out to get some essentials yesterday, and spotted this sing on our walk which I think it belonged to a firm of lawyers. Later, we found a little Italian restaurant 5 minutes away where we ate on Tuesday night. A place we will go back to definitely – my salmon pasta was delightful and Karl enjoyed his pizza.

The church nearby is somewhere I would like to explore a bit more. Dedicated to Skt Petri it was built between 1880 and 1883 and was designed by Johannes Otzen, but seems to have a much longer history. I need to do some reading and also visit properly.

This morning we set off for a grocery and further essentials (dental floss, shaver for Karl) shop. There was a market being set up, and a fish wagon I might investigate properly next week. There are florists and bakeries everywhere, stalls with bulbs and pots of flowers for sale. And of course a Lidl and an Aldi… 🙂

Anyway, we are here, and slept for 10 hours last night. The adventure has begun!

Thistles and Kiwis is a Wellington, New Zealand based blog written by Barbara, who likes cats, summer and good food. Thistles and Kiwis can be found on Facebook and Instagram @thistlesandkiwis

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Published by Thistles and Kiwis

Loves summer, sunshine and cats. Beginner gardener, likes eating, cooking and reading about food

47 Comments

  3. Happy to know you have arrived and that you are billeted so conveniently close to places to shop, eat and explore. Enjoy your time away! Thank you for the lovely pictures.

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  4. Glad you made it safe and sound despite the hassles. Yes that whole UK passport thing is screwing up many friends of ours. Good you kept yours up to date. Looks like a great area to explore & I am looking forward to more posts.

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  5. So glad you made it safely, but what a journey! Which way was the long flight from Hong Kong to London? I’m trying to visualize on the globe whether you’d go east or west. Your little home away from home sounds lovely. Italian food in Germany? OK. Hope your luggage has caught up with you by now!

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    1. West to London from Hong Kong, otherwise the flight would be about 20 hours! Italian food can be found everywhere I think. The place was Italian owned. Still waiting for our luggage.

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      1. I kind of thought it would be west. As for Italian food, yes, I’ll bet it’s everywhere. I have a trip to Italy planned for October, but I doubt if there’ll be any German food in Tuscany! Rome, maybe. 🙂

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  8. Wow! Quite a long trip and your luggage didn’t arrive with you. It sounds like you have a lovely little spot for your five weeks and very central, too. When I lived in Germany I found some of the best Italian restaurants ever. Cheers.

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  10. Hooray!! You made it. Hamburg is a lovely city although our stay was fleeting and mostly involved Miniatur Wunderland 😁 Sounds like your settling in nicely with or without your luggage

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  11. Great to hear you and now your luggage too are all there and happily settled in. How nice to have five weeks to explore and enjoy your new neighbourhood. Oh, I’m looking forward so much to seeing Hamburg with you. My parents went there several years ago and were so impressed. What fun we’re all going to have on this virtual trip with you.

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  14. Wow, what a journey! So glad you finally made it to Hamburg. Your flat sounds cozy and perfect, and that little outdoor spot with the frog is adorable. Fingers crossed your luggage catches up soon!

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  15. By the time I managed to read your long journey avec all the hassles – you have your luggage and the ‘stay’ can truly begin. Have not been to Hamburg awhile (a fave auntie lived in Otterndorf/Nieder Elbe close by) but you seem to be in a very pleasant area – enjoy it all . . .

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  16. The flight to Hong Kong was the bumpiest I have ever been on. Unbelievable.

    My daughter had the worst flight ever, lots of turbulence, between Hong Kong and Sydney a few weeks ago. What is it about that leg I wonder?

    Glad you eventually arrived and the luggage too. You seem to have landed in a very interesting neighbourhood. I look forward to exploring it with you.

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    1. Luckily my UK passport is also current as I got it before we got our NZ citizenship, but honestly I didn’t think I need it to transit through Heathrow, where we didn’t even have to show our passports!

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  24. Pingback: This week's small pleasures from Hamburg.

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