If the winter gets cold enough and the ice on the Alster River gets thick enough (between 15-22cm), then Hamburg celebrates Alstereisvergnügen when the whole city comes out to play on the frozen Alster river.  The last time this occurred was 15 years ago.

It was a very surreal experience to actually be able to walk across the Alster River and despite the cold, I had lots of fun photographing people playing on the ice.  I was only able to last 45 minutes on the ice before I lost all feeling in my fingers and legs.

I can now tick walk across a frozen river off my bucket list.

Kids playing on the ice

Rescue Helicopter Landing on the Alster

Spinning on the ice

Small kid playing ice hockey

And this is who he is playing against

Most of Hamburg out enjoying Alstereisvergnügen

The rest of my photos from Alstereisvergnügen can be found here.