What's new

Hamburg - with Hansa Park and Heide Park

Nemesis Inferno

Strata Poster
Me and Nicky ventured off to Germany this past week, so naturally, a report needed to be done... Here it is...


Day 0 – Flight in and Travel to Sierksdorf

An early Sunday morning is not always great, especially when you feel ill, but it was needed to be done, as there was a holiday to go to and coasters to ride... So a wake-up, bag-check and money-sorting and off to Heathrow’s Terminal 5 at 7 in the morning it was! Horray for sleeping all the way in the car I tell you, I like sleep...

Anyways after checking in and finding out me and Nicky would not be sitting next to each other (evidently we picked the flight with the highest amount of single travelling people ever), we had breakfast, pondered around and eventually sat on our plane for the next 90 minutes... And naturally had to queue for the runway... Always bloody happens, silly planes...

Although 30 minutes later than the expected arrival time, we landed in Hamburg, a new city for me and it wasn’t long before we encountered their Bahn machines (which, usefully are multi-lingual) and headed to the S-Bahn to get to the HaupBahnhof for our next proper train which would head us up towards Sierksdorf...

Sierksdorf is the nearest station to Hansa Park, only about 15 minutes walk from the park, and is about 90 minutes train journey from Hamburg itself, including a change-over, which isn’t bad... But it is amusing to see how the train tracks all go to single rail, aufsteig rechts indeed...

However when we arrived at Sierksdorf our mission was to find the hotel, so we walked towards the Baltic Coast and along the sea-front until we arrived at our destination, Hof Sierksdorf...

248342_10150623027270220_558160219_18772912_7090609_n.jpg


Huzzah, a nice little sea-front hotel was to be our home for the next two nights, although my rather broken German didn’t seem to be particularly welcomed by the man who owned it, oh wells, at least the ‘rooms’ were nice...

248597_10150623028940220_558160219_18772964_4427572_n.jpg


251067_10150623029035220_558160219_18772966_4595351_n.jpg


249697_10150623029085220_558160219_18772968_4452152_n.jpg


Yeah, more of an apartment than a hotel room, rather unexpected to get cooker hobs and a dishwasher included... But cool nonetheless... Dinner time called to us and after a steak and pork combo between the two of us a walk was elected to investigate the area further...

255092_10150623027440220_558160219_18772917_5234034_n.jpg


254957_10150623027480220_558160219_18772918_4255807_n.jpg


255127_10150623027695220_558160219_18772924_891719_n.jpg


250007_10150623027960220_558160219_18772932_5796662_n.jpg


247847_10150623028055220_558160219_18772933_4594921_n.jpg


252702_10150623028530220_558160219_18772949_1123869_n.jpg


251177_10150623028755220_558160219_18772956_2908443_n.jpg


249197_10150623028785220_558160219_18772958_6469260_n.jpg


Useful thing about the hotel was that they gave us a beach pass, which we obviously would have used more if we had been interested in that, but we weren’t but still a useful thing though...


252912_10150623028845220_558160219_18772961_5802585_n.jpg


We also found MERLIN! They really are starting to take over the world now... We actually did go to the Sea-Life so that will be after Part 2, Hansa Park and FLUCH!
 

Nemesis Inferno

Strata Poster
Day 1 – Hansa Park

A misty morning greeted us on the coastline, and after a quick grab of breakfast we began the 30 minute walk to the park from the hotel... A really nice walk actually to be quite honest, helps save money from the rather dis-regular bus services that do run along the main roads to the park from the area...

At 9:30, we arrived at the very grand entrance...

253492_10150623029765220_558160219_18772979_7425153_n.jpg


254087_10150623029825220_558160219_18772981_6188624_n.jpg


Hansa of course used to be a Legoland of all places, but is now a family run park with some real things to say if the last two additions have anything to say about it...

After faff getting the tickets due to a distinct lack of staff, we entered, and immediately I discovered my first costumed characters of the trip

248602_10150623029990220_558160219_18772985_1176249_n.jpg


The entrance of the park is a very small main street plaza thing, which has some work being done on some of it, but it suits the recent aim of the park for theming and I was very impressed...

249317_10150623030040220_558160219_18772986_3882334_n.jpg


246622_10150623030100220_558160219_18772987_7178005_n.jpg


255102_10150623030135220_558160219_18772988_6761497_n.jpg


Ohhhh, I spot coasters in the distance, Nessie and Raslender Roland, a Schwarzkopf Looping and Vekoma Mine Train respectively that interact with each other heavily...

251437_10150623030300220_558160219_18772991_989624_n.jpg


Now as Nicky was on coaster #97 before this trip, we decided that Fluch von Novgorod would be #100, so we did Nessie and Roland first...


