düsseldorf!

i apologize for the lack of post yesterday. we didn't get back from düsseldorf until a bit late in the evening.

onto the post!

as i mentioned, we went to düsseldorf yesterday, with Samuel. he is a MUCH different style of tour guide than Miriam and Elisabeth! (but, this is not a bad thing, because it's interesting to see the cities in different points of view!)

we took the bus to Leverkusen Mitte, and our bus unloaded AS the train to DUS was pulling away from the station! curses! considering we still needed to purchase a ticket, that's ok. when we attempted to purchase the ticket from the kiosk, we were met with errors three times. SO, we went into the depot to purchase one. (this was lucky we weren't at the Opladen station, where there isn't a ticket counter, which i have learned can be very troublesome)

the DE-Bahn guy was SO incredibly slow! there was a fellow in front of us, that we waited behind for a good 5 or 6 minutes. THEN, when it came our time, it took another 3 minutes! the guy was typing on his keyboard with TWO fingers. *sigh*

(i tell you these inane details to explain WHY it is so incredibly irritating when they go on strike. which by the way, they have decided to do today)

anyhow, about 20mins later, we were in Düsseldorf! i've had two previous experiences with the city so far this trip, but there were incredibly brief. so, getting to delve into the city was quite fantastic! it was an awful lot like chicago, if chicago were clean. and friendly.

we spent a good amount of time in the Kö district, which is ridiculously posh. so many boutiques and shops that even walking in to the store you have to earn 7 figures per year LOL! to be serious, these were places that a sweater costs more than my monthly rent. (and in some cases, more than twice the monthly rent) BUT, it was very cool seeing something very out of the ordinary for me.

after a while, we walked into Alt Stadt (the old city) with the most fantastic architecture! so many interesting sights, and then so many little bakeries and cafes! (i think my favorite part of germany is being able to smell all of these foods! i'm such a food-a-holic!)

we mad our way down to the Rhine. we watched several boats (HUGE boats) going up and down the river. and then walked along for a while, making our way towards the "tower." i'm not entirely sure of the name of said tower, i'll have to look that up.

went inside the tower, took the elevator to ~168meters up, and entered the observatory. even though it was pretty cloudy yesterday, you could see SO far. apparently, on a clear day, you can see Leverkusen from up there! after a bit, we walked up to the TOP of the tower, which is a revolving restaurant. very cool, but very pricey. we considered getting a beer, but Samuel decided much better to grab one elsewhere. took a trip down to the level just below the observatory, which is actually "outside" the building. it was very, very windy! we did not spend much time out there.

made our way back into Alt Stadt, and stopped at the "golden kessel" for an alt bier (the Düsseldorf drink of choice, and reason for animosity between Düsseldorf and Köln) which was very good. (we had "schumacher alt")

and then started towards the Hbf (train station). our train was PACKED! we were crammed in, and barely had room to breath! LOL! there is a stop between DUS and LEV mitte, so it did empty out a bit. and then we got to LEV-mitte, said goodbye to Samuel who was headed home to Aachen, and ran to catch our bus which was getting ready to depart as we showed up.

once back to the house, we had some very good rose hip tea, and then some homemade chocolate liquor. quite fantastic!

now, we are going to eat brunch, perhaps take the bus to LEV, and in the evening a trip to aachen! tschuss!

i am not (such) a tourist.

today we were put out in the world by ourselves. dropped off in the main city of Leverkusen, and given a bus schedule! it's not as bad as it sounds, we were pretty much told exactly which bus station, and exactly which busses would lead us back to miriam's house. (which interestingly i learned is in Opladen, not in Leverkusen, but the address is listed as Leverkusen.)

we wandered around their mall (which is apparently VERY new, and a very new concept to germany) for about 45min but it was warm, and very crowded, because today is Rosenmontag. (a holiday. google it.)

so, we decided to wander around in the city itself. we went up and down several streets, admiring the architecture, and the ultra-pedestrian friendliness of it all. it was also nice to be out in the air, as today was one of the nicest days so far. it was warm, and the wind wasn't so
strong, either. it was perfect.

after a while, though, my back started hurting (again). the same place that hurt when i threw it out shoveling my neighbor's sidewalk. i've decided that once we get back to the states, i need to have the doctor look at it.

but i digress. we went back to the mall with the intention of sitting down for a while. we, however, found a watch shop and decided to look around for a bit. i found a watch for ~75€ but costs ~120€ back in the states (even on amazon!) and that doesn't include shipping for the states! so, i splurged. and i REALLY shouldn't have, but my watch back in the states is in need of repair, and i've already taken it to the fossil store TWICE to be repaired.

after being extravagant, we decided to head back home. waited for the bus, and had a lovely bus ride back to miriam's house. (the public transit here is SO impressively clean, quick, and dependable*)

*aside- the DE-Bahn is apparently striking ALL the time. and we learnt that tomorrow, when Rachel has to go back to Trier, she might have problems, because the workers voted by 97% to strike tomorrow. this is apparently very common, and a VERY much a headache to the folks here in DE.

we had a very nice dinner of antepasta and foccacia bread that Rachel baked herself. -- it's amazing, there is so much good food, so very readily available, and i eat much less, because i feel full so much faster. ALSO, i have had so very little soda (maybe 1/4 litre) since i've been here, and i really haven't had (much) of a problem without it!

for now, it's about 22.25, and i'm getting sleepy, so i'll leave it off here. tomorrow, we go to Oberhausen to see the steam/train museum.
tschuss!