A relatively short journey today (compared to days to come) takes me across the border to Germany. I stopped at the border and took some pictures. There is a service station here and they’ve drawn the border around it. The Dutch side (north of the motorway) contains the shop and restaurant and the other side – German – has the police and customs station. Both are connected via a bridge. There is a sign to mark the point where the two roads meet. It’s a shame in a way, because I think there’s something just a little exciting about stopping at a border customs station (like going from Canada to the US) – it’s almost like because they need to protect it with a grand building and lots of armed people, there must be a great land to explore on the other side and it builds up the anticipation that you’re crossing a specific point where loads of stuff will change.

I stopped here out of choice, but of course thanks to the EU and the Schengen free movement agreement between most EU countries (except the UK), if you’re on the motorway you now just seamlessly speed straight into Germany. And of course, once in Germany, you can speed. On most of the Autobahn network there is a recommended speed limit of 130km/h. Recommended. This is the home of the Mercedes-Benz, the BMW, the Audi. And, for a few days, the Opel Zafira.

Thanks to this it wasn’t long before I was in Hamburg, one of the major cities of Germany – and probably the most northerly. I was staying in a hotel about 15-20km away, so got a train in. Very efficient as expected. Park up, buy ticket, train arrives on time, get on and go. Two things I noticed about the train – it was clean and there were magazines to read, hung on hooks by the window to keep them neat and tidy.

Hamburg was a very lively city tonight. The city centre is stunning, with a number of waterways winding their way through the city – plenty of opportunities for riverside (and floating) bars and restaurants. For me it seemed like a mixture of continental cosmopolitan city and German efficiency. There were grand old city buildings mixed with state of the art office blocks and shopping centres. The main shopping centre had a Cruise themed weekend. In the main atrium there was a stage play – yes, a real play – set on board a cruise ship (I think) with the actors having something to do with each other (I think) with some hilarious, but sometimes serious, goings on (I think). It was all in German.

All that didn’t account for how busy the city was. Over in the main park, there was a pumping sound system with loads of people dancing the night away, many on top of a bus. Lots of pink around. Also, come to think of it, I thought, all the German flags on the main buildings have been replaced with rainbow flags. Ah, it’s Hamburg Pride!

Back in the shopping centre, and into one of the many restaurants. This blog isn’t a food review, so I’ll say the food was ‘very nice’. After this I walked through the main shopping street, busy with the usual mixture of big brand stores and dodgy street traders (and tonight, a tennis match on the pavement between men in skirts and dresses) on to the main train station to head back to the hotel, thinking about the next couple of days which would be new territory for me and be sure to be one of the best drives.

KM TRAVELLED TODAY: 436 km TOTAL: 785 km