Dusseldorf

I had planned on just staying around Bochum this weekend. Then, when I realized I can see stuff in Bochum during the week, I got this panicky feeling like I was missing out on something. So, I took the subway to the train station and jumped on the first train to Dusseldorf, the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia. To add adventure to the trip, my debit card had been deactivated by my bank, so I only had the cash in my hand for the trip. However, my Lonely Planet reassured me that there was a friendly hostel where I cold stay for cheep, and I hoped to use my credit card when possible. I haven't had a lot of luck with places excepting plastic. America has warped my budgeting skills.

I got on the wrong train. But this turned out to be a good thing, because I accidentally rode the very fast express train, with a regional train ticket, saving myself time and money. Upon arrival, I went straight to the hostel called "Backpackers". I was pleased to find room available, and acquired one of six beds in a vacant room. I jumped on the internet (yes, mom, hostels have the internet now), and bought myself tickets to the symphony. Well, it wasn't a symphony, but a cello soloist named Heinrich Schiff, performing Bach suites #2, 4 and 6. I guess the odd ones are no good. The guy was incredible. I don't think he had any music in front of him. Is this possible (Nelly, Mike, and Cara)?

Before the concert, I had a steak coated with a sweet mustard paste, and a few SMALL glasses of Alt beer. Alt is the popular style of beer in Dusseldorf, and it is basically an amber. They make about 10 different kinds in Dusseldorf. The beer halls, which were packed all weekend, have great German character form both the people and the decor. You know you're in Germany. After the concert, I wandered around the pedestrian only streets of the Altstadt area until the early morn. One group of college aged guys made me take shots of vodka that had been poured into these pouches containing a kool-aid type mix. They had four flavors, and they insisted I try them all. I also had my face drawn on by a bachelorette group, played some darts at an Irish pub (threw a 121), and got kicked out of a wood fire pizza place for trying to take pictures. The owner was not happy with the camera, for some reason, maybe his secret recipe was in danger. So we exchanged a few words in different languages, and I left. But I really wanted a pizza, so I had some guy on the street buy it for me, then I ate it in front of the window where the guys spread the dough. And I managed to get the pictures I wanted through said window. See pictures on my picassa page. (http://picasaweb.google.com/autorec)

Despite the lively night, I managed to wake up at a reasonable hour, and go to the K20 art museum. Dusseldorf has a very nice permanent collection, including work by Klee, Kandinsky, Mondrian, Matisse, Beckmann, etc. Really not a lot of names missing. I was also lucky enough to catch the last day of a Picasso installment. It was his late work from the 60s and early 70s. He knew he didn't have long to live, and he was working at a feverish pace. His work from this period is the work of a man who is racing against the clock, trying to create and live as much as he can, while he can. The works are vibrantly colored, extremely sexual, and quite alive. There were a lot of vaginae, and penises, and eyes on the wrong sides of the heads. Anyway, I think it accomplishes what it set out to do, make you feel alive. After the museum, checked out some old and new architecture around the city. The old harbor is now called the "media harbor", and is home to some really cool modern architecture (again, see picassa page). For lunch I had a curry wurst, and a very cold altbier, before heading for the train station to go back to Bochum.