Nessie

This is a weird one tbh, I wasn’t sure what to expect from it when we went on, but one thing I definitely didn’t was the excessive CLUNK this ride made at the top of the lift hill... That could have set the scene enough but at least lap bars prevent stupid amounts of head-bashing... Some impressive moments of interaction with Roland and a few strong helixes and small bit of airtime are all that follow after the initial strong loop... There’s just something different about Anton’s loops... Bless him for them as they are so different and forceful... The final plunge into a fish mouth (Krake didn’t do it first) was amusing as well before those BRAKES...

It was fun certainly, so a solid 7/10 for me...

251102_10150623030635220_558160219_18772999_3902437_n.jpg


247112_10150623030760220_558160219_18773002_722145_n.jpg


254907_10150623030355220_558160219_18772992_7305010_n.jpg



Raslender Roland

A rather winding queue with the first of many animatronic bands in this park led us to this custom Vekoma, and like most of their mine trains, it was just kind of bland without an excessive about of theming supporting the attraction on a whole... Again the interaction with Nessie is there and the water-splash was at least a good attempt to putting some theme to the ride, but it just had nothing around the main area of the layout, and hence didn’t really do anything... Aside from be different to picture...

Measly 6/10...

251472_10150623030690220_558160219_18773000_213401_n.jpg


248227_10150623030855220_558160219_18773004_916033_n.jpg


246797_10150623042805220_558160219_18773421_4605896_n.jpg



Two coasters down so now it was time for Hansa’s biggest investment in the past few years and probably the biggest it has ever made, the Launched Eurofighter epic that is known as...

Fluch von Novgorod

To think this opened the same year as Saw... Granted back then it was opened unfinished and they didn’t finish the interior theming until sometime last year, but, the result is nothing short of fantastic...

The result this rides gives is the atmosphere of Hex, with theming that would impress Disney, and finished off with a quality smooth ride... The backstory for this ride is... Well complicated, especially if you don’t speak German fluently, but essentially bad things went down and unsurprisingly, we get stuck in the middle of it...

Time for some photos, and since I only took photos of the outside queue (as they ask no photos inside) and only a third of the ride actually takes place outside...

250592_10150623031060220_558160219_18773012_5922312_n.jpg


248452_10150623031090220_558160219_18773013_6936916_n.jpg


254342_10150623031150220_558160219_18773014_7902355_n.jpg


252112_10150623031205220_558160219_18773015_6448275_n.jpg


254162_10150623031260220_558160219_18773016_4152621_n.jpg


248697_10150623031345220_558160219_18773018_6284357_n.jpg


249722_10150623031435220_558160219_18773020_1306307_n.jpg



And the inside got even better, with several interactive elements, including a animated tapestry, finger slicer, talking statue head and falling chandelier, brilliant theming from floor to ceiling and just is generally amazing... The one flaw is that there is a lack of space, as the queue splits into 3 (and is generally split into 2 for the most part) near the station for front, back and single rider, which can be very claustrophobic and involve much elbow bumping and the like... But in the overall grand scheme of this ride, it is a tiny, tiny flaw...

So we reach the station, and it is small yet grand, with a single car loading and offloading at one time as there is no need for them to have multiple cars doing so, especially as they were only running two anyways... But regardless, ravens caw as cars return from the ride, screams can be heard from the ride, and the epic chandelier really helps finish this setting and cement the theme... Once on board the traditional Eurofighter cars, the doors open (as the Germans do love their doors on dark coasters) some epic dispatch music plays, the lights go on and off and you leave into the darkness...

Now this part will be spoilered as I will be saying what happens in the ride, so if you don’t wanna know, skip, if you do... Read on...

A left turn stops you in front of an old statue, which comes to magical life and his soul sings NOVGOROD loudly at you whilst he points his sword at a helmet and what appears to be the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch... I doubt it is but I like to think so... But soon he vanishes and we again turn left and see some monks around a fire, one talks some speil in German and a wolf appears in the fire... At this point we get sent around the corner to the right under some mist and then...

DROP...

LAUNCH!

Seriously, I think this is the first rolling launch I’ve done and what a way to start it, the drop is akin to Saw and Mystery Mine’s indoor drops but the way the launch slowly reaches and then physically pushes back into your seat was perhaps the biggest surprise this ride had in the end... It was just as powerful as the Intamins... That’s how good it was...

Then outside we go through some smoke into a serious airtime hill before going into some oversized turns and a zero-g leading back into a 120ft odd tower... We hit some brakes as we head back inside once again and reach the bottom of a lift hill, the doors close behind us and lightning strikes numerous times... The lift goes into action and on the lift again is the monk from earlier... We stop vertically as he speaks to us once again, before continuing our rise up to the 114ft lift before reaching the top and once again, drop...

The dive sends us into another airtime hill, before we end up riding parallel with the launch and slowing into some brakes before ascending into the real brakes... Were as we stop, a scarecrow drops from the ceiling in front of the car, scaring everyone as air cannons and a loud laugh punctuate this full stop the ride elected to give itself... Back around the corner, and we return to the station, amazed by what this ride has done...

