I slept over nine hours and awoke around 8:30 to a grey and rainy day. After coffee and some yogurt, I decided to take the S-Bahn into town to visit the highly regarded art museum built at the end of the 19th century—Hamburger Kunsthalle.

The museum is easy to navigate and has an impressive collection of European art from the medieval period through the early 21st century. There’s a large array of French and German Impressionists including the famous Caspar David Friedrich work “Wanderer Above the Fog” c. 1817.

After wandering around the St-George retail district, I found an interesting “concept” store for Closed, an Italian brand. I rarely buy anything when traveling, but I bought a cool Oxford cloth striped shirt with a Henley collar, which I’d never seen before. I hadn’t packed any similar shirts, so it will come in handy as the weather warms up over the weekend.

Later in the afternoon, I took a nice walk along the River Alster and enjoyed the upper-end residential district and the views of the city’s spires on the other bank. The rain was on and off, but there were plenty of runners, pedestrians and cyclists along the way. After about a 2.2 mile walk, I headed back to the Airbnb on the S-Bahn from Central Station.

I occasionally enjoy a vegan restaurant when traveling in Europe, so I took a long walk to central Ottensen and had a delicious dinner at Froindlichst, which also has a restaurant in Berlin. Afterwards, I stopped by a hipster bar on the way home and had a nice chat with the bartenders. Joanna had lived in Texas for a while and was planning a trip to LA. Like most younger Germans, her American English was excellent.

PS: I just got a Steps notification that I walked 10 miles yesterday.

In a few hours I leave for five nights in Berlin: my first visit to the capital.