Hamburg Itinerary
Wednesday, 14 April 2010 14:10
Hamburg Tour Itinerary
THURSDAY 3/6
Land, hopefully on time around 13:00 hr. in Hamburg, I pick yous up and we travel on the S & U-Bahn directly from the airport to the hotel (U-Bahn station St.Pauli)
Arrival at the hotel approx 14:00-14:30 hr.
Mid-afternoon head down to the river Elbe, have a dander along the promenade there, stretch our legs, and there are a couple of beach clubs built up there for the Summer where we can stop off and relax directly at the river.
Early evening a meal together ?? WEATHER DEPENDENT , pissy weather : in the cellar of a well known brewery near the city centre , which is a bit of a laugh there and the beer flows from wooden casks stood at each table for “self-service” OR warm / good weather : Italian or Portuguese restaurant where we can maybe sit outside. The 2nd option will be more reasonable than the brewery , although for a one-off the brewery is payable , and the food there is good traditional north german grub !!
Bring the boys to the Schanzenviertel , a student area central in the city here and not at all far away from the hotel to finish off the night / early morning Friday with a bit of a pub-crawl ……. As if we’ll need it , but that area will be buzzing , already on a Thursday, as the weekend has “almost” started , especially for students !! : ))
FRIDAY 4/6
09:30 HR. LATEST, PICK-UP & LEAVING HOTEL, as I have a barge / boat trip planned on the Elbe around the harbour here
After the boat trip a visit to the Michaelis (Michel) cathedral here , the inside is interesting enough , but a jaunt up to the top of the tower there gives a great view out over the city and river Elbe , so the boys can appreciate where / what is here in the city ! (small entry fee here, 3 or 5 Euro depending on how much you want to see)
From mid-day or early afternoon everyone is freed up to do their own thing , have lunch , take a look at the city centre , the lakes in the middle of town , the City Hall (Rathaus) , do a bit of shapping ??? etc etc . If we all end up staying together and sitting outside a pub or café somewhere , so be it !! : ))
17:30 HR. LATEST, MEET BACK AT HOTEL AS WE WILL LEAVE ON THE U-BAHN AROUND
17:45 HR. TO HEAD UP TO THE RUGBY PITCH WHERE THERE IS A RECEPTION WITH BEER TRAILER AT “CLUB PRICES” FOR ALL THE PARTICIPATING TEAMS AND H.R.C. MEMBERS ! ON THE WAY UP TO THE PITCH FROM THE NEAREST U-BAHN STATION WHERE WE GET OFF IN THE STADTPARK (CITY PARK) , WE CAN STOP OFF AT ONE OF THE BEER GARDENS THERE NEAR WHERE THE PITCH IS SITUATED. (5 mins away on foot)
19:00 HR. OFFICIAL RECEPTION OF THE TEAMS AT THE PITCH.
Sometime later return via Uahn to St. Pauli / Reeperbahn area ,
SATURDAY 5/6
Saturday is a RUGBY DAY !!
U-Bahn from the hotel to the Stadtpark.
Captain’s meeting at the pitch at 10:30 HR. ,
TOURNAMENT
09:00 – 12:00 hr. Mini, Midi & youth rugby matches.
10:30 HR. CAPTAIN’S MEETING TO GET EXACT TOURNAMENT DETAILS , RULES AND ARRANGEMENTS.
PARTICIPATING TEAMS
ASV Koeln (from Cologne) , 1st Bundesliga , but they will be relegated this year and are losing heavily lately !
BSV 1892 (from Berlin) , 2nd Bundesliga , and no hot shots !
R.C. Heilbronn from the south of Germany , regional league and on paper more like our level !
H.R.C. (the host !) relatively young team , 2nd Bundesliga , but we will also be relegated into the regional league this year , I still play 1-2 games a year still for the 1st team when they have NO OTHER NR. 9 !!
Academy (from Norniron) , on paper a thrown together bunch that never really made much of themselves , but experience is EVERYTHING (so I read somewhere )
12:00 – 18:00 HR. ROUND ROBIN TOURNAMENT , 2 X 15-20 MIN HALVES, AT SOME POINT DURING PROCEEDINGS THERE WILL BE A SHORTENED OVER 35’S MATCH BETWEEN H.R.C. OLDIES AND. AFTERWARDS , SHOWER AND A FEW TOOTS AT THE PITCH, DISCUSSING HOW GOOD WE WERE AND ADMIRING OUR TROPHY.
19:00 HR. SHUTTLE COACHES FROM THE PITCH TO OUR “BOULE-HALL” WHICH WE ARE USING FOR THE EVENING MEAL. JUST FOR INFO, BBQ GRUB DURING THE DAY AT THE PITCH, THE BUS TRANSFER TO THE MAIN DO AS WELL AS THE EVENING MEAL IS OF COURSE FREE FOR ALL OUR GUYS. DRINKS IN THE BOULE-HALL ARE A PLENTY , ONCE AGAIN AT “CLUB PRICES”.
20:00 HR. THE EVENING BASH STARTS “OFFICIALLY”.
No idea how long we will stay there , it is a bit out of town , quite similar to Academy’s distance to Belshaft city centre ,
Sometime later so whenever the beer is done out there Taxi back St. Pauli / Reeperbahn i
For the REALLY sturdy amongst us , the Fischmarkt has to be seen , down directly at the river Elbe , starting about 5:30 – 6:00 , where all hell is let loose there with live music , eats and beer stands in the old fish auction hall.
SUNDAY 6/6 (D-DAY , don’t miss the plane back !! : )) )
A few hours’ sleep
CHECK-OUT AT THE HOTEL IS PROBABLY 11:00 HR. LATEST , THE U-BAHN LEAVES ST. PAULI EVERY 10 MINS , AND LEAVING AROUND 11 WOULD GET YOUS UP TO THE AIRPORT JUST AROUND THE RIGHT TIME.