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Published: December 22nd 2006
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(June 9-June 10, 2006)
June 9
We left London late afternoon on Ryan Air. They may be cheap, but very uncomfortable. The airline doesn't fly directly into Düsseldorf, rather into Weeze. The airport is tiny, and as we go through customs and get our airbags, the airport is empty, only a handful of gates, and everything is closed. The person at the information desk, very helpful, was about to leave, and we were lucky enough to get some information from her. An ATM adventure, and an hour bus drive to Düsseldorf later, we were ready to go. We got off the bus, and climbed on the first taxi that stopped. We forgot to look at the map in the bus, and we had no idea where we were compared to the hotel--ends up that there are two hotels with the same name that we booked, and we didn't know which one was ours. We guessed and told the driver the nearest to the center of town. Good guess. A pricey ride, but not expensive, the driver tried his best to talk with us about the world cup. Germany had just beaten Costa Rica earlier in the day, in an impressive
showing from the Costa Rican side.
We had decided to get into Düsseldorf because a very good friend (the same friend that we had met the year earlier in Valencia, Spain, see the blog) of my brother's was living in Mönchengladbach--a town west of Düsseldorf where she was teaching Spanish in a NATO base (check out the Wikipedia article on Mönchengladbach if you wish)--which was only 40 minutes away from Düsseldorf. We got the cheapest hotel we could find before we left London, and our friend was to meet us there. She did--she had a friend.
She had gone earlier in the day to walk the city and check into the hotel before we arrived. During her walk she had met a German fellow by the name of Olly. Strange fellow, but extremely nice. We had some drinks with Olly, an 'über' hippie. He had his hair way down his back, wearing an army jacket, with the an upside-down flag of the US (he explained to us it was in protest of the war, not the US, and that we should enjoy our time in Germany and wished us all the best), and burnt out from who knows what. After
the drinks he was ready to 'party' and offered us to take us into the center of town.
We got on another taxi, and Olly paid for it as long as we paid him back in beer. We did. The first place he took us was the bar where his mother and his father met. It was dead. The music from the stereo was loud, but there was no one inside. The beers weren't cheap and the bartender didn't seem too friendly, unlike Olly, who was having the time of his life telling his stories. We learned that recently he moved out of his parents house, and bought a 'caravan' with some friends. They were living in it trying to travel and make it big with their band. However, it was parked two blocks away from his parent's house, which he often visited due to lack of money and food. In addition to being two blocks away from his parent's house, it was parked in front of the store where he worked. So we knew his address, which came in handy later.
After a few drinks we got bored, and told Olly to show us some other bars. All of
us feeling quite drunk, and an incident with some Ecuadorian fans, he took us to another bar that felt just right. This place was much nicer--again I don't have the name, but they are all close to one another in the center of town, and if you get lost, I am sure you can find any pub in Düsseldorf that will do. It was three time as big as the other one, and the atmosphere was livelier. After catching up with Pilar, our friend, and getting more drinks, though more expensive then the last bar, Olly's poetic side comes out, and starts to write poems on the back of coaster to girls around us. Quite an interesting move, but I don't know how I would do writing poems in German. He didn't too well either, and he knows the language.
Hammered, and still wanting to do something, we left the bar, and found bar/club. It was dark, and the few people inside were having fun, so we went in. Olly danced the night away by himself next to the table, and we just relaxed and talked.
Five AM rolls around, and our traveling fatigue catches up, so we bail. Olly
Dusseldorf
You can see the tram we had taken the night before wasn't ready. He was so nice that he gave us his family card to ride the trams, as long as we gave it back the next day. Interesting note, I find out like in South Korea, in Germany you can smoke anywhere, including the tram, at least everyone was. We missed our stop, because Pilar didn't listen, and we walk 40 minutes to the hotel to pass out.
June 10
Around mid-day we wake up, and head out to see Düsseldorf during the day. My brother and I are starving, as we haven't had anything to eat since the restaurant next to Liverpool Street Station in London the day before. We walk around, and finally decide on a bratwurst place in a small market--good, our first German bratwurst. We walked the city, and though the architecture is beautiful, and the stores and restaurants complement the city well, I didn't see anything that jumped out from Düsseldorf. But I do have to say that I only walked the city for a few hours, and didn't get to see anything outside the center of town. We had come to Germany for the World Cup, so we went to some bars
and cafes that were set up next to the Rhine. Very nice views and perfect location, we find a spot were we can fit wit our bags, and start sipping on beer for the next 4 hours. Pilar leaves to return the card to Olly--unfortunately the caravan had moved, but she left it with his employer. An England win, a nice performance from Trinidad and Tobago to tie with Sweden, and a win by Argentina, the atmosphere was nice, and we couldn't wait until the 12th for the USA-Czech game. From there we walked to the train station and headed to Mönchengladbach.
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Mathias
non-member comment
You are calling Mönchengladmach a small town? Well it has aproximatly 260000 inhabitants. And is something like the 30 th biggest city in germany.