Hamburg sits on the River Elbe and famously has more canals than Amsterdam, London and Venice combined, so wherever you go in Hamburg you feel connected to the river. We started the week at the launch of a sightseeing boat and enjoyed its maiden excursion around the port. We also had a number of outings to get to know each other better, all of which were really enjoyable - a street festival where we learned skateboarding, basketball and had a go at graffiti; a disco at the “Kultur Palast”; and best of all, an amazing concert by a local Hamburg band, Tonbandgerät (literally “cassette recorder”!). During the second week, we had the opportunity to visit one of the four main universities in Hamburg. Having an interest in science, I chose to visit HAW (Hochschule für angewandte Wissenschaften), a university specialising in applied sciences. We were shown different departments such as robotics, automotive engineering and aeronautical engineering, and given information about studying in Germany. Another highlight was visiting the Elbphilharmonie (known locally as the “Elphi”), a new concert hall on the banks of the Elbe. The lower half of the building is designed to look like one of the many red brick “Speicherhäuser”, or warehouses, that Hamburg is famous for. The upper half of the building is made of glass and at the top is shaped to look like waves. A space-age escalator takes visitors up to a viewing platform half-way up the Elphi, which offers impressive 360° views of the city and the river. 45
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTA4ODM=