Speaking of being up at 3am, Friday night became Saturday morning and the party didnt end until the some came up. Alot of bars and restaurants were open late for the weekend funseekers. The fast food chains dont close until 1am. I could still hear the music from a club at 5am. Today is forecast for some rain in Dus and I am going to explore this little corner of the city. I had breakfast in the hotel. Some meats and cheeses with individual liverwurst of 4 types. Breads and cereal were on offer too. Tea and most importantly coffee was on hand.
Since I was not venturing outside of the city today, I took some rest due to the long flight and jetlag. When I was ready to leave the room, I went to McDonalds. Why? Because my diet lacks greens when I travel, I stopped in to get a salad and an apple soda. Not widely available in my hometown, apple soda was at all the fast food chains.
I dressed the salad, mixed, and ate it. People may ask why I drench the salad? I dont eat salad because I want to eat greens to be healthy. It would look odd to just have the dressing by itself. This is my nod to normality
Walked down the decorated street of Bolkerstrasse toward City Hall. The walkway and the area are lined with bars and restaurants as well as small clubs.
They claim to have the world's longest bar in Dus because of the line of bars situated next to each other
At the end are the stalls of the Handwerker Markt at Markt Platz in front of city hall.
In the center of the plaza is a statue of Jan Wellem on horseback
Hang a right and head towards the Wheel of Wonder at Burg Platz. As you can see from the clouds in the background, its going to be a gray day and kinda cold. However, it was not as cold as I expected. I overpacked for the weather but it worked out in my favor as it provided cushioning for souvenirs
Ferries and cargo ships ply the flow of the river. Up river to the south is the city of Koln(Cologne). They have their fair share of Christmas markets and with more noteriety
The weather was not in the favor of sitting by the river with a meal and beverage. During the warmer days this would be a popular place to rest and relax.
I was going to take public transport down to the Rhine Tower but decided to walk it instead. At the top of the tower are two levels. The top level is a restaurant while the floor below is a cafe and observation deck
Rheinknie bridge at the base of the tower location. It was a fairly short walk but it started to rain as I got to this point. Need to get inside to get out of the rain
In the Medienhafen area are a group of three buildings designed by Frank Ghery. He is know for the Walt Disney Concert Hall in southern California. I affectionatly call them the 3 Stooges.
Admission is cheaper in the evening but with the forecast being what it is today, I dont think it be a good night for taking pics
Once I get up, Curly, the metal clad middle building is blocked by Moe, the white building.
Looking back toward the north to where I walked from. You can see the ferris wheel at Burg Platz. Near the bright red roof is the Rathaus. In between, you can see the roofs of the restaurants along the promenade.
The Rhine snakes around the south where Koln is a short train ride, about 25 minutes or so depending on train.
The eastern view. The scope of my trip will be focused on the Old Town area. But that is just one small area of the bigger city
The view from above at full 30x optical zoom
Tables are hard to find a seat at. A few spots have pay binoculars. I didnt check to see how powerful theyt were
Following the Rheinknie bridge out to the west. Looks like a residential area. I have seen pictures of a carnaval make camp on the green area near the river
The Rhine from bridge to bridge
The cafe offers hot and cold drinks and a variety of snacks
A nearby bus line was supposed to go to Carls Platz, at least according to the map I had. There was some kind of announcement in German. At Graf Adolf Platz, everyone got off. So did I as the bus didnt go anywhere after that.
Fortunately there was a subway station that I could take one stop away to Benrather then walk the rest of the way to Carls Platz.
Carls Platz are covered rows of sellers providing produce, fish/meat, and crafts.
There are also small eateries as well.
I had read about the Fischhaus stall at the end of a row
If there was any day that called for a nice hot bowl of fish chowder, it was today.
Served with a slice of a nice crusty bread, the chowder, much like boulliabase, has shrimp and several kinds of fish. Dipping the bread to eat with the soup was a must. Large chunks of fish and some small shrimp.
Warmed up once again, I walked up and down seeing what people were selling
Spent some time browsing around the supermarket chains in the country. Aldi/Aldi sud is one. Lidl is another. I eventually also went to a Rewe
Expect to see the supermarket stores stock up on gluhwein
The rain started and kept going into the night. Light to moderate at times accompanied by gusts. The cold was mild so it wasnt too bad. Below is a grassy incline near Kobogen. The street trasm runs right through here
Along Immermanstrasse, this is where Schadow Markt is situated. For a long stretch, its not as densely packed with the seasonal stalls. They are sparselyt sprinkled along the pedestrian boulevard. May be it was early and may be it was due to the rain that much were not set up yet.
In some of the other locations, the huts lined up next to each other with little room in between vendors to slip through.
I went back to Cornelius Platz and had a plain potato pancake. There is optional apple sauce to pair with it. It was a good reibkuchen with a soft tender middle and crunchy edge. Other places may offer other sauces or toppings
Kinderpunsch in my second souvenir mug. I prefer these frosted mugs over the smaller coffee cup types. They are heftier and thicker and in my opinion, stronger. Plus, I like the larger handles to grab them by
Somethings to be aware if you go to the Christmas markets, there are very few seats. There may or may not be enough tables but theres definitely no to little amount of seats. With alot of the walking that I was doing, I would have appreciated some place to sit down for a drink or snack.
Back at Burg Platz, I had the roast port sandwich. One of the best things I had during this trip. The pork was flavorful and was tender but had a nice chew. The same kind of chewiness you get form the shelf piece around the rib eye. No pics but there is probably video
