‘Mist Deutsche Bahn’ – My Tuesday Evening in Düsseldorf (Essen and Munster)

For all of the times we have traveled to nearby Essen and Köln, we have only stopped in Düsseldorf one time.  Our only recollection of that trip 8 years ago was going into a bar and wondering why we weren’t getting any service.  After 15 minutes, we realized we were in a gay bar and quietly walked out.  That was our first and last trip to Düsseldorf.

Tuesday evening after work, I traveled by train to Düsseldorf in order to give the city a second chance.   One thing lacking about Düsseldorf compared to other big cities in Germany is that it doesn’t have the ‘awe factor’ when you walk out of the train station.   Köln has the best awe factor when you walk out of the train station and immediately see the Dom Cathedral, and even Essen has some awe to its city center  to a certain point.  Düsseldorf has a doner shop outside of their train station and that’s it.  

This time, I took the U-Bahn (subway system) from the train station towards the Rhein River and arrived at a really cool part of Düsseldorf.  I have never heard so much English being spoken by other people since we have been in Germany.   Dana and I can go there when we get homesick. 

Dusseldorf

The Rhein River in Dusseldorf

Had a great conversation in German with this lovely couple.

The sun going down means that I should already be on a train back to Borken.  Instead, you get to laugh at my misfortune.

Anyways, Düsseldorf was a beautiful city.  The real story happened on the way home, however.   I had a train change in Essen and was planning on taking the last train to Borken at 10:30pm.  Unfortunately, the train that I was on arrived in Essen 5 minutes late.  That means I was 1 minute late for the last train to Borken.  The next train to Borken was at 6am and I was not in the mood to pull an all-nighter as a homeless person in Essen.  

I ended up walking the streets of Essen for an hour going from one full hotel to another.  The only two open hotels were €100 and €140, respectively.   For that price, I would rather sleep in the park and save the money. 

Instead, I went back to the train station and looked at my options.  There was really no way back to Borken before 6 am, even through a different city.   I decided to take the midnight train to Münster…a place I was at least more familiar with.  In Münster, I could see if there were any night buses towards Borken (at least try to get me within taxi range.)   There were no options, so I decided to walk to my office. 

When I arrived there at 1:30 am, I was really tired and upset.   My office was empty and smelled of new 

paint.   I opened the window, laid down my jacket as a make-shift pillow and tried to sleep for a few hours.  After a few hours (ok, 3 or 4) of tossing and turning and a major case of permanent rug burn on my arms and legs, I woke up and walked back to the bus stop and took the first bus to Borken. 

When I spoke to Dana the next day, I only wanted to talk about my time in Dusseldorf.  I mentioned, in passing, that I happened to miss the last bus to Borken and had to spend the night in my empty office in Munster.   She busted out laughing and insisted that I write a post about it.  So, here it is 9 readers; my post about my night in Dusseldorf, I mean Essen, I mean Munster. 

German (Pop) Culture Shock

This is a follow up to the American (Pop) Culture Shock post written last week. 

Since our audience of our American and German readers are split almost direct in half (ok, it’s 5 to 4 to be fair) I’ve decided to give a top 3 Pop culture list for Americans who really want to fit into the German culture when you come visit Germany.   You will win instant friends over here if you add any of the below in normal conversation.

1. Eurovision Song Contest.  This is Europe’s American Idol, before American Idol became lame several years ago.  You can bring the European Song Contest up with anyone and they will instantly engage you in a conversation.  In fact, the main reason I came home early last Saturday night from Dortmund was to watch the Eurovision Song Contest final that started at 9pm (oh, I can’t believe I am admitting this).

I am not sure what is worse: the song ‘Lipstick’ from Jedward* or the fact that I know the words to the song. 

*Jedward was Ireland’s entry. ‘Jedward’ is the combination of John and Edward.  Quite frankly John is getting ripped off.  His brother is getting all of the letters but one. Ireland, you must be so proud.

The jump kicks at 35 seconds and 1 min 20 are the best!

*John and Rachel Scott, you are permanently moving to a country where this is the new #1 single.    Just sayin'. 

