Words & pics: reemedia The metropolis of Hamburg is a hectic, restless city. However, SUP on the river and lake Alster and you feel a peace otherwise not felt in Hamburg. One falls in love with these moods on the dammed lakes and canals of the Alster, which rises north of Hamburg. The‘ Elbphilharmonie’( the new concert hall) is perhaps the landmark and magnet of the city, but the Alster gives that special‘ something’.
Hamburg:
CITY SUP AT ITS FINEST
Words & pics: reemedia The metropolis of Hamburg is a hectic, restless city. However, SUP on the river and lake Alster and you feel a peace otherwise not felt in Hamburg. One falls in love with these moods on the dammed lakes and canals of the Alster, which rises north of Hamburg. The‘ Elbphilharmonie’( the new concert hall) is perhaps the landmark and magnet of the city, but the Alster gives that special‘ something’.
On the outer Alster and the branching channels you leave the volume, restlessness, bustle and hustle behind and just dive into it, where a quiet world opens up. In the middle of the city one sees only relaxed faces of sailors, rowers and guests on the Alster ships, which start touring from the‘ Jungfernstieg’. Meanwhile you meet more and more stand up paddlers. Only five years ago it was rare to meet SUPers but now on balmy summer evenings, there are now up to 50 but do not worry, this does not detract from the 164-hectare waters and canals.
Hamburg has a lot of water and maybe even more bridges to offer, as there are 2,500 in Hamburg and only 400 in Venice. Who would have thought? All too often we paddle under a bridge, enjoying the peace and without any hassle- and know only too well that‘ up there’ has nothing to do with‘ down here’.
The Alster and canals are wonderfully green with large deciduous trees and weeping willows surrounding the water alongside beautiful villas. The best examples being at the‘ Rondeelteich’( a small lake in the Alster), where they are placed in a semi-circle. One of these houses once had a shared flat with the German rockstar Udo Lindenberg, however, that was a long time ago and he now lives in a suite at the Aussenalster. He stays in the Atlantic Hotel, where during the G7 summit in July, German president Angela Merkl spent the night, while Donald Trump was housed in the Senate guesthouse. Incidentally the Atlantic became world famous in 1997, in the James Bond film‘ Tomorrow Never Dies’. Bond escapes the villains via his BMW series 7 and flies remotely from the prestigious hotel building. s t a n d u p p a d d l e m a g u k 34