Altstadt (Dusseldorf) Adventure

January 23rd, 2016

Today we went on our first Dusseldorf adventure that involved more than just taking care of "life" stuff. Since this is the city that we're now living in I am sure there will be many, many more Dusseldorf adventures that won't even have to be deemed official "adventures", but because we were traveling relatively uncharted territory, this was an adventure for us. The goals of the day? Obtain library cards, get some good grub, look for a new little bike for Bridger and walk along the Rhine.

So - first off, I have to say that planning an all-day, indoor/outdoor adventure in January with two kids when you're going to be carrying all that you need with your own two hands on the streets, on and off buses and trains, and in and out of buildings...you have to be pretty dang efficient! And we've got it down. And the kids get pretty excited about it too (as you can see here).

Can I digress for a minute and just say something here? Bridger and Juni are getting to be pretty dang good friends, and the cuteness of it all almost KILLS me. They wrestle together, make each other laugh, share food, are getting better at sharing toys with each other, and are really starting to depend on each other's friendship to survive socially. I am loving it. Aren't they cute?

So off to downtown Dusseldorf we went. We went to an area called Altstadt, which literally means "old city" - the oldest part of the city that is filled with beautiful old buildings, statues, and a rich history. We got off the metro, headed to the street, and heard some loud, boisterous singing happening over a loud-speaker, and decided to head that direction. This is what we saw:

It was a large group of people, singing loudly, and above them was a sign that said "The Nice People Club". I wanted to be friends with the nice people, but they were all busy singing loudly.

From there we headed to the public library where I successfully got a library card, all by myself, in German, with a woman that spoke no English. Woot! It was a somewhat confusing, and (at moments) anxious success :) And the alarm still went off when we walked out the doors with our library books. Haha!

From there we headed past the old city hall (and awesome statue) to an area with a multitude of food booths for lunch. We partook of our first "Currywurst". Honestly, I was a little afraid...but it was AWESOME. So good. And it came with tiny little sporks - what could possibly make it better than that??!

Before leaving the market, I had to pee, which posed a problem as public toilets are a rarity in Europe. If you find them, they are either horrriblydiscutinglikeIcan'tevengointheregross or cost anywhere from 30 cents to 1 Euro to use (so you'd better have change in your pocket!). Luckily Berkley had seen a bathroom near where we had entered the food market area, so we headed back there. I was astounded by what a saw: a large, metal port-o-potty looking thing that was an automatic, self-cleaning bathroom. WHAT?! It was about the size of one of those huge, handicap-accessory port-o-potties, but was equipped with toilet paper, tissues, a sink with automatic water, soap and hand dryer, and also a huge nozzle that sprayed everything down after each use...interesting, huh? It cost 30 cents. We were doing our best to read the signs and figure out how it worked (pretty straight forward - but ya know how it goes...it was our first time ever seeing one of these things) when we found a warning:
"If you're inside the bathroom for more than 20 minutes an alarm will sound and the doors will open automatically".

Can you imagine? I laughed so much, repeatedly throughout the day thinking about someone who would be in a situation where they would need a toilet for over 20 minutes, and what the consequence of that would be in a large, crowded public area...

Anyways...so now you've been warned :)



From there we headed to the Rhine, on our way passing a sweet old ship in the harbor.

There's a fantastic walking/biking path that runs along the Rhine and we let the kids loose. We passed old buildings that had been destroyed during WWII and then rebuilt, and others that were only partially there.

It was a stark reminder that Dusseldorf was a major target for destruction during the war, as it is a port city along the Rhine and was a major manufaturing center, where, at one point, all of the ball bearings for Germany were being manufactured. It's crazy to imagine the destruction, as well as the rebuilding process...today you'd almost never know it happened. Despite the foggy, drizzly weather, we had a great walk, and plan on going back many times.

Later in the afternoon we bought Bridger a little balance bike from a lady who was selling it online, and headed home where we finished off our first (of what is sure to be many) jar of Nutella.

