Postcards from Hamburg 1

On Wednesday I took the S train into town with the goal of going to get sweaters in Uniqlo (if you know, you know, their cashmere is very good and there isn’t a shop in New Zealand), but more importantly, meet one of my Polish cousins who is working in Germany. It was a gorgeous sunny, if slightly chilly day, so just the right weather for walking and exploring.

Below is the Rathaus or town hall. The current building below was opened in 1897. I read on Wikipedia, that in 1971 a room in the tower was only discovered accidentally during a search for a document fallen behind a filing cabinet. There may in fact be even more rooms than the current count of 647.

After meeting my cousin, who came down from where he is working to visit, we walked around with no fixed goal, just to catch up, talk and see a bit of the city. The two bottom pictures show a bit of Speicherstad, the large warehouse area in the city.

For lunch we went to Fleetschlösschen, a charming mostly fish restaurant we came upon by chance. Here we both enjoyed the fish sandwich with matjes (herring) which was fantastic, and a zero alcohol beer. Fantastic food and worth a visit.

The first of what will no doubt be a series of postcards from Hamburg. These pictures were all taken on 18 March 2026.

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