I could not speak highly enough of Hansa’s effort with Novgorod... It is absolutely fantastic from queue to exit shop... Even the exit is an adventure, as you can even use some steps or a slide to descend into the maze of an exit, and then a crystal covered mine shaft leads to the shop... The theming literally doesn’t end and to say that this ride needs more recognition is such a shame...

The ride itself is forceful and smooth, no roughness or tearing itself apart, the story is complex and really engrossing regardless that I couldn’t understand it, the soundtrack (which is purchaseable) is also brilliant...

I don’t give rides perfect scores often, but this one thoroughly deserves 10/10 for pure adulterated effort and joy...



Weirdly, Fluch’s exit delivers you into the park’s Mexican area, which is essentially where the park’s new aims collide with a lack of them... I’ll let the pictures speak...

248387_10150623031460220_558160219_18773021_2849490_n.jpg


252437_10150623031500220_558160219_18773023_2817651_n.jpg


248227_10150623031550220_558160219_18773025_1086471_n.jpg


251367_10150623031670220_558160219_18773029_2878316_n.jpg


248252_10150623031720220_558160219_18773031_2938470_n.jpg


254592_10150623031870220_558160219_18773038_6809588_n.jpg


248607_10150623031925220_558160219_18773039_7715838_n.jpg


As you can see, there is such a good level of theming in the area, but the rides (which sit more outside the area) aren’t really themed brilliantly... The Bell ride is the most themed out of the 3 in the pics above, but even then it is rather minimal... After being on Fluch, I can only hope the park has massive plans to over-haul the rest of it, as it doesn’t fit well...

The next ride on the list was a water ride, Rio Dorado, which is of course, a Rubber Dinghy ride akin to Oxygenarium at Asterix and Storm Drain at Thorpe...

249642_10150623031970220_558160219_18773040_6145632_n.jpg


248892_10150623032060220_558160219_18773043_1611062_n.jpg


Aside from the whole rainbow lift hill, it is themed really, really nicely... It also gains some epic music on said lift hill and was actually a lot longer than I expected it to be... But once again, you don’t get wet... I kinda don’t really see the point in a water ride that doesn’t get you even moist... But that’s for another time...

I have to give special mention to Die Glocke (The Bell) although I didn’t ride it... It deserves something for having the worst ride capacity known to man... 6 people per ride... Let’s just be lucky Hansa is small enough to get away with this... Imagine if a UK park got this... Oh dear it would be horrible... But it did look cool and also randomly had fire and water effects...

252882_10150623032340220_558160219_18773052_3586953_n.jpg


246727_10150623032490220_558160219_18773056_6411127_n.jpg


251657_10150623032595220_558160219_18773060_3879889_n.jpg


We then had a quick look at the rather closed looking Schlange von Midgard, the new Gerstlauer kids coaster, again similar to Fluch, it was heavily themed and... unfinished...

249662_10150623032785220_558160219_18773067_6184663_n.jpg


248362_10150623032835220_558160219_18773068_4445458_n.jpg


So unfinished we watched a bloke paint it, seeing as we had some time before it opened, we headed off to another coaster...

Crazy Mine
A standard Sohne Wild Mouse here, essentially Rattlesnake, without the snakes... Some theming is similar to it but there is less to some degree yet more in others...

As I’ve probably made no sense, it’s 6/10...

254187_10150623032890220_558160219_18773069_2994543_n.jpg


250752_10150623032985220_558160219_18773073_1104599_n.jpg


252022_10150623033065220_558160219_18773076_824721_n.jpg


254067_10150623033165220_558160219_18773080_5456523_n.jpg


We did the StarFlyer afterwards, I like these, and the location surrounding the ride often helps it a lot in these cases... Overlooking the Baltic Sea indeed helps this one, even if you do get bored after a while of general, nothingness...

249442_10150623033365220_558160219_18773085_1133511_n.jpg


After some more faffing in the Adventure play area thing which involved bridges, climbing, obstacle courses and many other things that we didn’t do, we noticed that the Schlange was testing, so headed to it...

Schlange von Midgard

The newest coaster to the park and it is a hard one to review, simply because it just wasn’t finished in regards to the theming... I feel loathe to review something I haven’t had a full proper experience of, and as the doors weren’t operating, bathing the pre-lift scene in sunlight, the scene itself wasn’t done, and the way in which we weren’t sure if the animatronic was still saying the same thing the second time around, I can’t really give it a proper review...

However, I can say that it will be a very different kids/family coaster when done, how many do you know that has a pre-lift scene with an animatronic? Exactly... It was a solid kids coaster ride wise, very smooth and nicely themed so far... But I don’t feel like I can give it a rating due to how unfinished it was because it would be unfair to it...

249262_10150623033815220_558160219_18773095_2254085_n.jpg


252677_10150623033865220_558160219_18773097_4155110_n.jpg


252152_10150623034020220_558160219_18773103_544863_n.jpg


248247_10150623034090220_558160219_18773107_8354536_n.jpg


Now that all the coasters had been done, was time to relax around the park and enjoy some of the other areas... On the way around we discovered a Huss Pirate Ship with some interesting rules...