Successful day? You bet. Excited to learn more about the city? Of COURSE. I'm sure we only saw the very eensy-weensy tip of the ice berg, and we're hungry for more.

 

Wir Sind Gespannt! (We Are Excited!)

Well, among other things, our family moved to Dusseldorf, Germany! 

What? Why? Well...basically we've always wanted to live abroad, Berkley is a rockin' scientist, and he applied for and received a fellowship (the Humboldt Fellowship), and we decided it sounded like a fun adventure. 

So, after 9 months of preparation, we made it, and have spent a first, fantastic day in Dusseldorf. Here's a run-down of all that happened in the last couple of days:

We got to the Seattle airport 3+ hours early, giving us plenty of time to check our SEVEN pieces of luggage (two of which were car seats) and get through 

security. We were carrying two duffle bags and a roller carry-on (taking full advantage of what we could get for free) plus 2 back packs, a shoulder bag and...oh yeah...two kids in tow. We must have been quite the spectacle, but it wasn't bad at all. Our first flight (to Las Vegas) was a breeze. 


On our way to our next gate at the Las Vegas airport, we ran right into one of my rugby players from Illinois, a German girl on her way home, and she was on our flight :) Woo hoo! It was good to see her, and she helped out with the kids while we waited for our flight.



Just before getting on the plane, I went to a little shop to use up my last few American dollars on some tampons (don't ask). I got to the register, was counting out all of my change, and was 9 cents short. 
The man at the register re-counted the coins. 
A line was forming. 
Things were getting awkward. 
The man at the register verified that yes, I was 9 cents short.
Then, a loud, Eastern European man (with a strong accent) declared "I will pay the 9 cents..." 
But then he didn't have 9 cents. 
More awkwardness...
"I will pay the 9 cents...With my credit card..." he said. 
"..AND I will also buy this book (and he held up Donald Trump's new book - and he was serious). 
I thanked him, and everyone around us, including myself, got a good chuckle.

 The kids were great on our 11 hour, overnight flight. There were plenty of extra seats, which meant that the kids definitely got to sleep, and I did for just a bit as well (Berkley stayed awake the the whole trip, that crazy man). Juniper slept on the floor under the seat, and Bridger on Dad's lap.

Bridger also became good friends with the T.V. screen planted directly in front of his face, and, for the most part, we were fine with that.









 After the longest layover of our lives (9 hours!) in Frankfurt, we arrived safely in Dusseldorf at 11 pm local time, gathered our luggage and took a taxi to the house we will be staying in for the next month. Martina, our hostess, is very kind and even had put some food in the fridge for us. 

The kids went to bed super late, and slept until about 11 am. We spent the first 1/2 hour of the morning with the kids watching MacGyver in German...which was even better than in English. The rest of the day we used to unpack, walk to the store (Aldi!), and meet the girl that will be babysitting our kids while we take our language class.


Overall, we are feeling great. There's been a couple of rough nights with the kids, but we kind of expected that, and expect it will happen in the future as well. We have an awesome hostess, Martina, who is helping take care of us in a way that we never expected - she stocked food in the fridge for us the first night we were here, loaned us umbrellas, offered us rides, and is even helping us look for a place to rent. The people at church were kind and seemed genuinely excited to see us and grateful for our attempts to speak to them in German (many of them spoke English). As I walked down the hallways of the church, I felt surprisingly warm and at home, and out of nowhere, a voice came into my mind saying "You are going to love it here", and I believe that's true. 

We are grateful for all of the help we've received to get here - little reminders of love from home like some dried mangoes from Trader Joe's, a new Star Wars Lego kit, a bag full of Q-tips, slightly pink socks, oatmeal packets and more. 

This week, while Berkley is home (before he starts work) we're going to work on getting the essentials lined up - bus passes, housing, getting used to public transit, and staring our language courses. 

Wir sind gespannt! (We are excited!)