The Wurst is Yet To Come: Dusseldorf Dec 2011 - Day 1

[Gill H]

<<< Pre-trippie

Guten morgen, Dibbers! Up at oh-heck-hundred-hours to get ready and await the 5 am taxi to Heathrow Terminal 5. Fortunately the taxi is on time and the roads quiet, so we get in with plenty of time for bag drop.

But despite it being the weekend before Christmas, one of the busiest travelling days of the year, only one BA desk is open, and there is already a sizeable queue stretching past the automatic check-in machines. With no queue barriers and no staff around, it isn’t clear whether all these people are waiting to use the check-in machine or just dropping their bags. Indeed, we see several people reach the front of the long queue, only to be told to go back as they haven’t yet checked in.

After a few minutes, a member of BA staff arrives at the next desk. There is no indication of whether the desk is open, but a few people move forward and she begins checking them in. Oh good, we think, they’ve opened another desk. So after a few minutes of ‘should we/shouldn’t we’ dithering, we join the small number of people moving across to this second queue.

We stand there about 5 minutes while the lady checks in those ahead of us, but then another staff member comes along and starts telling people this desk is closed and they need to rejoin the main queue. We do (having, of course, lost our place) but the lady in front of us has started to complain that no-one had told us the desk wasn’t open, and she refuses to budge. A few minutes later we notice she is being checked in, along with a few other confused people who joined this queue. So much for taking our turn…

We get through and are grateful for virtually no queue at security. There’s an anxious moment when our trays seem to be stuck in the scanner for absolutely ages, and I start mentally listing everything in my handbag, but eventually it all comes through, and we head for Gordon Ramsay’s Plane Food for breakfast.

We ask for a table near the balcony where we can watch the planes. It’s near the balcony all right, but there’s a big white metal strut in front of us and we can’t see a thing. Oh well, we’re here for the food.

We ate here a few months ago, and this time we have the same server. I mention that I’d managed to spill a whole latte all over the table last time, and promise not to do it again. We order the ‘classic breakfast’ with some toast and a latte. The latte is precariously balanced on an unnecessary little saucer, which means – yep – I almost tip it over again, but just manage to catch it in time. Phew!

The breakfast is delicious, but not exactly huge, and we order a couple of pastries to follow it up. Suddenly we notice that time is pushing on, and by the time we’ve paid the bill we have to rush to the boarding gate. Boarding is supposed to close at 7.05 and we rush up at 6.55 to see a sign that says ‘Closing’. Eeek! This is not like us at all, we are usually mega-early for everything as we hate rushing. We just get to the desk and are told there’s no problem, they only put that sign up to hurry people up. We aren’t even the last on the plane, but we do find that someone else’s bulky luggage and thick winter coats have taken most of the overhead locker above us. We just about manage, and soon we’re off.

The announcements are being done by a very helpful and rather camp Scottish guy, and when he mentions that we might like to read the latest issue of High Life magazine, we collapse into giggles. Remember “The High Life”? Ohhh, dearie dearie me!

Thanks to our early morning (and in my case a travel sickness tablet), we’ve both dozed off before we leave the ground. We wake up enough to have a coffee, and an orange juice for me, but pass on the baguettes as we’re still full from our delicious breakfast. We spend a little time watching the flight map and details, in both languages. I’ve never really worked out why you want to know the temperature outside when you’re in the air. And as for ‘tail wind’…? (The German version ‘Ruckenwind’ always sounds slightly rude, or is that just me?) And an hour after takeoff, we’re landing at Dusseldorf airport.

[Gill H]

We’re soon through security and grabbing our case. Peter gets the giggles when he spots a sign for the baby changing room which is “Wickelraum” in German. He thinks it sounds really cute: “Do you want to go to the wickel raum with the wickel baby?” Yeah … maybe you had to be there.

We follow the signs to the escalator leading down to the S11 train, or “S Elf” in German – very seasonal. The ticket machine offers various languages so we go for English and soon work out that a single to the main station (Hauptbahnhof) is 2.30 Euros each. However, by the time we have fumbled with the change and start feeding it in the machine, it times out. We do it again, this time keeping with German, and it works. Hmmm, a xenophobic ticket machine!

The train journey takes about 10 minutes. It’s a local line and we go through a couple of suburban stations. We notice a lot of graffiti on the walls, but this isn’t your usual teenage scribbles. There is some amazing wall art with elaborate pictures. Often whole walls are covered with intriguing designs.

This seems to be a theme in the area, as we later discover that our hotel restaurant looks out on a mural of a huge yellow monkey, who is being painted by lots of little monkeys. OK, it might not be everybody’s idea of beauty, but there is real creativity on show.