246887_10150623035355220_558160219_18773147_4661654_n.jpg


If you can’t understand that, 6 to a row, under 8s need an adult to ride... In other words, no minimum height restriction... Astounding the difference going across the pond can make to such simple things...

Regardless of rules, we went on the random little boat ride next door to the pirate ship which was in the process of re-planting...

250020_10150623035690220_558160219_18773158_3576194_n.jpg


250342_10150623035905220_558160219_18773165_6350041_n.jpg


253401_10150623036260220_558160219_18773176_7078016_n.jpg


251537_10150623036360220_558160219_18773180_4267683_n.jpg


253557_10150623036725220_558160219_18773190_7388872_n.jpg


254567_10150623037040220_558160219_18773201_1814657_n.jpg


There’s been a distinct lack of Fluch photos in this haven’t there? Time to sort that out...

254182_10150623037520220_558160219_18773220_5410271_n.jpg


252007_10150623037695220_558160219_18773225_5084042_n.jpg


255772_10150623037855220_558160219_18773230_3693849_n.jpg


250200_10150623037910220_558160219_18773233_3982938_n.jpg


247832_10150623038735220_558160219_18773261_5067147_n.jpg


250222_10150623038810220_558160219_18773265_3000921_n.jpg


248791_10150623038885220_558160219_18773268_4588855_n.jpg


250143_10150623038970220_558160219_18773271_3358583_n.jpg


254487_10150623039035220_558160219_18773274_5102026_n.jpg


254988_10150623044940220_558160219_18773500_6263411_n.jpg


At this point we decided to do the Log Flume, which annoyingly got me wet, but had amusing rats in the station that attacked the boats as they went through... Not a fan of having to leave bags on the platform though... Nicely themed and longer than realised...

255106_10150623039815220_558160219_18773298_7560175_n.jpg


247327_10150623040100220_558160219_18773306_2033743_n.jpg


248638_10150623040355220_558160219_18773317_2631466_n.jpg


We then decided to go and watch the Sea-Lion show as we predicted that it wouldn’t matter toooooo much as we didn’t particularly understand much of the German language...

248887_10150623041305220_558160219_18773359_4769031_n.jpg


That was to be a mistake...

For you see, as part of their pre-show entertainment, they pick members of the audience to answer questions related to sea-lions and some other aquatical beings... And guess who the first person was?

Nicky...

Much lulz was had by myself as this happened, though later I had my own question which had no choice of answers and had to scroll in order to fit the screen, kinda unfair on me tbh but still, I wasn’t first...

The show itself was good, if small and it was very funny when one sea-lion refused to participate to balancing a ball on his nose... Crafty old bugger that it was... The best part was when they got some kid on his birthday in there to drive around the arena in a boat and feed the sea-lions and help them perform tricks... It was a nice touch and something you rarely see in America (where these shows are king), and it ended up with him being smothered by a sea-lion...

We did Fluch twice more before calling it a day, but we first had a parade to catch...

251484_10150623045150220_558160219_18773506_7711935_n.jpg


252847_10150623045220220_558160219_18773508_1870143_n.jpg


251315_10150623045280220_558160219_18773511_1822384_n.jpg


253849_10150623045325220_558160219_18773513_4166524_n.jpg


250717_10150623045380220_558160219_18773515_1126801_n.jpg


250261_10150623045435220_558160219_18773517_392115_n.jpg


247278_10150623045505220_558160219_18773520_2607373_n.jpg


246747_10150623045540220_558160219_18773522_1276377_n.jpg


Ok it ain’t Disney, but what you gonna do? Least they’re trying and doing very well for a family based park...

Overall, Hansa was a very enjoyable place, very relaxed with a good mix of rides, just the old areas clash a lot with the new areas, Schlange is between about 3 of these areas and really does show the class between the newer rides and the old... Hopefully the park realises this and has plans in place to put some more theming about on some rides or just retheme them...
But it is a really nice park with a good atmosphere, nice and relaxing park with a touch of quality in Fluch... Highly recommend this park to one and all...

254832_10150623045605220_558160219_18773524_4075241_n.jpg


Farewell Hansa...

But before we go...

249865_10150623041700220_558160219_18773377_7328668_n.jpg
 

Ian

From CoasterForce
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
Social Media Team
Cool, I loved Hansa, must go back there next year.

It's good to see that the second lift hill part is now fully themed. When we went in 2007, it was just a couple of flashing lights and bin bags!

Cheers for posting. I want to go now.
 

Martyn B

CF Legend
Seriously, I think this is the first rolling launch I’ve done and what a way to start it, the drop is akin to Saw and Mystery Mine’s indoor drops but the way the launch slowly reaches and then physically pushes back into your seat was perhaps the biggest surprise this ride had in the end... It was just as powerful as the Intamins... That’s how good it was...

That is pretty much exactly how I feel about Anubis' launch.

