A TripAdvisor™ TripWow slideshow of a travel blog to Düsseldorf, Germany by TravelPod blogger Adriennes titled "D" Adriennes's travel blog entry: "Tuesday 31/8/10, 7:53, Backpackers Düsseldorf Lounge Planned to go to Essen today for a day trip with a Canadia, Dan, as it's the cultural capital of europe this year. We first went to find a pub where Dan left his camera case fun when he went out last night. Awesome walk through the city. He'd left it at a bar in the altstadt (old town) where the buildings are older and the beer is often house brewed (hausgebraute, I think) and darker. The waiter brings out two coasters and a beer each and draws two lines on one of the coasters to say how many you've had; usually when they see an empty glass, they simply replace it with a full one and mark your coaster. You say no if you don't want more. Dan made the good point that its almost as if they have as least interaction as possible with customers. Opposite to what I've been taught in hospitality! The beer was a bit harsh for me but maybe I'd like a diff sort. Really love Düsseldorf so far! Thursday 2/9/10, 11:59 am, Waschsalon Düsseldorf. Sitting in a coin laundry in düsseldorf! First time ever in one and I have to work it out in german. Not easy. Now that I've put the wash on after some help from an older german man with my broken german, I see step by step picture instructions on the wall _. Still, all seems to be good. Forgot to mention the gardens in my writing about düsseldorf. The river bank on the posh side of the rhine wasa large expanse of grass, leading up to the path we were walking along. Along the other side of this path was thick trees and shrubbery (insert monty python reference) before the footpath, road and house. As Dan and I were walking along this path we saw a long, open, grassy driveway that lead into the bushy area. We decided to follow it down and on either side were little garden areas! No houses.. Seems as though these were the garden spaces for those living in the near by townhouses. Assume had childrens toys, some had vegies, and some were beautifully manicured flower gardens. Really peaceful setting. See pic. Friday 3/09/10, 8:14 am, bed, Backpackers Düsseldorf. Went to Essen the day before last but will update that separately. Yesterday did my washing (quite successfully!) Then explored düsseldorf some more. Went on a guided walking tour through the streets. From about 9 of us, there were 3-4 couples or families, all of whom were german. Then there was me. lone, young, english speaker. The guide was accommodation in that she spoke to me on the short walk to each landmark and then in german to the group standing still. Was a good way to see what I could pick up in german but at times, when she gave me the talk in front of thee group I felt like a pain or somesuch. I'm sure it wasn't perceived like that, but still. Some interesting history. If I remember to upload these photos: the peak of the church is twisted because, after it was reconstructed after a lightening strike, the fresh wood the used warped! Also, the black sculpture shows a battle after which Düsseldorf (düssel is a river that flows through & dorf means village) was given"city rights" but kept it's name.. These rights allowed markets and trade etc. Prob biggest point of update is that I've decided to now go to Berlin. First plan was Hannover-Hamburg-Copenhagen-Berlin, but with very limited accommodation in Hanover, not much really pulling me to Hamburg, and a waning enthusiasm about sightseeing, I've decided it's definitely best for my own morale to head straight to Berlin... ... once I made that decision I got a surge of excitement which is just what I was lacking. Tchüß Düsseldorf, Hallo Berlin!!! 10:48am, Starbucks Düsseldorf Hbf Omg coffee frappuccinos here are AMAZING. Thick iced coffee. AND free wifi. I just spent 106€ on my train ticket to Berlin. 4hrs train ride at home gets me to Warrnambool for $22. But I worked out last night that my average daily spend (total/days) had been $50. or maybe 50€... pretty sure it was dollars. But either way that's less than my daily budget, and I haven't been especially right with my money. Going well." Read and see more at: http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/adriennes/1/1283284074/tpod.html Photos from this trip: 1. "Artwork" 2. "On the bridge. Auf die brüke." 3. "The gardens" 4. "Twisty church (kirche)" 5. "Cool building" 6. "Lookout we went up." 7. "The posh side" 8. "Lake in park" 9. "Say what??" 10. "Bed & clothes line" 11. "Lol, german names!" 12. "Battle-cityrights-market sculpture" 13. "Düsseldorf altstadt" 14. "Aussie flag!" 15. "Park" See this TripWow and more at http://tripwow.tripadvisor.com/tripwow/ta-0114-42dc-860d?ytv4=1

• published: 17 Mar 2011
• views: 199