The Hauptbahnhof is a little confusing but we find our way out of the passageway, past the taxi rank and out into the street. We’ve copied down some directions from a Tripadvisor post, so we know to look for the Ibis sign across the road, and the Holiday Inn is just opposite. It looks like we’re in a business area, with a few big banks and offices – all quiet as it’s Saturday. Nothing much around us, but the station has plenty of cafes, shops and food stalls if we need anything.

And soon we’re checked in and going up in the beautiful old-fashioned lift to the 6th floor. We’re in room 626, which cracks us up as we’re both big Stitch fans!

The view is not exactly romantic, looking out over the railway station, but the double glazing means that the trains don’t bother us.

The room is fine, with a big wardrobe, a comfy bed, a TV and a nice bathroom. I always like it when a hotel has bottles of hand wash or body wash attached to the wall – no fussing with lids and dropping bottles in the bath! No tea/coffee making stuff, but we knew that already – it’s pretty rare in Europe as it’s very much a British obsession!

So we’re soon sorted, and off back to the Hauptbahnhof to get the U-bahn into town. Near the U-bahn area there is a nice little model train layout and we spend a Euro and a few minutes making the trains stop and start.

We figure out that we want the stop for Koenigsallee to start with, and spend a confusing few minutes trying to find out what ticket we want, and whether there is a day-ticket or multi-day ticket we can buy. A helpful young chap tells us to get a ‘Kurz-strecke’ or short hop ticket, which is cheaper than a normal single journey, as we’re only going 3 stops. We get one each and thank him. He smiles and rather hesitantly asks if we can give him a few Euros ‘for sleeping and eating’. I never quite know what to do in these situations, but fair enough, he’s provided us a helpful service, so I give him a couple of Euros.

The next task is to find the right staircase down to the U-bahn. The signs say several of them go via Heinrich-Heine Allee, which is the next stop after Koenigsallee, so we take the one near McDonald’s (handy, as we can remember it for next time). We almost forget to punch our ticket in the little machine at the top of the escalator. There is no barrier, so nothing to stop you going down to the platform and travelling without a ticket (except that you might get a ticket inspector on your train). This is something we’ve seen a lot on trains in Germany, and I guess they just must be more law-abiding than us Brits, because over here it would be a fare-dodger’s dream.

The U-bahn trains are easy to use, and we like the TV screens showing the next few stops – very useful for visitors. Within 5 minutes we’re getting out at Koenigsallee. This place has all the posh shops, plus, for some reason, a big gorilla. The fact that he's advertising a removal firm called 'Elephant' is even more confusing. (Then again, we later spot a chemist called 'Elephant' - so perhaps Dusseldorf has a sizeable elephant population and various businesses have sprung up to cater to their needs...?)

We walk down the road for about 10 minutes, and then figure out (thanks to the map from the hotel) that we’re going the wrong way. It’s starting to rain, so we make our way back up and decide to pop into a café for a cuppa.

[Gill H]

We find Leysieffer, which looks really nice. They have all sorts of gourmet chocolates and biscuits in the window, and a café at the back selling hot drinks and delicious-looking cakes. We grab a seat and have a latte. Peter chooses a piece of Sandkuchen, which turns out to be like a madeira cake – in this case with fruits of the forest and poppy seeds. I choose a yummy pastry with custard and apricots. It’s not cheap, but we’re on the equivalent of Regent Street and in what is evidently a very nice place.

We pick up a ‘shopping map’ in the café, which lists all the shops and restaurants on Koenigsallee and the surrounding streets. Around the corner there’s a restaurant called the Victorian, which I’ve seen online and looks very nice indeed. We pop in and find out they are open for Sunday lunch, so we make a booking and decide this will be my birthday meal.

Just up from the restaurant we find the Johanniskirche (St John’s Church) and see that there is a 10am service. We had considered going to the English-speaking church in Dusseldorf, but it looks as if it’s some way out of town. We know from prior experience that a German ‘Evangelische’ church service is pretty much the same as an Anglican one, so we should be able to follow what’s going on.

There’s a shopping centre nearby called the Schadowarkaden, as it’s near Schadowplatz (Google tells me Schadow was a sculptor, so it doesn’t mean ‘Shadow’. See what you learn in these trippies!) We pop into DM-Drogerie, which seems to be the equivalent of Superdrug, as Peter has forgotten his razor. So we buy a razor and some shaving foam, then stroll round to Schadowplatz for our first taste of a market.

It’s fairly quiet at this point, but there is one hut where people are queuing outside.