Great report so far, I look foward to seeing the Heide pics!
 

davidm

Strata Poster
Was that last Monday (the 30th) you were at Hansa? I was there on the Tuesday :)

and if you were at Heide on Tuesday then I hope you didn't get too WET in the afternoon!
 

Nemesis Inferno

Strata Poster
Ian I wouldn't say the lift is 'fully' themed, and the end it still is some flashing lights but it looked excessively cool with lightning effects actually on the roof...

David we were in Hamburg on the Tuesday, we managed to just about avoid getting drenched but got caught a bit...



Day 1 – Sea-Life Timmendorf

Yeah I lied when Hamburg was next, as me and Nicky decided that after finishing at Hansa at around 3 we would search for that Sea-Life we saw advertised on our walk along the sea the night before...

So a quick walk back to the train station and a few minutes later we were on the quick journey from Sierkdorf to Timmendorf Strand... We knew the Sea-Life was on the coast, so we began walking down towards the sea, keeping an eye out for any signs that would help us...

249858_10150623040265220_558160219_18773313_4340994_n.jpg


We ended up going through a rather nice little park area heading into the main town centre, and a few right turns lead us to...

251582_10150623040320220_558160219_18773315_1887705_n.jpg


Now on the UK Annual Pass website it tells us that we can get 50% off international Merlin attractions, so we naturally queried this to the gentleman at the desk, and unsurprisingly this confused both him and his colleague, who proceeded to phone up their manager to find out about it... This is kinda typical of Merlin I fear, as a lack of communication seems to be a rather regular thing, as no-one knew about this rule in Germany (we meant to check at Hamburg Dungeons as well but didn’t), so is a bit of a fail... However, as we must have been so nice about it, we got in on BOGOF... Winning!

249757_10150623040385220_558160219_18773318_5062900_n.jpg


This Sea-Life is underground, and isn’t very big, probably just slightly bigger than the park versions over here, however, end of the day, Sea-Life is a Sea-Life is it not? And it’s always good to see how they run them differently...

250691_10150623040430220_558160219_18773320_3974007_n.jpg


Case in point, stools for younger children to stand on... Brilliant idea, needs to happen more really...

So the doors opened and we were greeted by...

251532_10150623040585220_558160219_18773328_487852_n.jpg


Otters! New... Never seen them at a Sea-Life before...

254263_10150623040740220_558160219_18773333_6305796_n.jpg


Usual good standard of theming around when it was around...

254182_10150623040790220_558160219_18773336_4650875_n.jpg


250217_10150623041055220_558160219_18773349_2060315_n.jpg


247370_10150623041110220_558160219_18773351_3644766_n.jpg


248274_10150623041265220_558160219_18773357_4519629_n.jpg


Another interesting thing that Nicky is demonstrating here is that they had a cold area with a lot of condensation going on over the glass, so they had some wipers primarily for the kids to use... Decent idea... But the numerous high amounts of condensation was a bit too much...

253799_10150623041450220_558160219_18773366_7767475_n.jpg


Ahhh, more spider crabs (and condensation), but with an actual well designed tank for them as we could actually get close to them without having to sit on the floor...

252132_10150623041510220_558160219_18773369_3734479_n.jpg


250581_10150623041605220_558160219_18773372_4147572_n.jpg


250767_10150623041765220_558160219_18773380_4841409_n.jpg


No idea what this is doing... Anyone know their crustaceans?

254322_10150623041850220_558160219_18773384_1139946_n.jpg


250538_10150623042040220_558160219_18773392_4137519_n.jpg


Fish doing a Queen tribute it would seem...

246703_10150623042310220_558160219_18773402_4821089_n.jpg


250262_10150623042415220_558160219_18773406_3523770_n.jpg


252153_10150623042495220_558160219_18773409_3118552_n.jpg


252147_10150623042650220_558160219_18773415_6453324_n.jpg


247831_10150623042865220_558160219_18773422_6160708_n.jpg


Someone’s future dinner...

254592_10150623043050220_558160219_18773430_1021658_n.jpg


253735_10150623043135220_558160219_18773433_7951552_n.jpg


Fortunately, unlike Towers, this still has their Ray pool...

248477_10150623043490220_558160219_18773448_8186369_n.jpg


251697_10150623043630220_558160219_18773452_5649258_n.jpg


246647_10150623043705220_558160219_18773456_8197805_n.jpg


249697_10150623044360220_558160219_18773480_4972906_n.jpg


They had some uber comfy chairs looking into the big tank with the tunnel, as I am demonstrating...

248327_10150623044520220_558160219_18773485_1086287_n.jpg


250287_10150623044655220_558160219_18773492_5533301_n.jpg


251671_10150623045365220_558160219_18773514_613006_n.jpg


248436_10150623045570220_558160219_18773523_5687453_n.jpg


Yes it has a tunnel like every other Sea-Life... Part of the brand these days...


