day two in hamburg

if ever there was a night i was writing the blog while half asleep, it is this night, christmas eve, nearly christmas day, so here goes, in pictures, day two of hamburg... 

our hotel-- a very simple hotel-hostel, a&o hamburg city süd, but really clean, new rooms, and a great breakfast (though not free)... 

on the subway to our first destination...

when we got up in the morning the sidewalks were icy, my foot was still very much not really working, and we were still four adults traveling with two small children, so, day two in hamburg revolved around child friendly indoor activities with lots of opportunities to rest.

the first activity was a lego exhibit at a museum south of town...

later, after lunch, back to the central part of town for a double-decker bus tour-- something william had been requesting.  he really, really wanted to sit on the top of a double-decker bus.

i took a few pictures but after about a half hour in it became too dark outside to focus the photos.

incredibly gigantic houses, one right after another, along the waterfront...

henry took this opportunity to nap...

this is not a view of the city from the bus tour.  this is destination number three... a huge (the biggest actually) model train exhibit...

i will just say, this is a four and a half year old's dream come true.  and really, it was so impressive.  a level of detail i can appreciate, but can, by no means, ever hope to possess...

night falls here every 15 minutes...

little people... all of them... so many people...

fire trucks raced from all over this city to get to the fire in this building.  after awhile they got it put out and drove away...

but it was getting late for the littlest in the bunch... time to go home (to the a&o), eat, get some sleep...

back out in the city, walking to the station...

back on the subway, merry december 23rd...

and now, happy christmas eve!