May 29

It was cold and windy this morning as we headed to the train station to

catch the 8:00am train to Odense.  We had a half hour trip and then waited

in the first class lounge for 2 hours until the next train to Flensburg, 

Germany. The train was 25 minutes late but they made up most of the time

and the next train to Hamburg waited for us.  In all we had 4 ½ hours of 

train time and enjoyed viewing the passing countryside. At the Hamburg

train station we went to the tourist information bureau to see if our hotel 

was within walking distance.  Obviously the online booking through 

Wyndham was incorrect because the hotel was 50km from Hamburg instead

of city center as advertised. Fortunately the reservation could be cancelled 

and the tourist bureau booked us into a Best Western within 5 minutes

walking distance.  We checked in and then went out to explore the area 

around the Rathaus (City Hall.)  The Rathaus is a beautiful old building

with statues of German kings since they became civilized.  There was a 

protest in process but we didn’t find out what it was about.  Walking back 

towards the hotel we passed a square filled with camping tents and it was 

the “Occupy Hamburg” site.  We returned to the hotel, had some wine and 

went to a small Italian restaurant near the hotel.  The menu was in both 

Italian & German and the staff didn’t speak English, but we worked out

what looked good and our “surprise” meals were delicious.