This is the famous Kaethe Wohlfahrt, who are one of the biggest sellers of good quality Christmas ornaments. Most things are wood or glass, and really beautiful, but the prices reflect the quality. We have a brief look round, and then get something to eat. Rather than the usual bratwurst in a bun which everywhere sells, we go for some spaetzle. These are like fat noodles – they’re made in a similar way to gnocchi, if that means anything to you! They are served with a mushroom and cream sauce and cheese, and warm us up nicely.

After walking a little further, we find our way to one of the big department stores, Galeria Kaufhof, and see that the Heinrich-Heine Allee is just across the road, where the main market is. We shelter from a sudden hailstorm and have a look at the cute Steiff bear displays in the windows of the store. One of the window displays is playing German Christmas songs, and there’s a song called ‘Kling, Gloeckschen, Kling’ (ring, little bells, ring) which is as catchy as It’s a Small World – I’m still singing it now.

By now we're getting a bit tired, and we decide to save the main market for tomorrow. So we pop into a handy Starbucks for a cuppa and some wi-fi, and download the Dibbcast Xtra. This is an important episode for us, as it features my final epic round of the Dibbcast Disney Duel, in which I take on the mighty Blusteryday. You'll have to go and listen to it to find out who won...

[Gill H]

So we buy two more 'Kurz-strecke' tickets and do the 10-minute journey back to the hotel, where we enjoy a restorative cuppa in the bar and decide where to eat tonight.

We have found there's a 'brauerei' (brewery, ie a pub which brews its own beer and serves food) not far, so it's back to the Hauptbahnhof again, this time walking through the main station to the other side where there are a few shops and some stalls selling the usual bratwurst and other hot food. We walk about 10 minutes up a few streets, and there it is - Brauerei Schumacher. It looks like an old-fashioned cosy pub, but BIG. Let's just say if Gaston was German, he'd eat here. Can't see any antlers, but you never know.

We grab a table and try to figure out the menu. Meanwhile a rather brisk waiter rushes by and asks "Zwei Bier?" (Two beers?) I ask for an Apfelschorle instead, and although the waiter is surprised anyone would come here and not want beer, he is quite happy to serve me! Meanwhile we decide on our meals. There's not a lot of choice if you don't like pork; actually that's true of pretty much anywhere in Germany though, so we're prepared. We decide on Schweinhaxen, which I can't remember exactly, but I know Schwein is pork, and I think it means pork chops. I was wrong... when they arrive, they are ham hocks, of the kind you buy to make pea and ham soup. They've been slowly roasted and have the crackling round them, and a knife and fork stuck in the top. And they are enormous!

Mine is with Apfelrotkohl - red cabbage cooked with apple, and Semmelknoedel, which I thought was going to be noodles but is actually a big round dumpling.

Peter's comes with sauerkraut and Sahnepuree - potato puree. It's certainly a hearty meal!

Peter's Schumacher Alt beer (which, oddly, is a half rather than a pint) is delicious, and it's just as well, because our waiter plonks another one down in front of him before he's finished his first and without him asking.

Despite not being able to finish our huge ham hocks, we find room for a sweet. Peter has the Apfelstrudel, which is, yeah, you guessed it … with Vanillesauce aka cold custard, and cream.

I go for the Spekulatiuscreme. Spekulatius are those nice ginger biscuits you sometimes get with coffee in restaurants, and this is a kind of thick mousse with the same flavours. It comes with Rieslingbirne - pears poached in Riesling.

The bill comes to 46 Euros, which is not bad at all, and we totter home full and contented, and fall into bed.

Gute nacht Dibbers, see you on Day 2.

>>> Day 2

INDEX

[patm]

We went to a brew house in Cologne and had the same problem about them just bringing us beer (it was hard! ) and one of the locals told us that you covered the top of your glass with your coaster to signify that you had enough!
Pat

[blusteryday]

With regard to the duel...you're a worthy winner Gill. Loving the pics.

[Guest]

Some serious food here. I remember the coaster tip from a recent visit to Cologne, but only vaguely as I didnt find out about it soon enough

Loving these trippies, really comprehensive !

Have you been to the Cologne christmas market too ?

[Guest]

I am loving this! I love the adventure of the food ordering, it's magic. I'm crap at translating menues for people - well, it's another thing they do with posrk/yes, it's pork again but it's not the same as last time. Lol.

What did you think of the market. Bad Wimpfen is my favourite, so how does it rate in comparison?

We enjoyed Trier's Chritmas market. The market wasn't all that big and wasn't all that special but it was pretty and the cathedral behind it was stunning. I love Trier.

If you're looking for somewhere for next year, I really like Stuttgart's and it has an airport as well.

[Gill H]

Bad Wimpfen is the best I have ever seen. Truly magical.

Dusseldorf can't compare with that, but it was still good.
Give me a gluhwein and I'm happy really!

[DIBBadmin]

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