Düsseldorf

Sooooooo, we live in Kaiserswerth, which is a suburb of Düsseldorf. We’re really close to the city and since that’s where I told everyone I was moving, I’ll tell you a little more about it. It’s a city of about 250,000, but feels bigger than that. It’s the fashion capital of Germany – there are fashion houses everywhere – and is sometimes called “Little Paris.” I don’t know if I agree with that nickname, but it’s out there. Düsseldorf is on the Rhein River and is about 30 km north of Cologne. We’re also 2 hours by car from Amsterdam and 4 hours from Paris. The most famous area of the city is the Kö, short for König’s Allee, or the King’s Avenue. It’s comparable to Michigan Avenue in Chicago or Fifth Avenue in New York – very high end shopping. These are some pictures of the Kö, with the river down the middle.

Near the Kö is the Düsseldorf Hauptbahnhof (or main train station) and the Altstadt. If you can’t tell yet, the Altstadt is my favorite area of the city. It is the part of the city with the stereotypical old German architecture and tiny, cobblestone streets. I’m not sure if it is completely authentic since most of Düsseldorf was flattened in WWII, but it doesn’t really matter because it still looks cool. They also refer to the Altstadt as “Der Längste Theke der Welt,” or the longest bar in the world. Within only a couple of city blocks there are 260 bars! There's even a "White Bear Bar" in the picture - anyone recognize that? Düsseldorf is home to the traditional Altbier. It is darker then a pilsner and outsells pilsners here by something like 6 to 1. It’s good. Jenny’s sports teams at ISD are actually called the “Alts.” You can find virtually every type of food you could want in the Altstadt, with the exception of Mexican food. They’ve got German, French, Argentinean, Thai, Moroccan, Indian, Italian, Turkish, etc. Keeping with the trend in Germany, the Altstadt has its fair share of bakeries as well. Every day of the week there is a huge market with fresh fruits and vegetables, meat, cheeses, olives, breads, flowers, ethnic foods, and of course beer. I ride my bike along the Rhein and pick up fresh food for dinner a lot of the time (we have to shop a little more frequently here than in the U.S. because our refrigerator is pretty small). Food also doesn’t last as long because it has fewer preservatives in it, but I’m sure that’s good for you.

A couple hundred yards down the Rhein from the Altstadt is the Hafen (literal translation harbour), which is what it is. The harbour used to have a more industrial focus, but as Düsseldorf has transformed into a more fashion and arts-centered city the Hafen has been reglorified. It is now the “new money” center of town. It is filled with modern architecture, trendy restaurants, and upscale hotels. All of the boats in the harbour now are personal yachts, rather than commercial ships.

More recently . . . a few days ago we were invited over to my dad’s friend Mel’s. They live over in what could most appropriately be called Expat Row here in Kaiserswerth. Four families from Minnesota came over for cake and cookies. It was strange for there to be four families that lived within 10 miles of each other in the U.S. now living within 10 miles of each other in Germany. It’s nice if you get homesick, I guess. Meanwhile Jenny was playing out in the street with kids from the U.S., Sweden, Scotland, Germany, etc. – that’s different from MN. I think I may have been identified as the new babysitter for everyone. Could be alright seeing as I have no big plans at the moment.

I planned on leaving Mel’s early to head towards the city to play Ultimate Frisbee. I figure that will be a good way to meet people around here. At least I’m hoping there will be people my own age and that I will be forced to speak German a little more. Kaiserswerth is nice, but it is very much a family town – lots of younger kids. Anyways, I did leave early but found out I had the Frisbee time wrong. It had started two hours earlier than I thought, so I’ll have to wait ‘til next week L. Luckily I hadn’t left the house yet, so hung around and made dinner – something other than Tim’s cycle of pasta/pizza/sandwiches for once, which was very nice.

As long as it does not rain this week I should have stuff to keep me busy. If it rains I’m housebound because I don’t have a car and don’t want to ride a bike in the rain. I’m hoping for sun, which can be scarce at times here in “Drizzledorf.” The climate here seems to be what you would expect in Seattle or London. It never gets too warm or too cold, but it rains quite a bit. Good news: Shadow comes this week so I’ll have some company during the day!! It has been a little lonely since I got here. My dad is at work all day and traveling sometimes. And Jenny has school and sports all of the time. That is why I definitely HAVE to go to Frisbee next week! And I can’t travel yet since I have to be in Kaiserswerth for Jenny. For those of you who I said I’d visit, it’ll have to be after September 15^th or so when my mom gets back in the country!

Other information if I haven’t talked to you in a while . . .

I’m going to try and go to Oktoberfest in Munich near the end of September. If you are going to be anywhere close, let me know.

I’ll be back in the states (Maryland, D.C., VA/UVA, North Carolina) from October 4^th-15^th. I’m coming back for my first-year roommate’s wedding, but I also should have some time to visit people!

I’m training for the Athens Marathon on November 4^th. It’ll be my first marathon (barring any further injuries)!

Let me know if you want to visit or want to plan a trip somewhere cool! I’ll try and be in touch a little more often from now on! I hope everyone is doing well!!