North West Germany

We spent the day in Hamburg, Germany's 2nd largest city, enjoying the Aldstadt (old town) in particular. The city is connected to the North Sea by the Elbe River and has been an important maritime city since medieval times. Its official name is the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg. It joined the Hanseatic League, the commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and their market towns, back in the Middle Ages.