Hi Mummy,
today we visited Duesseldorf.
Duesseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The city is situated on the River Rhine, and is renowned for its many events and also for its fashion and trade fairs. We went here by train and started our trip in the city centre, close to the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen (Arts Collection North Rhine-Westphalia) because Katja's friend needed to buy some things in an art supply store. Behind the museum we found this special wall.
From here we walked towards the old town.
Katja and her friend wanted to show us river Rhine. We reached the Burgplatz. Here you can see Burgplatz (castle place) with the Schlossturm (castle tower).
An excursion boat had landed just a moment before, so a crowd of people was heading towards the old town.
Lots of people were taking a walk and enjoying an ice cream or a beer here. Close to the city the promenade is full of bars.
The Rhine promenade was built in the late 1980s in its today's appearance. The traffic is running underneath the promenade. The houses in the background are much older of course.
In the distance the Rhine Tower and the old harbour came into sight. Rhine Tower is a telecommunication tower with a rotating restaurant behind the windows.
A freight ship from the Netherlands was moored here.
Katja showed us the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia, the parliament,. situated at river Rhine next to Rhine Tower.
This is the main entrance area of the Landtag, averted from the river.
Yippie! Katja and her friend decided to take the elevator to the top of Rhine Tower! We had a spectacular overview from a height of about 170 m.
The building shaped like a reversed "U" is called Stadttor (city gate).
Here you can see the harbour ...
and here the Landtag close to river Rhine.
Back on the ground we took a walk to the harbor. We walked along the marina first.
Rhine Tower once more ...
This part of the harbour is called Medienhafen (media harbour). For decades the harbour has been an area of workers, industry and trade. After the Mannesmann company had discontinued its tube production in Düsseldorf, parts of the central harbour were no longer needed. As a result the eastern part of the harbour started to be redeveloped. Nowadays you can find media companies, but also fashion and design offices here, lots of gastronomy also.
You can find some spectacular post-modern architecture, most famously three twisted constructions by Frank Gehry, here.
Here you can see the opposite bank, can you see the building with the climbing men?
Here is a zoomed photo of the funny facade:
It was very hot, but extremely windy.
Also a great sight
We walked back to the old town than. Here we saw this old dock, even an historic ship is moored here.
The city centre was crowded with people, so we decided to walk back to the station to take the train home.
We came past the Koenigsallee, the most famous shopping street here,(and the most expensive one ), famous for the fashion showrooms and luxury retail stores located along its sides.
When we got home, we all needed a shower immediately.
Bye
Drashuven