This is my WightLink pal (not really) leaving Hamburg on my ship 🎉
Next stop, Southampton on Sunday 🤩
Discussion
I used to live right there on Landungsbruecken Docks when I was young. Long time ago. Hamburg used to be a very beautiful city back then.
Has it changed much?
Unfortunately yes. Working there is absolutely not recommended when you have fam. Swiss rents (!) in downtown. For (low) 6 digit salaries (which is top 1% in the EU) you pay ~50% tax. Crime is terrible. Some areas are disgusting, full of alcoholics and drug addicts. Lots of streets are dirty. Local government is marxist. Hamburg in a nutshell.
Shame 🥹
It is a regular port for Cruise ships from the UK, especially during Christmas for the markets.
I used to see Queen Mary regularly right from my living room (Portugese quarter). It got regular maintenance twice a year in a dock back then.
I presume you mean Queen Mary 2 (QM2), the transatlantic liner.
Queen Mary went out of service in 1967 and is parked in Long Beach California.
Ironically, I have been on Queen Mary in Long Beach, but not QM2.
Yes sir QM2 it was of course
Eitherway, Hamburg is certainly still worth a trip. The harbour area (your video) is still nice. For younger folks, Reeperbahn is a North-european style Pattaya 🇹🇠where you can have some fun. But I am too old for that I guess. The city used to be a hotspot for rich people when Germany was still an economic superpower more than 20 years ago with the highest absolute number of millionaires of any German city. Now it is sad to see the whole country taking the poverty path of 1930 Argentina.
We will probably cruise by within the next year or so.
You're never too old to have fun, so I will remember your recommendations. Thank you.