Moin!

In Hamburg, they say “Moin” to say Hello, just like we say “Servus or Grüß Gott“ here in Bavaria. From where we lived, there´s a direct train that goes to Hamburg Hbf in 5 hour and a half with 2 stops.With car it can be approx. 7 hours.I love traveling, but I always caught myself daydreaming that I can teleport myself into a place that I love to explore. Just the thought of it makes me smile, without the hassle of airports or long Autobahn driving. Thinking of our upcoming flight of almost 19 hours i asked myself it that would be possible…leider Nein!

And in my daydreaming state I find myself in Hansestadt Hamburg...finally! Hamburg is the total opposite of Munich.This city was the total opposite of Bavaria in every sense. Their world renowned port,Lnadungsbrücken, harbour areas &Fish markets along the Elbe river & beach , marine architecture , such as Elbphilharmonie which is my favourite next to the Dockland, gemütlich , super relaxed atmosphere and laid back lifestyle, those crazy ferry rides, and just the overall vibrance of the city .It is just so overwhelmingly unique.And lastly–their one of a kind Miniatur Wünderland.

From the name itself–it is a small version of international renowned places around the world.From Antartica to the farthest East and West.So yes, in Hamburg, we´ve got ourselves a treat to travel the world within almost 2,5 hours without airports!

We didn´t play as tourists, but it is a Summer month so it was also packed with crowds, but we actually didn´t mind.It was warm but tolerable, with mass of people just like us,trying to escape from day to day routines, but again, we don´t mind since we started early to avoid long queues.The city is huge, plenty to sightsee,things to explore, and buy eventually, never boring and their malls are really superb.The food that I can´t complain.If you love architecture like I do, then this place won´t dissapoint you.

The thing is, Hamburg is more than museums, harbour sights, Fisch Brötchen and Elbe river cruises, as I said, inside-the larger than life Miniatur Wunderland, is a whole different wonderland that really leaves us speechless and definitely worth a share. I have been writing a lot here in my Blog about my personal experience here in Germany at first as a Non -German speaker Expat , but now that I have fully integrated into this culture, finally able to speak German, thank God, i just felt so proud to be able to see all of these places, in smaller replicas.

Miniatur Wunderland is located in Speicherstadt, a well known area in Hamburg where red-bricks speaks of legacy, rich history of Hamburg as a trading city and power struggle. Hamburg itself was heavily bombed during WWII but it has regained,rebuilt, restored and risen to where it stand now. It is one of the major city here in Germany and a magnet for tourism.Hamburg is schön, ( or Hamburg is beautiful) most of my friends say that and now i believe them.The moment i stepped inside Miniatur Wunderland, I saw trains,lots of it, cars, railways connecting different lands, islands, and countries—it felt like seeing the little towns, cities and landmarks that I have only seen in brochures and travel guides all in one place.

This place is like a dream that the landscapes, buildings and every single detail were all scaled down to fit into a tiny larger than life real world scenarios that is unimaginable perfect! When I was studying Architecture, we are used to making our own scale models, so when I saw Miniatur Wunderland, I was completely blown away.I knew the hardwork that lies behind each detail.This Guiness world record-holder place is just insane. It is already both written in history. I know already that Germans are crazy about their cars, you name it and they are all made here in Deutschland, but the talent and approx. 800,000 manhours poured into this place is just unparalled.The largest and longest model railways system, you can find it here.And it comes even better and better.

Germany sets its record once again.I personally loved trains, but i don´t take it often so I can´t speak much about it. Deutsche Bahn is great, but its not perfect, and using U-Bahn in all the different cities we´ve explored here in Germany, i can say that it is rather efficient.While exploring this place, I have seen it all.Top cities worth mentioning are all here, the cars are moving, the ships sailed on real waters, with waves and all, from north to south to east and west.This place is like replica of the real world, with human models, with carousels and everything.Trust me, children and adults are watching with their mouths opened.

Even a prototype and replica of slum areas I´ve seen inside and the interior elevation and sections of buildings are shown.The wires, post lamps, bridges, airports with airplane landings and taking off is just pure genius.When i saw this place, it was really an eccentric surprise to all of us. I thought it would just be another museum, but I was utterly mistaken.

Miniatur Wunderland was an eccentric surprise, a whole different world.

Once you´ve seen it, you´ll defintely get what I mean.

My favourites so far are the the rocking Gondolas in Venice,it looks so real, the herd of sheep in the alpine panoramic views in Austria,Knuffingen airport, with airplanes and ground traffic, the mountain tunnels of Switzerland, Italy of course, F1 in Monaco & the Provence,and the idyllic Scandinavian landscapes.There is so much to see.

The attention to details, and pure creativity is just world class.The whole experience was just too unique and out of this world but to think that such place exists really blows my mind away and I can´t wait to show it to others.I´ve said many times that only nature takes my breath away but whenever I see things like Miniatur Wunderland, I am evenly grateful. Just like the documentary video above says–what comes next is written in the stars.

I am curious when the Asian countries comes next here in Miniatur Wunderland , I really wanted to see how the Shinkansen bullet train travel in almost same real time speed!! Numbers don´t lie but imagine here, almost more than 1,000 trains run on 15,400meters length track with almost real-time traffic motion.

In the end i was really just tired and overwhelmed, these views and the fine details which my brain cannot digest anymore.It is enough.It is fine but I´ve had enough to see.

Reality check, i cannot build amazing almost-perfect scale models such as the one in Miniatur Wunderland, also I can´t travel the whole world in a week, or within a month or so.It is both unrealistic and would be so expensive.But then again, seeing places like this fulfill a lifelong dream to explore, wander and being in a state of wonder about nature´s unparalled beauty and with the help of today´s modern technology, who knows, I can feel the waves from the Grand Canal and feel me heart beat when I see the Gondolas in Venice once again.

Again, what´s next is written in the stars…

Until then, stay safe in this weather, this heatwave is no joke.Tschüß!