It's also a fact that Hamburg looks wonderful from a plane. Down below you can admire the whole expanse of this large but clearly defined city surrounding the Alster and stretching alongside the Elbe. And if you're lucky, the water will be glistening in the sun and the many canals become visible, spanned by a good 2,300 bridges of all sizes. Who has the most? Well, that's an ongoing argument with Venice and Amsterdam. And the density of the trees suddenly becomes so obvious from the air: the amount of greenery in Hamburg is far clearer when seen from above. In some of the aerial photographs - taken from the North across the Alster - you can hardly see the city through the treetops. That probably explains why someone was once inspired to call a street „Baumkamp“ in Winterhude, close to the city park.
The people of Hamburg love their city, and they like it when others come and admire it. For instance on the intercity train going south: the people from Eppendorf, who are a bit like a big family, tend not to use their own main station but prefer to get off at the charming little Dammtor station that has recently been renovated. It has just two simple platforms, yet almost all of the long-distance trains stop there.
In the train you could well be sitting next to a family from Kiel and, just before the train crosses the Lombardsbrücke, the father says to the children: „When we get to the bridge, look out of the window at the beautiful view!“ Of course, he means the panoramic view of the Binnenalster: an ensemble of department stores, shopping arcades, office buildings, shipping companies and the impressive Four Seasons Hotel.
I can still remember how, as a child, I always knew when we were approaching Hamburg: first of all there were the bridges across the Elbe, but then, recognizable even at night, the red illuminated letters of „Der Spiegel“ on top of the publishing house. It wasn't far then to the main station. And now when I ride my bike to the office, I often feel a surge of happiness to be living in this city. And when I'm on the Alster or one of the canals, my heart skips a beat when I catch sight of the good old „Seebek,“ the ship I saw being named 45 years ago.
