I figured I would blog while the memories are still fresh in my mind of the last weekend I spent in Düsseldorf. It was a brilliant one - one I don't think I will forget for sometime simply because I haven't done so many new things in the span of 2 days before. As I blogged in my previous post, I went to Köln for the Saturday and then had the football game on Sunday. Add to that a couple of pitchers of beer and learning some crazy Fortuna Düsseldorf football songs and you can get some kind of picture of what it was like. LOL :) So Saturday, I woke up relatively early so I could grab some breakfast from REWE before heading to the main station to meet up with Katerina. We had planned to meet at platform 15 at around 10.50 so that we could catch the train at 10.58 to head to Köln where we would meet Michael. Michael was another intern that was writing his master thesis at Cognis but he had actually finished 2 Fridays earlier. He is from Köln so he was our default 'tour guide' for the day~
So the first thing we see when we step out of the station is the HUGE Köln Dom! And it really is humongous. Apparently people say that if you were to take photos from whichever part of the city skyline, you will always get some part of the Dom inside the photo which is incredible. Now, according to Michael, there has been no point in time when the Dom has not had some part in construction because they are always doing reparations to it. So on the day we went, there was a big green scaffold covering one side of the building. But I have to say I didn't expect the structure itself to be so black. And its not like cool black but that dirty black you get from the pollution of cars or whatever like on flyovers or the side of bridges. Not pretty, but I guess the majestic design itself allows people who go and visit the Dom to excuse that part of the building. There were so many people there and I have to admit, the most number of Asians I have seen accumulated in one spot since I have arrived in Europe. I had to stop myself from pointing out at these faces when I saw them - really.. I was that excited! Haha~
We decided to climb up the Dom because I guess that is what everyone does when they go there. In total there are 509 steps and the steps itself are the ones which wind themselves up in a cylindrical shape where the diameter itself is tiny. I would even suggest that at times it was a bit claustrophobic because the same set of steps are used to go up and down so when you are jostling with people, attempting not to miss a footing and pressed against the wall, it doesn't help if you are scared of small spaces. It is also a bit daunting when you can hear the sounds of people's heavy breathing as you climb up the stairs. But we did it!! In the end when I reached the top, I was sooooo hot that I had to take off my jacket. And I was on the top of the Köln Dom in my t-shirt surrounded by all these farang wrapped up in their winter clothes at like 4 degrees Celsius! Lol - that was super funny! I took some photos so you guys could see some aspect of what it was like.
Katerina, Michael and I just before heading into the Dom. The top of the Dom is actually covered in fences made of wire like these so its difficult to take photos of the surroundings, not that we could anyway because of it was crazily foggy that day!
One of the spires of the Dom. Actually if you walk around the whole platform the entire place is covered in white out or white pen ink which people have used to ink their names saying something like "Jack and Rachel '97". So all of us were disappointed that we didn't think to bring our own white-out to ink our names onto the fungi-like growth of graffiti! We could have written "Katerina, Michael, June 06/02/10" Haha - we had some really crazy jokes up there! There was this one about a coffee machine but I don't think if I explain it, you guys will understand it because I guess its more like an 'in-the-situation' kind of joke. But we were drunk of laughter while coming down the stairs and our laughs got all echo-ey~~
After the Dom experience we walked along the Rhine and the popped into a coffee shop to have some cakes and coffee before we headed off to the main shopping street in Köln. And you could actually see and feel the difference between Köln and Dusseldorf because of the vast numbers of people that were shopping there. It felt almost like Siam Square on a Saturday which was like woah for me. But dammit.. all that smoking outdoors! I think I'm going to be choking out smoke myself soon - its really bad here and I don't particularly like it but it goes with the territory I guess. We didn't shop but just walked through to get the atmosphere of what it was like. We then headed to the grounds of the university where Michael studies at. Coming from Melbourne Uni, where the grounds space is limited it is so crazy to see all these huge pieces of land of just grass. We walked through this huge park where the students have their barbecues and play their football games in the summer. Our South Lawn now seems soo puny compared to what I saw that day.
After all that walking we decided to go to this student area where apparently is a road which is comparative to Bolkerstrasse in Dusseldorf. But it was still a bit too early for that area and none of the pubs were opened so we asked a shopkeeper where we could find a brewerie and he told us the locations and names of 4 big ones and off we headed to find us some beer. Haha~ Katerina was particularly excited to try out the beer that originates from Köln which is called the Kölsch. It is more golden in colour compared to the beer that originates from Düsseldorf which is called the Alt beer which is darker, even almost brown. After tracking down one of the breweries we entered its rotating door and it was like entering a different world. There were already so many people in costume because it was the weekend before Karnival. The types of costumes was superb! I saw a bee, devils, ducks, pirates, leprechauns, hippies.... haha - it was quite a scene. And the people dressing up weren't the young ones, these were people like in their 50s and 60s. Hoho~~ so funny :) So yeah.. we got downed a couple of beers had some food and then basically just headed back to the main station. I was dead-tired by the time I reached my room but looking forward to the football game on the next day.
Argh... I want to continue blogging but I think I will have to make the next one a part 2~ Haha - feeling a bit lazy now~ I'll continue on with Sunday's events tomorrow or something! :)
After the Dom experience we walked along the Rhine and the popped into a coffee shop to have some cakes and coffee before we headed off to the main shopping street in Köln. And you could actually see and feel the difference between Köln and Dusseldorf because of the vast numbers of people that were shopping there. It felt almost like Siam Square on a Saturday which was like woah for me. But dammit.. all that smoking outdoors! I think I'm going to be choking out smoke myself soon - its really bad here and I don't particularly like it but it goes with the territory I guess. We didn't shop but just walked through to get the atmosphere of what it was like. We then headed to the grounds of the university where Michael studies at. Coming from Melbourne Uni, where the grounds space is limited it is so crazy to see all these huge pieces of land of just grass. We walked through this huge park where the students have their barbecues and play their football games in the summer. Our South Lawn now seems soo puny compared to what I saw that day.
After all that walking we decided to go to this student area where apparently is a road which is comparative to Bolkerstrasse in Dusseldorf. But it was still a bit too early for that area and none of the pubs were opened so we asked a shopkeeper where we could find a brewerie and he told us the locations and names of 4 big ones and off we headed to find us some beer. Haha~ Katerina was particularly excited to try out the beer that originates from Köln which is called the Kölsch. It is more golden in colour compared to the beer that originates from Düsseldorf which is called the Alt beer which is darker, even almost brown. After tracking down one of the breweries we entered its rotating door and it was like entering a different world. There were already so many people in costume because it was the weekend before Karnival. The types of costumes was superb! I saw a bee, devils, ducks, pirates, leprechauns, hippies.... haha - it was quite a scene. And the people dressing up weren't the young ones, these were people like in their 50s and 60s. Hoho~~ so funny :) So yeah.. we got downed a couple of beers had some food and then basically just headed back to the main station. I was dead-tired by the time I reached my room but looking forward to the football game on the next day.
Argh... I want to continue blogging but I think I will have to make the next one a part 2~ Haha - feeling a bit lazy now~ I'll continue on with Sunday's events tomorrow or something! :)
