Hamburg, Take Two

We left Bavaria behind and took the train from Frankfurt to spend the weekend in Hamburg. We had reserved in advance but when we boarded the train we found someone else in our seats, they had been double booked. Dayne used his high school German with the conductor and soon we were in 1st class. It wasn't all clear sailing though as the conductor told us that if someone boarded in one of the other cities with our seats we'd have to move again. Luckily that didn't happen and soon we were checking into the über hip hotel The George.


We grabbed a few pre-dinner drinks in the hotel bar which does more than a just passable cocktail and then headed to Carl's out on the harbor for dinner. I really like this area of Hamburg, it's actually very similar to what's going on in London's Dock Lands (post coming). And the food at Carl's was a nice change from the big heavy Bavarian dishes we had been eating for the past week+.

After dinner we met our friend Cirsten at The Four Seasons in their "Luggage Room" Bar.

This tiny, 2 level bar tucked inside the elegant hotel is rumored to have once been a luggage storage area. Not a lot of people seem to know about it (besides the locals) and it's got a real speakeasy feel without being one at all. Great service and cocktails- Dayne took this photo standing in the doorway.

The next morning we went and did a bit of shopping at Weinquelle Liquor Store. This store was amazing, carrying a huge selection of things we can't find in the states and even giving us tastings (at 10:30am) of rare gins and whiskeys. Among other things Dayne picked up an amazing bottle of gin aged in Isley Scotch barrels.

We then met Forest who came over from Paris to join us for the night. And after lunch another friend Liz, met up.  Unlike us this was Dayne's first time in Hamburg so we went for a little sightseeing cruise around the harbor area.

One of the ships we saw was the Eclipse, the world's most expensive yacht being built for Roman Abramovich. It's 558 feet long, has nine decks, pool, cinema, 20 onboard jet skis, 4 boats, 2 heli pads and supposedly a missile defense system. All that and more for $500 million. 

Also in port at the time was the Maersk Sheerness which at 1,099.1 ft and carrying 8,000 20 foot containers, is one of the largest cargo ships in the world.

After the cruise we strolled around charming Hamburg for the rest of the afternoon.

That evening Forest, Dayne and I met our friend Cirsten at the wine shop she use to work at for champagne before before heading out to dinner at VLET. This is a wonderful restaurant which puts a modern spin on many classic German dishes and also uses some French influences.

No trip to Hamburg is complete without cocktails at Le Lion, where we headed to after dinner and stayed late into the night/ or early into the morning- however you like to look at it!

All photos from Hamburg are here.

In like Le Lion...

Day two in Hamburg we took a great cruise on the upper lake canals. It is very very pretty with it's swans, mansions, waterways, etc. Hamburg boasts a lot of things- one of them being the Venice of Germany.

The US embassy here looks like a mini White House...

After the cruise we grabbed some lunch and did a bit of shopping. That's what girls do on vacation you know? Eat, shop, drink. In that order. So once we had fulfilled said itinerary we got ready for our night out.

A short walk from our hotel and we were at our destination and very excited! We sat up at the bar and within minutes Mario Kappes was chatting to us while Marcel Baumann mixed up some gorgeous cocktails. When Mario learned that we had come to Hamburg specifically to try out Le Lion he introduced us to owner and fabulous host Jorg Meyer.

I was asking them about Le Bon Lion which I had heard about from Mike Meinke, a speakeasy supposedly across the street from Le Lion. Mike had told me to bring a little something with a lion on it as entry. Turns out you don't really need to do that and they only use the speakeasy for private tastings now. Well it just so happened that tonight they were doing a private tasting with the first bottle of Cartavio XO being opened in Germany and they invited us on the fun!

A small group of approximately 10 of us walked across the street to the French bistro there, entered the restaurant and climbed a narrow flight of stairs.

Once inside the tiny room the private tasting of this magnificent rum (and also some very nice Pisco's) took place. Jorg thought it was hysterical that he was getting the bottle and tasting before previously mentioned Mike Meinke and that Mike had sent me there. He recorded a little message to Mike:

We had such a great time with everyone at the tasting, especially Cirsten Kessler, it was so fun meeting everyone!

 

Back across the street for more cocktails until the wee hours of the morning. I gave Mario the lion bottle stopper I brought them and we ceremoniously chose the bottle of Hendricks for it to go on. So if you see a lion bottle stopper on a bottle in Le Lion know that it was a little trinket from Seattle (that we actually bought in South Africa!)

To top off the amazing night Jorg pulled out a bottle of Pol Roger and with the base of a wine glass sabered it open!! More importantly Jorg told me that the next time I come he'll saber a bottle of Pol Roger Winston Churchill! I will be holding you to that kind sir and will see you next September hopefully!

Thank you Le Lion staff and customers for a hell of a good time! Photos of all our Hamburg adventures are here.