 

On a brighter note, I now know that the country Azerbaijan exists.  Congratulations Azerbaijanian’s. 

2. Daniella Katzenberger: Naturally Blonde.   Ok, before you start judging me, I primarily watch this show because Daniella Katzenberger uses such a simple German vocabulary that I find her show very informative and use it as a German learning guide.   This is probably why my German is still so bad. 

I have asked around and, she is a savvy business woman with a successful/profitable coffee shop in Mallorca.    

Don’t judge a book by her poor German. 

3. Herbert Gronemeyer.  This is Germany’s Bruce Springsteen.  A professor at the University let me borrow one of his greatest hits CD’s that was sung in English and now I am hooked.  He sells out every soccer stadium in Germany.  My goal is to not only go to a Herbert Gronemeyer live concert, but more importantly, understand his German songs. 

  

Honorable Mention:  Dortmund won the German Bundesliga Championship.  Hey, Duetscher Meister, BVB Borussia! 

Bryan's Three Week Time-Out

Week 2 and 3 of Dana and Dylan being gone were lonely and quiet weeks for me in Germany.  I have had some fun, but have done most things alone (or with Oscar).    My office in Münster was getting a fresh coat of paint and new furniture this past week, so I have been working from home.   The upside with working from home is that I get a lot of work done, and extra sleep.  The downside is the lack of human contact. 

Adding to this lack of human contact is my awkward phase of German speaking.  I can now speak enough German to get by, but not enough to be interesting enough for anyone to really want to engage me in a deep conversation.  The people I have actually talked to are 50-something year businessmen and nice old lady telling me about her sick brother in law.  Other than that, nobody else wants to speak to me.  

 

Two Saturday's ago, I traveled to Dortmund to watch the final soccer game of the regular season and experience the German Bundesliga Championship celebration for my favorite team, BVB Dortmund.   Before you jump to any bandwagon conclusions, you must know that I have been a Dortmund fan for the last 7 years.  I would even try to watch on the Internet as many Dortmund games as possible on Saturday morning’s while living in the US.   Actually living in Germany during a Championship run has been really special to watch.  I was not going to miss the celebration. 

I was not alone.  The entire city was packed with Dortmund supporters, young and old.  It was a phenomenal sight.  I ended up watching the game from the sidewalk of a bar in a residential neighborhood between the Stadium and City Center near Kruetzstrasse. 

As soon as the game ended, the party around the entire city instantaneously went into overdrive.  The parties spilled into the streets and the orderly mayhem ensued.  The riot police did a good job keeping things in order.  The mass of people filtered from the stadium to the city center in an impromptu parade through the streets. 

City Center in Dortmund 3 hours before game time. 

Watching the game.

Everyone heading back to the city center from the stadium.  

Impromptu parade heading back into the city center.

By the time I ate dinner and reached the city center, the party was humming along.  I took it in for a while and ended up leaving Dortmund around 8pm, before the real party started.  I was back in Borken in time to watch the Finals of the Eurovision Song Contest (More to come on that.) 

America: Week 3

Well, this week has been a little different than the last two. Dylan came down with a nasty cold on Sunday that sidelined us most of the week. He was "croupy" Sunday and Monday - the first time since he was a little baby - and by Wednesday morning he still wasn't getting better so we took him to the doctor. Dylan hasn't gone to the doctor since last August, so of course it is inevitable that when we're traveling he needs to go.  They thankfully checked his ears and caught an ear infection and put him on antibiotics.  Within 24 hours of starting the antibiotics he was like a completely different kid.  He is still on the mend, but recovering quickly thanks to the meds.

Sick Dylan.

Dylan lay on my lap like this for about 30 minutes while I tickled his back and face.  Rarely does he sit still that long for anything. 

