Music trumps sport...

Playlist

Udo Lindenberg - Atlantic Affairs

Laurie Anderson - United States Live

Genesis - Abacab

Emerson Lake & Palmer - Love Beach

Red Hot Chili Peppers - One Hot Minute

The Church - Heyday

Pink Floyd - Pulse

Free - Heartbreaker

Steven Wilson - Transience

Jethro Tull - Minstrel In The Gallery [40th Anniversary : La Grande Edition]

Dionne Warwick - The Look Of Love: Burt Bacharach Collection

Neil Young - Monsanto Years

Udo Lindenberg - Stärker Als Die Zeit

This morning, some reading and, indeed, list making re composers of chamber music...

Last night this book led me to order a similar tome online...

This too, continues to be enjoyed...

Out after breakfast on the balcony and, for around £9, we have joint unlimited travel for the day post 9 am...

The bus took us to the Hauptbahnhof...

...from where the train took us to...

...Landungsbruecken - the river docks area...

There is also a tunnel (or two but one is undergoing renovation at present) under the Elbe...

We descended and...

...made our way on foot under the river...

...and ascended to the surface...

It has to be said there was virtually nothing of any interest on the other bank - other than the views of the bank from which we'd just come...

...including the spectacular, under construction Elbphilharmonie....

...A massive concert hall which is the bone of much contention to Hamburgians due to its ongoing cost...

A kind of cultured version of the Edinburgh Tram - though nowhere near as expensive...

Back underground and through the tunnel again...

...and up the surface again...

...from where we took the U-Bahn to...

...the Reeperbahn and Beatlesplatz...

I assume the guy at the right is Stuart Sutcliffe...

...who stands some distance from what should be John, Paul, George and Pete (who is probably Ringo)...

We visited a few record shops today - the first was Back - which provided discs by German new wave stalwarts Extrabreit and Italian rocker, Gianna Nannini...

We stopped for coffee...

...and enjoyed the environs of St Pauli...

..and this friendly wee monkey...

On to Freiheit und Roosen...

...from where a disc by German jazz star Till Brönner was stumbled upon - I know him from his collaborations with Yello...

Having asked directions, it was on past this church...

...and this architecture...

...to the Neuerkamp and this nice little Imbiss, for lunch...



...with another friendly monkey...

Beers were enjoyed...

...outside what was once a slaughterhouse...

...in sight of the TV Tower...

...and this old bunker-like building, called Uebel & Gefährlich...

I couldn't come to Hamburg without savouring some fish...

...while Anne took some tasty salami and cheese...

...and local beer...

Our next stop was Hanseplatte - which specialises in local musik...

I picked up these (Lacrosse are actually Scandanavian but on a local label) - and a 2CD set of local bands...



Like all the shops today, well stocked and a pleasure to be in...

Time for pudding, as we made our way through the excellent area of Sternschanzen...

In this shop, Groove City on Marktstrasse, I found a disc of Morton Feldman music - nice...

As we approached the end of the area...

...spotting the tower again...

...and the Russian Orthodox Church...

...we decided to head back for more refreshment and ended up outside local punk bar Yoko Mono...

...where purchases were inspected...

On our walk back to the U-Bahn at Messehallen, we encountered our third wee monkey of the day...

...while the weather was taking a nice turn at the tower...

...and the church...

Our target now was...

...the Hauptbahnhof and...

...the art gallery complex of the Hamburger Kunsthalle...

... and nearby Cube...

Unfortunately, due to out of date info in our guide book, we'd arrived on the wrong day for their late viewing special...

Ooops...

Meg the Black Cat made an appearance...

Back to Landesbruecken for a trip on a ship instead...

...before heading back into the centre...

...for tonight's game at the fanzone, between Germany and Norn Iron...

Depite having 28 chances, Germany only won 1-0...

We saw the goal but got tired of standing and, at half time, walked instead to the Rathaus for a seat...

...passing yesterday's climb...

It was a beautiful evening...

...just right...

...for a classical concert at the Laeiszhalle...

...close to where we'd enjoyed much of the day already...

An impressive hall - and this was the "small" one...

We heard recitals of violin music by Tchaikovsky, Schshedrin, Debussy, Richard Strauss and Beethoven...

...played by some no doubt stars of tomorrow, Anny Chen, Vira Gulei, Jazeps Jermolovs, James McFadden-Talbot and Danae Papamatthaeou-Matschke, accompanied on piano by Maria Narodytska, Bernhard Fograscher and Iku Nakamura..

Beautiful music in beautiful surroundings...

...before emerging into the dusk on the longest day of the year...

A U-Bahn back to Mönckebergstraße (or monkey street as it came to be known)...

...passing the town hall one last time today,..

Home late after a very busy day...

Lights out...

Highlight of the Day : A packed holiday day full of fun...