Doing Dusseldorf...

The nice thing about living in Brussels is that we are right at the "gateway" to Western Europe and many countries are very close by. And, although we had just visited Cologne the weekend before, we headed back to Germany for another weekend getaway.

Just a short two-hour trip across the border lies Dusseldorf, Germany. (Actually, across two borders, because you cross just briefly into the Netherlands, on your way into Germany...)

We were also surprised to discover that Dusseldorf has the third-largest population of Japanese in Europe, just after London and Paris. In fact, the first nihonjin arrived in Dusseldorf way back in 1905...

During World War II, Dusseldorf was a prime target for Allied bombers due to its industrial centers and the city was practically leveled from the daily bomb raids. As a result, nearly all of the historical buildings in the city were lost and later rebuilt following the war.

First stop on our agenda was "Nordpark", which houses the Aqua Zoo. Following a nice lunch outdoors at the adjoining Cafe Restaurant, we spent a few hours visiting the marine exhibits and other interesting wildlife at Aqua Zoo.

Then, we checked into our hotel and tried to go swimming in the hotel pool, but unfortunately, PS was too young to use the facility. She was sooo sad that she was turned away, but the promise of a special snack helped her get over her rejection. DS and daddy still enjoyed the pool though!

The next day, we went to Old Town, Alstadt. There we saw famous Dusseldof landmarks such as St. Lambertus, Schlossturm (castle tower) and walked along the Rhine Promenade.

Speaking of St. Lambertus church, it has a tower that twists and curves, supposedly due to being constructed from lumber that was still wet. Although we are not sure if this is entirely true, it is an interesting tower to see, and you can't help but wonder how DID they get the wood to curve like that?...

There is also an area in Rheinpark that is known as the "longest bar in the world", due to its many bars and pubs lined up one after another. We found a restaurant called "Ham Ham" which specialized in (you guessed it!) pork! Here we are enjoying a nice German meal of Weinerschnitzel and roast chicken.

Dusseldorf is really a very pretty place, with lots of nice restaurants, shopping and things to see.

Jo's obsession with waffles means that she wants to try waffles at the different places we visit. We tried the ones from a local waffle/crepe shop in Dusseldorf, but we found that Belgian waffles still rule! At least we know that we won't have to drive two hours for a good waffle!