So a sick Dylan made for a really super cranky Dylan, especially during the transitional period after he started the meds but before he started to feel normal again, so we still didn't do all that much.  Our first outing with him other than to the doctor and the drug store was on Friday (nearly a week after he got sick) when we went back to Watkins Regional Park so he could ride the train again. Here is a video of Dylan's reaction when the train ride started:

Here are some other pictures from Watkins Regional Park:

Friday night we felt Dylan was well enough to be left with a babysitter so my parents and I could go out to dinner and have some time together that wasn't interrupted by Dylan shouting "Oma!" "Papa!" "Mommy!!!" all the way through our meal.  We headed into downtown Annapolis for a yummy open-faced prime rib sandwich at The Federal House - highly recommended.  I wonder what "open-faced prime rib sandwich" is in German?  Dylan was a dream for the babysitter - no crying, no fuss; just the kind of a report a mommy likes to hear when she comes home.

His reward for good behavior is a yummy ice cream cone.

On Saturday we ventured into D.C. in the morning and walked around the DuPont Circle area where there are tons of restaurants, bars, shops, boutiques and fun places and people to see.  Dylan had a great time holding "Papa's" hand and pointing out all the taxi's, busses, police cars, trucks and "autos" that we walked passed.  We also had amazing cheesesteak sandwiches at JJ's Philly Cheese Steak on 14th Street for lunch, almost ruining out appetite for dinner.

Dylan and "Papa" on the street in D.C.  I think Dylan got the "Mohr" long-and-lean body type gene.

Sunday we spent the warm morning walking around the Naval Academy in Annapolis and enjoying the nice weather.  Dylan enjoyed sitting on top of the cannons.  In the afternoon I packed all of our stuff up and am still trying to squeeze it all into my suitcase.

Good thing it's not loaded.

This one is just his size.

Dylan peaked inside the mail slots of every single home and business in downtown Annapolis.

I can't believe our three weeks went by so fast!  Well, for Bryan and Oscar they were the slowest three weeks ever.  Bryan said that Oscar just sits around the house and cries all day for no reason.  Bryan probably does the same.  Hopefully our long journey home will be as uneventful as our long journey here and that Dylan will be well-behaved.

America: Week 2

Dylan and I now have two of three weeks back in America under our belts. Wow - this trip is really going by fast!  We haven't been super busy and most of our time is spent playing with Dylan around the house, in the yard or on the neighbor's swing sets.

One of the things I like best here is the simple pleasure of going to the grocery store or to Target.  It's amazing how HUGE all of the store are here, especially Target, and all of the different options we have in America.  I plan to take a photo of the cereal aisle in the grocery store for one of my friends in Germany who didn't believe me that there could be such a huge cereal selection.

Last week we had two big outings - one to Watkins Regional Park and the other outing was to the National Zoo.

Watskins Regional Park is about 15 miles away and has a train, small farm, carousel and massive playground. We first tackled the train, which was a cute little amusement park style ride that took us on a 10 minute train ride through the woods and around the farm. I have never seem Dylan so overjoyed and excited about any kind of ride as he was on this train. He giggled and smiled ear-to-ear the entire time. Even after the train ride, whenever he heard it nearby he ran to the fence to watch the train go by.  He also loved checking out the chickens, peacocks and other birds, but he wasn't really into the larger farm animals like lamas or ponies.  He tired himself (and Mom and I) out running around the playground with about 100 other kids who were there on a field trip.  We all needed long naps when we got home.

The very next day, we took Dylan to the Smithsonian National Zoo in D.C. He was a great little traveler that day and loved walking around holding "Papa's" hand and checking out the animals. His favorites were the elephants and the panda bear.  He goes crazy now whenever he sees an elephant on TV and his  impersonation of an elephant is pretty funny.

Dylan has come down with a nasty cold this week and we learned today that he has an ear infection also, so our third and final week in the U.S. is pretty low key.  He's been in good spirits despite feeling super sick, but hopefully in another 24-48 hours the meds will kick in and we'll be able to have some more fun the final few days that we're here. Keep us in your prayers that nobody else comes down with what he has!

Here are some pics from the week:

Playing with the neighbor's toys

Boy, those chickens are noisy!

Dylan and Mommy on a tractor!

He is soooo jealous of everyone on the train.

Riding the carousel with "Oma."

Look at all those chickens!

Dylan can barely contain his excitement for being on the train.

Look Mommy! Elephant!

Walking along the wall at the zoo with "Opa."

In front of the lions...

Guess who's in the barn?