Traffic has been terrible since the summer holidays ended. This time of the year I should the very latest leave for work at 07.00 am to make sure I am in the office before 09.00 am. BUT….nearly each day I have an excuse for being late: the dog needed longer on it’s walk than usual, I just couldnt find the shirt I wanted to wear, I needed a second cup of coffee to wake up, there seemed to be so much time, and then, all of a sudden it was nearly 07.30 and I left the house in a rush. Truth is, I love the morning hour and would much rather spend it at home.
On good days the trip to Hamburg takes 75 minutes, on bad days, like during last week it can take up to almost 2 hours. There is almost always a traffic jam in the inner city and last week, shortly after 09.00 am traffic was so slow that I could take some pictures from the car. They show the Alster, the inner part of it, and in the background you can see Hamburg’s city hall. 
My way then leads past the main station and after that it is only a few minutes u
ntil I have reached the office:
This article was written as part of the 1 Day 1 World project: http://nwframeofmind.com/2014/09/28/1-day-1-world-project-900-am-1000-am/
Trina's North Germany 
Finally I managed to read some of your posts. It’s nice to hear something from the others life. When I’m late for school, I’m thinking of similar reasons, but for everybody knows that neither I drink coffee nor have an own dog to walk, I am honest with myself.
Well, I would never use any of these reasons as an excuse. I am aware that I often simply stretch the time as much as I can until I really have to leave. I am not getting into trouble at work, because I can simply stay longer to catch up on the missed hours.
In that case it’s a quite comfortable arrangement. Wish I could stay longer, because when school regularly ends around 4.45 pm, the part of the day when you can get up to the most things is still over, so one or two hours more or less doesn’t matter. But one could be more concentrated in the first lessons being better rested.
You do have a long journey. I am so lucky only 2 minutes across the road.
I know procrastination well 🙂 You do have an horrendously long commute, I once had a 45 minute journey to work (when the traffic gods were willing) and that was bad enough, although it was a nice way to wind down after work as I listened to music in the car. I don’t envy you yours, that is a lot of hours travelling each day, though that is a nice view as you near the city.
Jude xx
I have found many ways to make commuting less frustrating: listening to audio books, practicing Norwegian, for wich I have a number of good CDs, I got nail files and nail polish for longer standstills in the car, as well as handcream and lotions, my camera and I am on the phone quite a bit (got a hands-free of course 🙂
It sounds as though you have everything under control 🙂
My husband’s commute is about as long as yours but I think you have more fun, Trina. 🙂 Thanks for sharing your hour with us today.
2 hours! I’d be in a strop! Unless of course I could take photos like your first one. I’d love to see Hamburg some day. 🙂
Let me know when you are in town, I will show you around!
I agree that it’s so nice at home in the mornings, and there are so many things I want to do to start my day right — some yoga, some meditation, reading the newspaper, taking a walk … I can’t possibly squeeze them all in and get to work on time. For 23 year I had a 40-minute commute but just moved and now it’s down to 15, which I’m of course enjoying!
My daughter is studying in Hamburg (University of Applied Sciences, I believe is the name) in mid-March through July and I’m taking her and spending the first few weeks of March with her, and would love any ideas you have of places we should visit, eat, etc. while I am there!
Hi, I would love to help you and your daughter to get to know Hamburg. Maybe you could send me Emails with your questions and some information on what you like (or dislike) and what kind of things interest you. i will tell you about places and things to do and adresses where you can get further information.
My email is trina59@web.de