... and a 3-day trip to Düsseldorf

Düsseldorf

Wednesday to Friday was time for a trip to Düsseldorf for a 'Studienkompaktkurs' with all the other assistants from the Köln area. Stupidly I hadn't clocked that 'all' would mean all, ie. also the assistants from France, Italy, Russia etc. - people with whom the only language I have in common with is German. Just as well I've spent the last couple of months practising then! Thankfully the course seemed to have less course like things, and more sight-seeing type activities.

I should add in here the real-life drama that I witnessed whilst on my way. Whilst waiting at Köln-Mülheim station there was a couple just down the platform from me having an full-on argument. Suddenly the guy hit his (now ex?) girlfriend, and just as quickly two people from the opposite platform, jumped up, shouted across at him to stop, before jumping down off their platform, across the tracks, and back up onto my platform. At this point one of them then whipped out his police ID card and proceeded to caution and then report the guy. By the time the Deutsche Bahn security turned up, it had nearly all been dealt with. After much more shouting he was escorted out of the station, and that was that.

Compared to Altenberg, the youth hostel was luxury accommodation and spag bol for lunch on arrival certainly boded well. First stop was 'Landtag NRW' - the home of the state's parliament. After going through security we were then treated to a long talk... what he had to say was probably quite interesting but most of my concentration was on trying to not to fall asleep. It was nap time after all. We also witnessed a bit of parliament in action, although 'action' is a bit of an overstatement! It is quite a nice building though, especially with the view out over the Rhein. For the rest of the evening we were free to explore the town, go for food, go out etc. All good by me!

Düsseldorf by twilight

Thursday started with a coach trip to the Ruhrmuseum in Essen (the theme of the few days being the structural change of industry in the area). Again, this would probably have been much more interesting if we had been left to look around ourselves rather than having a somewhat dull guided tour.

Back on the coach, next stop - Oberhausen. After a break for lunch / shopping (where the Christmas market stalls were already starting to be set up!) we went to the Gasometer. Now this was amazing. The gasometer has been turned into a planetarium which houses "the biggest moon on earth". No photos can do this justice. As well as models of the sun, earth and other planets, there is a 25m diameter model of the moon. You can also get a lift up the gasometer and climb the last steps up to the top of the roof.

The moon was much much bigger!

View over Oberhausen

Next up, a 'Nachtlichtführung' of the Landschaftspark (Zeche / Hüttenwerk) in Duisburg. Or in other words, a tour of an old colliery / steel smelter, after dark, when parts of it are lit up. Somehow we managed to get some of the windiest days ever when we visited, and if we were in England health and safety would probably have stopped what we did next. Let's just say, when they said "bring a torch" they meant it. If only we had listened. As part of our tour we climbed up lots of metal steps and through the works of an old blast furnace to reach a height of 80m. In England we would probably have been required to wear hard hats with lights on them and harnesses, and even then the weather conditions probably would have cancelled it. But this is Germany, so up we went! It was fairly interesting, probably because our guide was quite funny, not that I can remember much of what he said now! After getting back to Düsseldorf the evening was one more ours to do as we wished.

The Landschaftspark

View over Duisburg

Finally, Friday morning was a 'Stadtführung' (town tour) round the Altstadt and Medienhafen in Düsseldorf. Our guide was lovely and despite the wind, it was quite interesting couple of hours... Düsseldorf's 'media harbour' has some somewhat different buildings!

See the 'people' on the building?

Designed by the US architect: Gehry

If we gloss over the somewhat pointless session that followed and wrapped up the 'course', then there you have it. All in all, a good few days and much better than expected :)

(Saturday 6th November 2010 ... day 60!)