What to do if you have ''seen'' everything in Hamburg?
Hamburg, as the second largest city in Germany after Berlin is known for many things. According to some sources there is also one of the top rated tourist attractions in Germany, together with the Brandenburg Gate, or Cologne Cathedral. But it has also other things to offer.
Do you know what is the top rated and most visited attraction in Hamburg? It is the Miniatur Wunderland the world's largest model railway located in the heart of the historic Port of Hamburg. It attracts people of all ages, you can spend hours exploring the miniatur copies of the most beautiful cities crowded with tens of thousands miniatures human figures. After seeing the Miniatur Wunderland by your own eyes you can personally wonder around the streets of the historic port, visit the modern Hafen-City with its famous Elbphilharmonie. You can chill in one of the many parks in the city, as Hamburg is also known as one of the greenest cities in Germany, winning the title of 'European Green Capital 2011'. If you have not had enough of party in the famous St Pauli district, try to visit the famous Hamburger Fischmarkt on Sunday morning for an after party with the locals.
And if you have already seen all of this and have already partied enough in one of the biggest party street in the world and you still have a couple hours left to spent try the Dialogue in the dark, or 'Dialog in Dunkeln'.
No one with a healthy sight can really imagine how does it feel to be blind. We get in touch with the visual impairments every day even when we often do not notice it. We meet people with dark glasses walking around us every day, see the Braille writing by every elevator ride, by opening every box of medicine or reading descriptions in museums. And we keep wondering how would I get from point A to B if I could not see anything right now.
Would it not be interesting to find out and see the daily life from their perspective for a while? Thanks to Dialogue in the Dark also located in the historic port just couple of minutes away from the famous Miniatur Wunderland, you can visit a market or a bar, explore the streets and other different environments by your self through all other sences, but sight. With the help of your visually impaired guide and a white cane, you get to experience the daily life from a totally different perspective.
Their goals are:
''to change the mindset of the general public on disability & diversity and to increase tolerance for 'otherness'”,
to provide employment for blind and visually impaired people around the world.''
My own visit to Hamburg was all planed for students of an university spending a semester abroad in Germany and Dialogue in the dark was one of our stops. I was excited to see Hamburg itself and did not really pay attention to an hour or two spent in this place. I was actually scared at first, I had no idea how I would feel in an absolute dark space and was not sure if I want to do it. But it ended up to be one of the great things I have experienced during my visit of Hamburg and my ESC. So if you have a couple more hours to spend in this great city and you want to get a chance to learn to see in darkness, give it a try.
Sources:
https://www.planetware.com/tourist-attractions/germany-d.htm
http://www.dialogue-in-the-dark.com