And that’s it... Would I recommend it? Only if you were really excessively bothered and had a few hours to spare... I couldn’t see much else to do in Timmendorf but we didn’t really explore far as we had a bit of a time deadline on going into the Sea-Life... It could be done in an hour and there wasn’t much there I hadn’t seen before, but I do enjoy going into Sea-Life’s as I do find them relaxing and it was good to get out of the sun for a bit...

247332_10150623045470220_558160219_18773519_274721_n.jpg




Next up is definitely Hamburg...
 

peep

CF Legend
Hurrah for Otters!

Hansa looks amazing though, really need to get there at some point. I really like the look of their new family coaster too.

Look forward to reading the next part of your trip report.
 

Nemesis Inferno

Strata Poster
Day 2 – Hamburg

So after a very nice day at Hansa Park, it was time to pack up and head for the city of Hamburg itself, with a quick plan of what we were going to do, we set off back to the station and said farewell to Sierksdorf...

When we returned to Hamburg, we were unsure if we could dump our bags at the hotel (as it was one designed primarily for business people in mind), so we used the MASSIVE lockers located within the train station for 5 euros for the rest of the day... Rather decent pricing considering we fit two suitcases into one locker...

One sorted, we headed to the U-Bahn and attempted to work out what train ticket we needed, as they seem to go more by zones rather than destination... Rather than risk it, we took the middle ground although we were only on for about 4 stops, better safe than sorry...

We arrived at Rödingsmarkt and headed towards our first landmark, the St. Michaelis Church...

255152_10150623035430220_558160219_18773150_2333781_n.jpg


It seems to not be a good idea to be a church in Hamburg we later discovered, but this is the most famous of them all, and we gave it a jolly good bombing back in the war what-what... Hence why the tower is blackened (and indeed, this seemed to be a trend throughout the city)... Not being much into the religion times (and the church not being Catholic) we continued our walk towards the Hamburg History Museum...

254212_10150623035620220_558160219_18773156_1610534_n.jpg


247842_10150623036065220_558160219_18773171_3138727_n.jpg


We managed to get student discount to go in, resulting in only 10 euros for the two of us, which made me happy as that meant I wasn’t spending so much, and after we dumped off our bags in a locker (no other option but at least these repaid you your euro) we delved deeper into the museum...

249687_10150623036235220_558160219_18773175_2577700_n.jpg


250360_10150623036555220_558160219_18773186_1627318_n.jpg


249615_10150623036695220_558160219_18773189_134473_n.jpg


248674_10150623036770220_558160219_18773191_5426892_n.jpg


249307_10150623037475220_558160219_18773218_6192132_n.jpg


246837_10150623037945220_558160219_18773234_3830249_n.jpg


253467_10150623038055220_558160219_18773238_3228446_n.jpg


251312_10150623038620220_558160219_18773257_4893190_n.jpg


247378_10150623039490220_558160219_18773287_2712304_n.jpg


It was about this point that two things happened, firstly, two security guards made some conversation with me about not having flash photos (which, as most of my pics prove, I didn’t, dam ISO), which was rather confusing and tbh flustering... Don’t like security needlessly bickering at me in another language, let alone my own...
Then I felt really sick, not sure if it was the fact that the museum was boiling or stuffy or what, but I felt like I was going to heave... Brilliant...

However, we soldiered on up to the 3rd floor to investigate something that the Germans are also very famous for, a model railway...

248936_10150623039615220_558160219_18773292_7028087_n.jpg


They only demonstrate it a few times each day, presumably to save energy as these things probably drain electricity like there’s no tomorrow, but regardless, it was still a rather impressive bit of kit... Least we thought so that day...

250332_10150623039670220_558160219_18773294_3173871_n.jpg


254095_10150623040045220_558160219_18773304_1564955_n.jpg


250042_10150623041645220_558160219_18773374_5463502_n.jpg


254066_10150623041805220_558160219_18773382_6185198_n.jpg


251657_10150623041165220_558160219_18773354_3096757_n.jpg


After a while, we left and quickly went through some other parts of the museum since I was still feeling like crap...

254818_10150623042720220_558160219_18773419_3617970_n.jpg


254235_10150623042915220_558160219_18773425_2862409_n.jpg


250018_10150623043260220_558160219_18773439_3792891_n.jpg


We went towards the St. Pauli station (which is the relatively famous red light district of the city, so typically European in the fact they promote it as much as ‘normal’ attractions), ended up helping some other tourist with the machines, before retrieving our luggage back at the Hauptbahnhof and retiring to the hotel and watching English Sky Cinema... Huzzah!




Next time, more Hamburg...
 

peep

CF Legend
I like miniature towns/railways etc, bit random to see one in a museum though.

Look forward to seeing what else you saw in Hamburg.
 

Nemesis Inferno

Strata Poster
Nic said:
Hang on, this was just you and Nicky went, right? And you booked a twin room??? Ooookkkkkkkkkkk

It's a German thing, a double bed apparently means two single mattresses on a double bed frame... Same for every hotel we stayed at... It's bloody annoying when you roll over in the middle of the night and end up in the massive gap between them...


