June 22, 2024

The Alster River Canals - Hamburg

In medieval times, a dam turned the Alster River into a water reservoir to power all the mills operating on it's banks. This shaped the face of central Hamburg, as it is now, made up of two lakes called the AuBenalster (outer) and Binnenalster (inner). The river is feed from a spring outside of Hamburg and flows into the Elbe river just south of city center. We took a two hour cruise on the lakes and the many canals that the Alster runs through.

  • Which city in the world has the most bridges?

    Chongqing China is #1 with 10,000 bridges.


    Hamburg is #2 with 2,496 - more than the combined bridges from Venice, London and Amsterdam.


    Berlin is #3 with 1700 bridges.

  • Which city in world has most canals?

    Hamburg wins! with more canals than Venice and Amsterdam combined.

Above is Hamburg's most exclusive Hotel Atlantic Hamburg - the globe that sits on top of its marque has been transformed into a soccer ball in honor of the UEFA 2024.

Rondeelteich is the most exclusive neighborhood in Hamburg and the only way you can get one of these mansions is to marry in or inherit it. There were lots of kayaks, dragon boats, canoes and paddle boarders throughout the lake - almost all are wind or paddle operated. The only motorized vehicle's were our ferries and a few small boats for supervising the sail boat lessons.

By Pat Patrick May 11, 2026
Some days I just don't want to sight see! My birthday was one of them. I just wanted to indulge in a good movie in a comfy, cool theater, eat some popcorn and follow with a yummy lunch! That's exactly what I did, despite some of my friends trying to convince me go on a 5 hour van to see 2 gigantic temples.
By Pat Patrick May 11, 2026
The ancient temple of Soo Poo Kong was our next stop. We were all wilting in the heat by then, but they promised an air conditioned room for a 20 minute movie on the history - so we rallied! Basically, the Temple was erected as a thank you to the Chinese Muslim Admiral Cheng Ho who let the fleet stop here on their way somewhere else in Asia back in 1416 because his helmsman, Wang Jing Hong, was sick. Wang recovered from his illness in a cave on this site and built first the statue and then the temple to thank Ho for his life.
By Pat Patrick May 11, 2026
SEMERANG is the capital of Central Java , the world's 13th largest island and the 5th largest in Indonesia. Despite it's size, it is the world's most populous island, holding over 150 Million people (over 55% of Indonsesia's population). Today, I did a 50 person bus tour of some of the Semerang's history , so I could cover a lot in one day.