2021-02-21 53 9

Sun 21 Feb 2021 in 53,9: 53.5150144, 9.9838062 geohashing.info google osm bing/os kml crox

Location

on the corridor of a building of artist's studios along the Veringkanal in Hamburg-Wilhelmsburg

Participants

• π π π (talk)

Expedition

I wasn't sure whether I'd go for this one because I had an exam to study for, but there had several reachable hashes in Hamburg recently that I'd missed, so I decided to attempt it as compensation even though it lay inside a building and I probably would't get to it. As a bonus, it was the first pretty warm day of the year (around 15 °C). I took the train to Hamburg-Veddel for a little over an hour, changing in Eidelstedt and Hauptbahnhof. Then I cycled 3 km on the dike along the Spreehafen and into a residential area. Wilhelmsburg, where the hash was located, lies between the two largest arms of the Elbe (Norderelbe and Süderelbe) and is Germany's largest inland island. I hadn't been there for a while and never in this part, even though the harbour scenery is beautiful.

The hash lay 7.5 m inside a building of artist's studios (Ateliers) on the edge of the Veringkanal. I had to cycle through a playground and was absolutely shocked by the amount of people – over a hundred children, parents and others were playing and talking close to each other, completely disregarding Covid guidelines. I had to put on my mask because it was impossible to cycle through them while keeping distance. I took pictures of the picturesque canal (that still had ice in it) and its ducks while walking along a wooden pedestrian bridge on the backside of the house. When I arrived at the front, I was surprised to see that the café that occupied the corner was open (all restaurants and bars were closed and you couldn't serve food indoors) and well frequented. I walked to the part of the building where the hash was located and saw that, right in front of the hash, a door stood ajar and I could see an artist's workshop (the precise coordinates were ca. 1 m behind its back wall). I didn't dare walking right in, so I strolled around and looked for a while. At the official entrance, I saw that the building, called Atelierhaus23, housed many independent artists (what a great location for a hash!).

While I stood in front of the workshop, I saw two women who'd been looking at me for a while, and was relived when one of them waved at me. I walked over, found out she was the workshop's owner and said that I'd like to walk 7 m into her building for a kind of online coordinate-based adventure game, showing her today's location. She immediately agreed, not even asking any questions. She led me to the corridor behind her workshop and told me to walk up and down until I was satisfied with the location on the map. My phone didn't recognise I was inside the building, but from a prominent corner and the fact that the coordinates were in the middle of the building, which was occupied by the corridor, I knew about where the hashpoint was. I took pictures (with permission) and paced around a little, then walked out and thanked her for her willingness, feeling fortunate for getting the Ambassador achievement without difficulty (and getting to the hash at all).

I then cycled to the Ernst-August-Schleuse (watergate) and over a total of seven bridges (no wonder Hamburg is the city with the most bridges in the world!) until I reached the Old Elbe Tunnel, built 1911. On the way, I took many photos, and got great views of the harbour (Hamburg has the third-busiest port in Europe and one of the 20 busiest container ports world-wide), its industry, its canals and watergates, the Elbe and many of Hamburg's most famous sights, including the Köhlbrandbrücke, the Elbphilharmonie, and the Michel. Shortly before the Alter Elbtunnel, took a detour to a popular lookout spot, which, sadly, was fenced off – so went the lookout behind the tunnel entrance instead, watching the ships for a short while. Everywhere, there were lots of people. I got on the elevator into the tunnel and exited at the Landungsbrücken.

Then I cycled through the Alter Elbpark with the world's largest Bismarck monument and through Planten and Blomen, Hamburg's inner-city park, which was extremely busy. Passing the empty ice rink, I reached my university physics department, where I'd only been a few times in the last year because of the pandemic, and then continued through the park. When I arrived at the big playground, I was shocked even more – literally hundreds of people were there, nobody wearing masks (though, I'll admit, the chances of outdoor infection are pretty low). I continued through the Japanese Garden and into the Rose Garden, took some cool photos of ice on frozen ponds, then made my way to Dammtor station through the Old Botanical Garden. After another small detour to inspect the everlasting Congress Center construction site, I took the train to Eidelstedt. There, I had to wait for over 20 minutes, so I decided to cycle two stations ahead. I arrived home in the evening, around four and a half hours after I'd left. Quite an enjoyable expedition, and my third reached geohash inside a building!

(Sorry for the lenghthy report, couldn't stop myself.)

Photos

will follow shortly (60 pictures and 3 videos, will upload selection)

Achievements

Land geohash, Bicycle geohash, Public transport geohash

π π π earned the Ambassador achievement by obtaining permission from the workshop's owner to access the (53, 9) geohash on 2021-02-21.