HiveBuzz Party - Clean Planet, Sightseeing & Visiting the Portugese District in Hamburg

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This is the final chapter in my long weekend HiveBuzz Party report that I hope gives everyone a good idea of the Hive Meetup and consider to join one in the future.

I slept very well on Saturday night after our busy day and we had arranged to meet up at around 10am the next day at the bakery at Landungsbrücke again. This bakery had a lovely selection of baked items and I enjoyed a very nice hot chocolate there which gave me a nice sugary kick. The first plan of action was to take part in the clean planet action where we would visit a busy path and beach and do a clean up action.

This would be my first time to take part in a clean up action and I was very excited to take part. I know that many people are trying to help keep the environment clean and I like to do my part for this too. We have many people who just discard their rubbish on the street or anywhere they like without consideration and it is very frustrating. Doing this action as a group makes it much more fun and I can certainly recommend it.

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The weather was so nice and we headed out on the boat across the harbor, switching boats like you would catch a bus and it was great fun to see a public transport boat service which was included in my Hamburg day ticket.

There was an unfortunate incident where one gentleman ran ahead to hold the boat up while his wife and teenage daughter came behind him, but after he jumped on, the harbor police closed the boat on him and he sailed away without them. His wife was very cross with him and looked like he could get told off when she caught up with him. I made a mental note to myself to not get on a boat without my wife.

As we traveled, we were all chatting and having some good conversation. Myself and @edje were working out how far we can be decentralised and if we need to make any compromises for this before we reached our destination. At our destination we parted ways with @arcange and I was sad to say goodbye as he was great company to be around. He was being picked up to travel back home abit earlier as he had come quite far for the meetup.

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@bechibenner was leading the charge with gathering rubbish. His love and passion for the environment was a beacon urging me forward to help save the planet. I found myself wanting to get more rubbish cleaned than him, but as you can see by how happy he looks, there was no stopping this eco-warrior in action. He was an inspriation to us all on this day, showing what we can achieve if we put our minds to it. I manged to get some help from @quekery who donated his rubbish to me, which was a kind gesture and lifted my spirits somewhat. Also @ynwa.andree donated some too when @bechibenner wasn't looking, I think he felt sorry for me.

It was generally pretty clean here so there wasn't a huge amount of rubbish to cleanup, but we still wanted to do our best to clean up what we could. @tibfox advised us that the plastic bags are made from recycled materials and that they are a special bio-degradable type that will not harm the environment. It was great to know that we are removing plastics from the environment and beaches and not adding to it, even if we are trying to help.

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We were well looked after with drinks and the cold beetroot guys and @tibfox were especially motivating, urging everyone on and focusing our energy on saving the planet. @solarwarrior was telling us all about the great iniciatives he is involved in on Hive and how we can use Hive to make the world a better place and the clean planet is part of this. It was so great to spend time with people who are out there trying to make the world a better place and that it is all happening on Hive.

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There was some fun banter to be had, but we were all diligently collecting even tiny pieces of metal or cigerette butts and this was really appreciated by others using the path and beach. After some time and discussing this with @tibfox, I realised how good it could make you feel to be active and do things for others in the community. Doing this with my new found Hiver friends made it even more special.

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Before we knew it, the time was flying by and we were reaching our destination.

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I was amazed at how there were such beautiful walkways in the harbour and beaches that people could enjoy. The weather was really amazing and once we had bagged up and disposed of our collected rubbish, we eagerly grabbed some drinks to rehydrate ourselves. Although this was the first time I have helped clean up with this initiative, I am sure now it won't be the last. Helping the planet and collecting rubbish is addictive and I want to do more.

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The rules in the community say you should label it with your name, so that we have proof that we collected it. Here is my proof of collection. @tibfox kindly wrote this for everyone so we could confirm our participation.

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Once this was over, we all headed back to the bakery where we started and then some grabbed a snack before we headed back to the main train station to split into 2 groups. One group were to visit the art gallery, the other which I was part of, decided to do the tour bus.

I took the tour bus and it was a great decision, even though I do love art. We saw some amazing sights, including driving around the Alster lakes and it was such a beautiful day, people were actively enjoying them. There were many former public toilets that were now converted into little cafes that the tourbus advised were very popular. We could see them that many people were using them along the lakes. Knowing how unclean german public toilets are, I was unsure if them being cafes was a nice thing or not.

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After the lakes, we drove around the center, visiting the main 5 churches in Hamburg and some of the popular tourist attractions like the minature wunderland here which has the worlds largest model train display. I didn't go in and see it today, but it will be on my list when I return.

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We also drove through the Reeperbahn during the day time which was a total different scene compared to the previous night. The previous night it was crowded with party-goers and today was calm and quiet. There were many bars and shops like the one you see here. This one caught my eye as it has the same name as the bar in Dusk til Dawn. The tour lastest an hour and a half roughly and was well worth it. You can normally hop on and off, but we didn't have time until our dinner to do that this time.

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Not only could you get some great information from the guide, but you saw all the main tourist sights like the famous customs house here on the right. Apparently, all the goods went through this customs house back in the day and now it is a historical mueseum.

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With the tour and art gallery visit coming to an end, we all headed to the Portugese district where there are many Portugese restaurants all very close to each other and it had a lovely ambient and vibe to it. Having not been to Portugal before, I was unsure of what portugese food was like. But it was a mix of tapas, meats with rice and fried potatoes on offer. Everything looked very tasty and the waiter and service were excellent and very friendly.

I sat close to @edje, @alessandrawhite and @bitterirony. We had some pleasant conversation and the time seemed to fly by so quickly as it does when you have good company.

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As the evening drew to a close, we said more goodbyes and some departed on their journey already on the Sunday, but there was a hardcore group staying until the Saturday. Some of us guided by @ninaeatshere , headed a little up the harborside to a really cool Bierstube tucked away in a hotel that was not easy to find. It was getting dark and the views were very picturesque as we approached the bar. As the sun was setting, it was also setting on our Hive meetup in Hamburg and this was a beautiful point to view it from and with some lovely people.

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Once at Willi's Bierstube, we found a cozy spot and enjoyed some drinks and good banter into the small hours. We had one of the best seats there and the place soon filled up with a lively crowd. The waitress was very delightful serving drinks and it was the perfect way to spend a few last hours together with new and old friends who came from far and wide to be together, but united by the power of the Hive blockchain.

A big thank you to @tibfox for the great organisation of the event and all the work you put in to share your wonderful city with us.

Thanks for reading!

Credits:

All photos are my own unless stated.

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