First Words. A quick weekend to Dusseldorf with friends Elvira and Andrew to visit Andrew’s friend, Thorsten.
| Dates | Out of Heathrow Friday night, 10 December In to Heathrow Sunday night, 12 December |
| Airline | Lufthansa |
| Why go? | Museums, castles and a fantastic shopping boulevard. |
| Weather | Some cloudy cover but most days were clear, cool and dry. |
| The experience | Dusseldorf was one of those weekends used just to get away. We hadn’t really planned on anything for the weekend except spending time with Andrew’s school friend Thorsten. We stayed at the Hotel Nikko, a fine five-star hotel located about 10-15 minutes walk from the elegant K?sallee or K?n the old quarter of Dusseldorf. |
| Saturday saw us meeting up with Thorsten and his co-worker, Michel, for a leisurely brunch on Saturday morning and then a quick, surprise, visit to K?(Cologne). I think that Thorsten really wanted to show us the church there but I’d seen it before and Andrew and Elvira weren’t in the mood. Thorsten got called away for a long phone call from work so we headed into the Christmas markets to enjoy some delicious giant potato pancakes. After some Gluehwein, a popular German/Austrian warmed spiced wine, K?started to get a little cold and we headed back to Dusseldorf for some shopping before heading out for dinner. | |
| Thorsten took us to the this brewery called Im Fuchschen (The Fox). If you like beer you definitely have to visit at least one of the breweries in Dusseldorf. They are extremely busy but well worth the wait for the atmosphere, and I’m told, wonderful beer. On offer for dinner was gorgeous traditional German food but it definitely helped if you like your meat, as Elvira soon found out! I had beautifully roasted goose meat with stuffing and brussel sprouts. Eating award of the night had to go to Andrew for his effort with his gigantic pig leg. Mmmm … | |
| Sunday dawned extremely cold and quiet in the centre of town. We had thought to spend some time exploring Dusseldorf but after some breakfast (at 11!), a quick walk through the still-closed Christmas markets and a walk by the Rhine/Rhein the cold was getting to Andrew and Elvira and a strategic retreat was planned at Starbucks. When Thorsten joined us later in the afternoon we reluctantly left the comfy warmth of Starbucks and braved a walk through the now bustling Christmas markets. | |
| Highlights | A little hard to say as we didn’t explore Dusseldorf too much. Of what we saw these are some highlights:
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| Lowlights | Didn’t spend enough time exploring to find any. |
| Final words | A good weekend of simple relaxing in another city. |
