Life: Idiotropic

On my list of "things to see before I move" was Dusseldorf's Altstadt. After all, it's only 45 minutes from my house and in 3.5 years, I'd only seen the airport. I'd read reviews. I'd read tourist information. It all led to me think that this area is absolutely precious, beautiful, quaint, and not to be missed.

May be. But not today. Last night Dusseldorf's soccer team won pushing them higher in the rankings. Today the celebration took to the market area and spilled into surrounding Altstadt streets with music, fireworks, and beer and beer and beer... you get the idea. After all, according to Wikipedia (which I read when I got home), "the Düsseldorfer Altstadt is known as the longest bar in the world (längste Theke der Welt)." Crammed into the streets littered with trash and beer cans are over 300 bars and discotheques. Makes sense. The music was ganz laut. And the bars were bursting with people who filled the sidewalks and streets dressed in all arrangements of red and white imbibing the local golden brew.

Without kids I could have possibly enjoyed that set of photo ops... the strangely clad German, the over abundance of beer. But it was too raucous to take photos of the area itself. Altstadt's beauty was covered in banners and so viele Leute. So, we headed to the Kö.

The Kö, just a few blocks from the Altstadt, is stunning in it's simplicity and tranquility. Once Kastanienallee, an unhappy citizen threw dung at the king, so they renamed the street Königsallee to appease him. And it feels kingly. Wide streets lined with posh cafes and high end shops divided with a long canal reflecting the old trees. This is what I was looking for. Unfortunately, the shops were closed and we were on a mission for food which I knew we'd find more of along the river.

Thinking "Portland's Waterfront Park" and finding crowds and concrete, we ducked into a place to eat (really greasy chewy food that only Elise would eat before she choked on a piece of ham), hydrate the girls and get out of the sun. We felt like cattle walking through the crowds along the hot cement gazing across the river at the pretty side - lined with lawn and bike paths, fisherman and a flock of sheep coming to the river's edge from time to time for a drink. Lucky sheep.

We thought we'd see a little more before heading home... but just as we stopped for ice cream, the music started and the first rainbow appeared. Kirk pulled the girls into the ice cream shop and I darted out just briefly to get a couple stomach turning shots of the Gay Pride parade. Time to go home. There were several images there that the girls just didn't need to see.

So... glad I went? Yeah. I would have regretted not seeing it. But, now having been there, I wouldn't go back without a really good reason. I'm sure on a weekday morning, it's lovely, but our Sunday post -soccer celebration/Gay Pride lunacy was just a bit more than I wanted to deal with. Dusseldorf can have it. I'll stick with Maastricht - prettier, quieter, and closer to home.

Cologne is not the most fantastic city that I've ever been to, but it is one that you just need to see. The first time I saw Cologne with the Dom sitting magnificently next to the Rhine, it made a solid impression as a great city and I was excited to come by myself and explore it. The grassy area along the Rhine is nice and there are some interesting shopping districts. The Dom itself is a big draw to the city with so much detail that I still notice something new every time I see it.

But, sadly, Cologne was very heavily bombed during WW2 and most of what was old and beautiful and historical is gone. The Altstadt is almost entirely gone. The flames during the bombing got so high that the planes had to turn back with undropped bombs. It was a different time, but the city can't go back, of course, so much of the glory of what was is seen only in museums.

If you have a day to explore museums, then Cologne would be an interesting stop. Roman artifacts are still discovered and several nice museum house what's already been found. Before I move, I'll do that.

But, we drove to Cologne which is an easy hour drive and then parked below the Dom in a parking lot that comes out right next to it. The Christmas market was being set up to begin the next day. Three human statues stood still in the cold wind in front of the Dom waiting for people to drop coins into the little genie bottles in front of them. They were different than the statues we'd seen before and not as serious. Two of them were ladies - one in silver and another in gold. Then a man dressed as Charlie Chaplin stood still. Luci was too shy to give him a coin, but he smiled and waved. Later we walked by and the statues were huddled in the doorway of the Dom counting their change and getting ready for lunch. Luci exclaimed, "Mommy, the statues can walk!"

Just around the corner in a nice shopping area was the restaurant where we stopped for food. The menu was mostly Italian and good, but sometimes I get tired to eating Italian food. It's almost too common here no matter how good it might be. Even on a good Dutch menu, you can almost always find Spaghetti Bolognese. It's reliable, but nothing very exciting.