Of course, I may well have completely read your post wrong, in which case, where have you been the last 9 months? :p
 

Nic

Strata Poster
Funnily enough, the Ibis we stayed in when we went to Phantasialand thought the complete opposite. Their idea of a twin was 2 single mattresses on a double bed frame.

Oh, and the woman in the Holiday Inn in Eindhoven couldn't understand why Gavin and I wouldn't want a double. I really wish I'd agreed to it.... as it was actually Mike sharing with Gavin, not me :D

Anyway, enough of this nonsense. Glad you had a lovely time :)
 

Hixee

Flojector
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
Social Media Team
I've done double beds with Gavin, Marcus, Marc, Brad, Taylor, even Jerry I think.

It was fab! :p Although I don't think they appreciated my fidgeting! :p
 

Nemesis Inferno

Strata Poster
Enough about who's slept with who, we have a report to do ;)

Day 3 – Hamburg Part 2

So after our night in the business style Travelodge, we checked out, left our bags and then descended upon the city once again...

249707_10150623043825220_558160219_18773462_6188110_n.jpg


This was across the road from the hotel, a picture was indeed required... Good old fashioned translations going awry...

Regardless of such buildings, it was time to get back on the U-Bahn...

249327_10150623044005220_558160219_18773467_3183774_n.jpg


247867_10150623044565220_558160219_18773488_3569354_n.jpg


250739_10150623044215220_558160219_18773475_6719993_n.jpg


After the quick train journey to Baumwall (only a stop away from our journey yesterday), we sauntered through the construction site towards our destination, Miniatur Wunderland...

250427_10150623044900220_558160219_18773499_5999225_n.jpg


252482_10150623045310220_558160219_18773512_4868827_n.jpg


Ah... Something’s wrong here...

254342_10150623063780220_558160219_18773940_6895879_n.jpg


Yep, Merlin’s worldwide grasp is particularly strong in Germany, whilst we didn’t go in the Dungeons, it shared a few similarities to London, mainly with Labyrinth, the Judge, Traitor and Extremis... However some of the scenes interested me, such as the Haunted Library and some pirate’s execution... They do English tours as well which is quite a good idea, though I would love to do the tour in German cos of the interest in how amazing the accent would sound...

Anyways, off to the Wunderland, which has a relatively steep looking price (for students it’s 9 euros) but when we went into the attraction (after having to put bags in a locker, again, very good idea) and saw this, we realised what we were paying for...

254038_10150623045525220_558160219_18773521_5402436_n.jpg


Yep, this is one serious model railway... It goes through 2 floors, and several rooms with all different areas and with further plans to expand even MORE in the future... This is one serious piece of kit... With lots of interactive pieces as well to see, it was an absolute surprise and very worth the entrance fee...

251382_10150623045650220_558160219_18773525_6568438_n.jpg


250635_10150623045925220_558160219_18773529_6713392_n.jpg


Scenes like the Flugtag reminded me very much of a Lego Miniland... Lots of little details and jokes dotted about to try and spot...

254314_10150623046005220_558160219_18773530_7867643_n.jpg


250238_10150623046485220_558160219_18773538_3922634_n.jpg


Fully working concert... With camera flashes from the audience...

252402_10150623046615220_558160219_18773542_5427746_n.jpg


247317_10150623047200220_558160219_18773556_1874776_n.jpg


253828_10150623047645220_558160219_18773563_8110384_n.jpg


Lots of PLCs...

247354_10150623047760220_558160219_18773566_4636629_n.jpg


247248_10150623047945220_558160219_18773569_4145499_n.jpg


253556_10150623048270220_558160219_18773574_7849206_n.jpg


247529_10150623048345220_558160219_18773575_2587165_n.jpg


Each area had its own day/night alternation, and worked very well...

250555_10150623049205220_558160219_18773577_5210572_n.jpg


This was their newest area, the working airport...

254294_10150623049470220_558160219_18773582_4346089_n.jpg


255172_10150623049875220_558160219_18773588_6079748_n.jpg


Yes, the plane is coming into land whilst the other one is waiting... This was one bloody impressive area and I have no idea how they did it all...

251668_10150623050055220_558160219_18773592_5344775_n.jpg


250606_10150623050120220_558160219_18773593_2847318_n.jpg


250762_10150623050270220_558160219_18773595_7455727_n.jpg


250696_10150623050460220_558160219_18773598_2501722_n.jpg


253715_10150623050535220_558160219_18773599_7765091_n.jpg


247045_10150623051210220_558160219_18773609_2029460_n.jpg


The sheer scale of this was just amazing...

251731_10150623050860220_558160219_18773603_6608096_n.jpg


252171_10150623051735220_558160219_18773615_6299084_n.jpg


All aboard the party boat!

