Außenalster

The larger of the two Alster lakes in central Hamburg.

At a glance

Source	Author	Role	In one line
Neither Here Nor There	Bill Bryson	setting	The lakeside afternoon that wins Bryson over to Hamburg.

Neither Here Nor There — Bill Bryson (1991)

Source: Readwise highlight

I devoted the afternoon to a walk around the immense Outer Alster. I hadn’t intended to spend the whole afternoon there, but it was so beautiful that I couldn’t pull myself away.

• Role: setting
• In the book: The last scene of chapter 9. Sailboats and little red-and-white ferries cross the water, and grand houses sit on lawns running down to the lake. Bryson imagines living in one and getting to work on foot, by bike, by ferry or in your own boat, arriving in “such a rich and handsome city center”. The chapter ends: “What a perfect life you could lead in Hamburg.”
• Why it matters: It completes the turn from the grim port he expected, and the tame Reeperbahn, to a city he envies. It’s also the clearest image of the postwar German prosperity he keeps noticing.