Dusseldorf - Singular Scene

I can’t believe it was 10 years since I’d last seen N and R, German friends I met in Sydney with whom I spent many happy hours playing cards and drinking bubbles all those years ago. When I knew I was coming to Europe I did a little bit of armchair detective work to find them and to reach out with the prospect of catching up! Happily they were within easy reach of where I was planning to go and so to Dusseldorf and Ratingen I went to meetup with them and catch up after all this time.

Needless to say we did a little sightseeing while I was there…

Leaving Wiesbaden for Dusseldorf

Cologne Cathedral from the Cologne Hauptbahnhopf

Konigsallee – the paris end of Dusseldorf where all the big label boutiques are.

Old world meets new

The Rhine tower above (predictably) the river Rhine

View across the Rhine from Dusseldorf

Rathaus

The Rathaus (town hall) in the Dusseldorf Marktplatz

Jan Wellem equestrian statue – The elector honored himself In 1711 by Grupello cast in bronze / 8.000 kg / Baroque Sculpture

Cheers – Drinks at a bar on the Rhine River Promenade (Rheinuferpromenade)

Lambertus church castle tower

Altstadt

Venue for lunch

Curry wurst… local delicacy

Alt (old) bier – also a local brew

17th century Haus zum Haus (House to House) in Ratingen

Suitbertus-Stuben pub – gorgeous late Gothic Tudor style buildings in the city, which was built around 1490

Another Alt bier (gotta try them all)

Natascha and Sidney

The German nickname for the people of Ratingen is, “Dumeklemmer”, which is old German for, “Daumenklemmer”, which then translates to something like, “one who jams his thumb”. The legend goes on to say that all children in Ratingen are destined to be born with flat thumbs.