250648_10150623051815220_558160219_18773616_6941973_n.jpg


254816_10150623052430220_558160219_18773627_592913_n.jpg


251231_10150623052615220_558160219_18773631_3545251_n.jpg


251339_10150623053075220_558160219_18773641_5736548_n.jpg


There were trains going around, and can go from the bottom of the Switzerland area alllllll the way through to the Scandinavian bit right on the opposite end... But they are definitely not the main draw of this place...

247354_10150623053370220_558160219_18773647_7697920_n.jpg


FUNFAIR!!!

249838_10150623053485220_558160219_18773651_304333_n.jpg


And yes, with added working credit!

255715_10150623053680220_558160219_18773657_1232528_n.jpg


Just to show how far down this place went...

251377_10150623053975220_558160219_18773664_7339589_n.jpg


253547_10150623054075220_558160219_18773668_1851717_n.jpg


A fair few of the rides moved as well...

247257_10150623054365220_558160219_18773680_7811250_n.jpg


246965_10150623054420220_558160219_18773682_8342734_n.jpg


246822_10150623054505220_558160219_18773686_6444665_n.jpg


They have gone all international as well, with a massive American area...

251544_10150623054600220_558160219_18773690_3953059_n.jpg


Of course, they had to have a recreation of Hamburg as well...

251588_10150623054680220_558160219_18773693_3275406_n.jpg


253492_10150623054890220_558160219_18773701_7607284_n.jpg


253937_10150623054940220_558160219_18773704_7274159_n.jpg


247947_10150623055115220_558160219_18773708_3514750_n.jpg


255052_10150623055605220_558160219_18773726_3521670_n.jpg


248817_10150623055725220_558160219_18773729_5128296_n.jpg


Watching this bloke fix sommat was just as impressive, as he was attempting to not knock anything over...

252582_10150623055870220_558160219_18773735_6510384_n.jpg


249807_10150623056050220_558160219_18773741_2912620_n.jpg


254362_10150623056270220_558160219_18773749_167244_n.jpg


Another cred, though it is a mixture of Manhattan Express and Speed in Vegas... Urgh...

251332_10150623056435220_558160219_18773753_3399973_n.jpg


Hell yeah Pixar!

247592_10150623056635220_558160219_18773759_6705391_n.jpg


Oh yeah, they also have space shuttle launches here...

248252_10150623056675220_558160219_18773760_5094850_n.jpg


I love this short... So much...

249798_10150623062570220_558160219_18773899_3400283_n.jpg


255604_10150623062655220_558160219_18773901_3271896_n.jpg


252101_10150623062725220_558160219_18773903_2213921_n.jpg


Brilliant way of doing the water and making it see-through for the extra details at the bottom...

252756_10150623062895220_558160219_18773909_5735854_n.jpg


251779_10150623063470220_558160219_18773928_6293113_n.jpg


TROLLLLLLLLL!

I highly recommend this place to anyone visiting... It’s very awesome even if you have no interest in model railways and the like... It’s just full of win and deserves more recognition...

Anyways, that finished, we elected for lunch, and due to knowing about the so called Roller-coaster restaurant in the city (sort of), we had planned a route there and headed back to the Hauptbahnhof and got the S Bahn number 31 to Harburg, and a short walk later we found it...

251454_10150623064590220_558160219_18773966_4484726_n.jpg


246751_10150623064725220_558160219_18773970_6547745_n.jpg


Now notice something about this? It was open, lights on, music on, but no staff or customers... Staff saw us milling about inside but made no attempt to talk to us or indeed inform us of what to do... After a while we left rather disappointed by this lack of good form I expect from the Germans and it was really a wasted journey in the end... Right shame...

So we headed back to Hamburg proper as we needed to catch our train towards Soltau for the final part of the holiday, Heide Park... And we got our MetroNOM (no joke) train over to Buchholz (Nordheide) for our connecting train to Soltau... On our way from Hamburg we realised that we had a 3 minute connection time between the trains, and our NOM arrived at platform 1, whilst the next train left from platform 11...

This naturally, caused worry, until we reached Buchholz and we saw that, for some reason, 1 and 11 were right next door to each other... Confusion aside, we still ran to get on the train and enjoy the nice long sedate journey over to Soltau... Upon arrival, we waited for a taxi (as Heide is rather far away from the station, there is a bus but that is rather infrequent in non-peak hours), and eventually we arrived at the Hotel Port Royal...


Gonna end this part of the report here and keep all Heide together, which will include a review of the hotel and of course, Krake... Woo...
 

Hixee

Flojector
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
Social Media Team
That model city place looks awesome! I saw a video recently about the airport and it's really cool, but I didn't realise it was in the same place as the massive railway network/environment that I've seen elsewhere on the net. I really want to go! :p
 

peep

CF Legend
That model village is rather epic, I love all the little details amongst it all, if I ever end up in Hamburg I'll have to check it out.
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
Miniatur Wunderland will definitely be added to our upcoming trip this August :p
Looking forward to see the conclusion to this report!!
 
Top