Photo courtesy of Amazing Travel Photos
For the next leg of my journey, I traveled by train from Amsterdam Centraal Station to Hamburg Hauptbahnhoff.
I actually took three trains to get there with changes in Hilversum, and Osnabruck. Surprisingly, the train from Osnabrook to Hamburg was 40 minutes late arriving, which is quite unusual for Deutches Bahn. Trains in Germany are almost always exactly on time down to the minute. But I suppose there can always be equipment problems.
As always, the trains in both The Netherlands and in Germany are excellent. New comfortble coaches, clean restrooms and in general everything functions properly. The trains also maintain a good rate of speed, overtaking cars and trucks on the highway next to the tracks. Despite the high rate of speed, the ride is very smooth and you can write in your journal along the way.
Upon arriving in Hamburg, I had to find my way to the S-Bahn which is the metro in Hamburg. There is an S-Bahn and a U-Bahn. Trains come frequently and it is a fast way to get around the city.
Hamburg itself is a port city and somewhat like Amsterdam. There are many canals and bridges. I could live in Hamburg.
The Beatles in Hamburg
One of Hamburgs claims to fame is that the Beatles played in Hamburg Clubs back in 1962 just before they became famous. In fact, that was one of the reasons I wanted to visit Hamburg. Over the winter I was researching early Beatles music and history so I decided I needed to see where they earned their musical chops.
Photo courtesy of Amazing Travel Photos
The Beatles played in clubs on Reeperbahn, which is a major street in Hamburg. It is in the Saint Pauli district and is known as being the red light district. Unfortunately, all the clubs that The Beatles played in are gone. But there is a museum there, and one of the corners has been renamed Bealtes Platz, which has some sculptures of the Fab Five.
Yes, there were five Beatles for a while when they played in Hamburg. The fifth was Stuart Sutcliffe who was on bass. Stuart was a friend of John Lenin, but not much of a musician. Eventually he left the band and Paul McCartney took over as bass player. Also the drummer at the time was Pete Best, not Ringo Star. Of course, George Harrison was always the lead guitarist.
