Hallo (hello) from Dusseldorf, Germany
Valentine's getaway
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You can see the towns we visited with red beside them |
Ok, so it wasn't exactly a planned Valentine's getaway - it was actually Craig's PT (physical training) test that all Canadian military need to do.
After a 2 hour and 40 minute flight from Moscow we arrived to 20 degrees warmer and sunshine! Glorious sunshine! Moscow winters can be quite dark, so it's wonderful to go somewhere that is sunny. The weather was what made this short trip ideal. It was truly Spring-like with trees starting to bloom and flowers in the markets.
We flew to Dusseldorf, rented a car and immediately drove to Monchengladbach where we would be staying for the night (to be closer to where his PT test was in the morning). We stayed at the Best Western Plus - it was clean and in a decent location. We went for a stroll along the pedestrian street and hit the Minto Mall where we did some grocery shopping. I know, sounds lame, but when you can't get decent dairy products in Moscow, you come to appreciate it when you can get it during your travels. People also ask us to bring some stuff back. Cheese and butter basically. We then had dinner in the mall at this chain called Vapiano (we went to one in Sweden also) - you are given a card and you go to different stations where they prepare your order on the spot. First we shared THE most delicious Caesar salad with really tasty dressing and Parmesan cheese. Craig had surf n' turf pasta and I had the Gamboretti with spinach. Everything was delicious and Craig got his carb load up for his test in the morning (seriously, you'd think he was training for an Olympic event! lol).
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In Monchengladbach (say that 3 times fast) we went into a costume store - it's big here for their Carnival. Craig got a few chuckles seeing and trying on some costume props. He wanted this hat badly, but I convinced him that it would get ruined in the suitcase.😌 |
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Yum! 😋 |
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Random donkey statues in town |
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A nice church in Monchengladbach |
In the morning, Craig headed off to do his test and I had a leisurely morning starting with a German pretzel and green apple in bed and then I headed out for a walk down the pedestrian street again - determined to go in some shops. Unfortunately they weren't open until 10 am (check out was 11), so I had to do some power shopping and head back to the hotel where Craig had returned and checked us out. He passed his test! Yeah!
After grabbing some water
we headed back to explore Dusseldorf. We started at the Rheinturm Tower
(9 euros each - too much - but we did it) - 168 metres high with great
views of the city and the Rhine. Because the glass was angled outwards I
got that tingly feeling and was truly unable to lean into the glass for
that perfect picture! lol
After
the tower we strolled along the Rhine into Old Town (Altstadt). Mostly
we window shopped and strolled around. We happened upon an outdoor
market that had street food, flowers, fruit, vegetables, fish, cheese,
meat, etc. It was a lovely, festive atmosphere there and everyone was
standing around eating various goodies. It was that nice out that you
were happy to stand outside eating. We didn't have any room for sampling
the street food as we had a donut and french fries (lovely diet)
beforehand and were planning on having lunch outdoors along the Rhine.
We also managed to find Konigsallee (literally translates into King's
Avenue). It has a lovely landscaped canal in the middle and luxury
retail stores along the sides. Craig kept chanting "keep walking, keep
walking" 😨... only window shopping here!
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Even Craig was a little hesitant to lean on the partition for this shot! In the background is the Rhine River and a bit to the right is the Old Town. |
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That was as close as I could get to the edge. My thought was to lean on the pillar, but I honestly couldn't do it! |
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We loved these quirky trees that line the pathways along the Rhine |
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A lovely walk along the river |
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Beautiful architecture and those trees again |
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I love this shot of the buildings, the trees and the wall |
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Konigsallee - the tree-lined river with expensive shops on either side. |
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Eating at an outdoor cafe along the Rhine with my love on Valentine's Day - priceless!
That night we stayed in Dusseldorf at the Van der Valk Airporthotel. It's quite a nice place with large rooms and a nice, modern bathroom and delicious breakfast (for 17 Euros pp). We drove back into town (not far - maybe 10 minutes) for a little stroll at night and ended up eating at a Vietnamese place where we both had Pho - Craig really enjoyed it and now he has something to compare it to when we go to Vietnam! |
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Craig was so excited to be able to feed the deer his apple at "Wildpark" in Dusseldorf on our last morning |
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Yes, he is feeding the deer from his mouth, the crazy bugger! |
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He loves his new friends! |
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What a cute "kid"! |
Thank you love for bringing me along on your work trip so we could enjoy Valentine's together!
😘
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