After lunch we walked around the Dom. On one wall some men were cleaning and painting some of the carved art on the walls. One window had scaffolding up outside with men working on it, so from the inside there were all sorts of little silhouettes sitting with their legs hanging or standing working. I haven't been to the Dom yet without seeing scaffolding up on some part of it. It's so immense that it probably gets dirty as fast as they can clean it. In the photo above you can see the degrees of filth in some statues sitting in a row by a doorway. It's hard to visualize the church ever being completely white like that far right statue. It was the first time that I'd been there when the back portion of the cathedral was open.

Walking around the half-circle we could see tombs and shrines with the large life-sized carved figures of their owners resting on top. Alters with crosses sat behind a lot of the tombs. Most of them had large gates in front of them, so you could see them, but not touch. Some had pews set up so that one could potentially pray there.

After the Dom we tried to get to the Rhine. It's close, very close, but the construction in the area was so hard to navigate that we eventually gave up. Mom and Jeff did get a tour of the Hauptbahnhof (train station) though with all it's little shops and eateries.

Before the drive home we stopped at good ol' Starbucks for a Toffee Nut Latte. Luci and Elise sat at the little kid table a good 20 feet away and had a nice time together while us adults enjoyed some quiet.

Kirk was off of work today and we needed to get out and do something, so we took Mom down to Aachen. She'd never been there before and it's a really nice little town - not too much history - it was only the capitol of Charlemagne's empire.

The potentially rainy day was absolutely beautiful, so we enjoyed the walk around the city. We started out in the square by the rathaus as usual where they were setting up the cute little wooden buildings for the upcoming Christmas markets, then we walked down one of the main shopping streets towards the Dom where Charlemagne just so happens to be buried. We've been to Aachen quite a bit, but it hasn't gotten boring. It is still a beautiful city and the Dom is so detailed that I still see new things each time I visit it. The cathedral is immense which always makes me curious since I've only seen a small part of it. It was built over hundreds of years too, so the architectural styles vary quite a bit from one part to another as is common in European cathedrals and castles.
From there we walked back around towards the market and the rathaus. Cut Christmas trees lined many streets leaning on light posts ready to be set up. The market on the back of the church had been mostly done and some vendors were already setting out there things, but a huge stack of trees lay in the middle not yet decorated. The youngest two girls kept trying to climb them.

Kirk enjoys the architecture and loved the gargoyles on the Dom. My mom and I enjoyed looking around and ducking quickly into shops to see what was there. We saw a beautiful tweed jacket that was a mere 600 Euros (and that was 50% off!) and a beautiful purse that would fit my camera perfectly - just "coffee money" at 990 Euros. The shop windows are all decorated for Christmas and the printen shops, especially, were inviting with foot and a half stacks of different flavored printen cookies filing the windows - some covered in different shades of chocolate and some not - it was hard to walk away without buying a bag of it. Tiara moped until I let her get her camera out and take her own pictures.
But the little ones, I think had an even better time than anyone. Instead of whining about being bored, they skipped along to the movable fountain where a man played the accordion and a older lady danced with her grandson, then searched the sidewalk for really big leaves. Then, as we got closer to the church, they found a sweet little grey pigeon to chase. Arianna was following it carefully trying not to scare it away, then Luci and Elise would run up and watch it flap, raise a foot of the ground, and land just a couple feet away. Then the process would begin again. Those three always manage to stay entertained.

Standing on the steps of the Rathaus we could see Starbucks over the tops of the little wood stands, so we went there for coffee. This the the only place where I break my rule not to go to American fast food... I still haven't gone to Subway, McDonald's, or KFC, but Starbucks is good and reliable. I know I can find spacious seating for myself and the girls, a clean bathroom, and really decent food. The food at Starbucks here is much better than anything I've had there in the states anyway... with a lot more healthier choices too! It was nice to have a small snack and relax before heading home. The girls know where the kid corner is too, so when they were done eating, the "older" people got to chat without wiping chocolate cookie off of anyone's face.

Both before and after our Aachen adventure, we let the kids have 15 minutes on the slide. It's great. The REALLY tall slide is just by the parking garage that we use, so they can climb up the narrow windy staircase to the top, then slide down the big tunnel. They figured out that they went faster sliding down on their coats, so the coats came off and they slid fast. Luci slid right off the end of the slide and then Tiara came flying off the end right after her with Elise on her lap. Last night Luci asked if we could go back to the slide again... it always leaves an impression.
So my kids, after living in Europe, will not remember the historical stuff at all, but they'll remember that Europe has cool slides and fun playgrounds. I guess that's ok.