Dusseldorf citytrip

Another experiment in my never-ending quest in how far can I take it without failing miserably. A citytrip to lovely Dusseldorf. And as with a lot of citytrips over the years , another marathon. My third Dusseldorf marathon. Preparations were not ideal. I could not escape the flu and I hurt my left leg during a random walking down the stairs, resulting in a bruised left calf. Hopefully I recovered just enough.

Combined with the anticipation of a long travel and hustle and bustle of a big city I was pretty nervous. But we were prepared, planned a full day for both the journeys , Saturdays an empty day , so staying sharp en fit for the marathon should be doable.

the outward journey didn’t go with the fast ICE due to maintenance , so we went with the regular train services. First off to Venlo, then a simple stop at every stop you can find train towards Dusseldorf. The trip went well and we arrived at noon. Luckily the room was ready and we just took it easy the rest of the afternoon.

We went for a walk and a lunch in the city , got my racing number and just walked around a bit. We ended up passing a truly giant supermarket just around the corner from our hotel. Got some breakfast stuff once we found it and took a break at the hotel. Late in the afternoon we went to our favorite Burger restaurant in Medienhafen.

Saturday morning after breakfast we went to Niederkassel for some relaxing and to visit the Japanese garden. Unfortunately it openend hours later so we went on a walk around the neighborhood. With a bit of coffee and cake on the way. A very beautiful place too live indeed. Lot’s of green , parks and cool houses. And very close to the city centre. Happy few only I’m afraid. After the nice walk we went back towards the city, grabbing lunch at our favorite breakfast lunch spot. It’s still there !

Back to the hotel after getting some supplies from the mega Edeka. Taking the afternoon to catch some sleep and make sure I get enough rest. Even dinner at the hotel with fresh salads bread and deserts and getting a nice early rest. Tomorrow is marathon day !

Sunday morning, marathon d-day, nerves are definitely at their post. Early breakfast and preparation time. Main question of the day is , do I have enough endurance to get to the finish line without breaking down at some point. Only one way to find out.

We walk towards the start , which is at 9:00 in the morning, via Altstadt where the last remaining people are kindly swept out of the bars. There was a bit of a celebration in the city due to the promotion of Fortuna Dusseldorf on Saturday.

This being a relatively small marathon, about 4000 runners, there is plenty of space to do a nice warm up at the start and my girlfriend is able to be at the starting grid. I did a few test sprints to see how well my left leg felt. It felt good which added to the confidence a bit

About 10 minutes before the start I get in my starting position and it starts to rain a bit. Because of the course spectators can actually see the runners a lot , the course returns in a small part of town a couple of times so they can easily walk and be on time at different points in the race. Fun and good for moral.

Een 10 minuten voor de start zoek ik mijn startvak op en begint het wat te regenen. Mijn vriendin kan gezellig naast het vak staan en gaat even later naar het eerste punt, door de opzet waarbij je steeds weer terugkomt in een klein deel van de stad is het ideaal voor toeschouwers en kunnen ze de lopers vaak voorbij zien komen. Leuk en goed voor de moraal.

It’s there start , and the running can begin, all nerves went away immediately , which always happens when I start running. I am in a group with pacers who have 3:14 as a goal. I know that is a bit of a stretch for me but for now the pace is good and being in a group provides some heat. Which is great because of the increasing rain. My liquid intake isn’t great apparently because I have to take 4 restroom breaks along the way. First 2 times I got back with the group but I gave up on that because it took too much of my energy.

I am in a good pace and feel good, I take a drink at every stop and some gels and bananas. While running thru Niederkassel and Oberkassel the rain really starts pouring and I am soaked and a bit cold. Mainly on the return trip over the bridge. I still maintain a nice pace, After 30 K my legs het heavy and I can’t keep the pace. Which is fine by me and I decide not too force anything and stay in one piece. Just maintaining pace as much as possible which works great. In my mind I reached the giant 40 K sticker on the road pretty fast and the sun has started drying me and warming me up. Which is nice. The final stretch downhill towards the finish line and I am there. As usual my muscles immediately stop working after crossing the finish line, which is always a bit of a strange feeling. As is the time my watch tells me 3:21:11, en new course record. For me that is. I am extremely pleased , not one moment of pain or troubles along the way. Race seemed over before I knew it. Another milestone , in experience and running.

After the finish we find each other again and go for a curryworst lunch. Getting some food in is always great. Afterwards we walk back to the hotel and the sun is still shining. At the end of the afternoon we go to Medienhafen and get a drink and some sunshine. It’s hot by now. We walk back to the hotel via an unknown part of the city which has nice shops and restaurants. A new discovery for future visits.

Dinner is at a Thai restaurant near the hotel and an early bed , travel time tomorrow. Weather the next day is bad , well luckily travel time which went well as well and we are back home in the afternoon.

This citytrip went well and has given me a lot of insight in how to plan a trip. Running a great marathon was a very nice bonus. This learning experience has given me a lot of hope in getting on with our main hobby. Traveling.

Storm and travel

Last official day of our holiday, travelling back. Not the ideal day to be doing a lot of driving as the weather forecasts was very very bad. Storm warnings and wind speeds of about 120 km an hour. We checked it before departure and in Germany the bad weather was expected in the afternoon. Off we go, it was a very smooth ride with little traffic and the weather wasn’t all that bad.

It got a bit worse once we passed the border but we were almost at our stop on route. We visited my girlfriends sister and her husband and the 2 little nephews. Which is always a lot of fun.
They had made all sorts of healthy snacks and we had a very relaxing afternoon. The last stretch home was very relaxed and once we got home the sun started to appear.

Frankfurt – day two

Our second day in Frankfurt, again a pretty hot day. So today we started out early. We got breakfast at Matilda’s Kitchen in the Westend which is a residential area. Where most of the residents seem to have retired. Pretty early in life.

After a nice breakfast we walked around and got on the subway to the museum riverbank. Which proved to be a very good choice. We visited the Städel.
There was an exhibition on 80’s artists from the BRD. Not entirely our cup of tea, but some nice pieces. The modern art exhibit had a few very cool art works. Would have been great to have just one on your own wall. A poster just isn’t enough. Also some very nice paintings from painters like Max Beckmann. Also some works from old masters like Vermeer, Rembrandt etc.
They advertise with them as well but that doesn’t reflect the overall collection. Which has a lot more to offer. I really liked the 19th and 20th century exhibit a lot.

There was also a photography exhibition with work from Barbara Klemm. which was very cool. She made pictures of people watching art and artist portraits. As well as some nice street photography.
We had read about it but didn’t realize it was at the Städel.

It’s a very big museum and it took up lot’s of time. Very worthwhile if you get the chance. The other 33 museums will have to wait for another time.
After the Städel , we got hungry and visited the first place nearby. A burger joint which wasn’t bad. After refuelling we headed back to the city centre. I wanted a jacket which was nowhere to be found. So off to the Nordend again. For our last night in Frankfurt and the final night of our holiday, which is always a bit sad.

We again made use of the excellent and fast public transport network and ended up at the Weinstube. Which is absolutely great. Nice wines and also nice small dishes to go with the wine. A very good way to end the day. Back at the hotel we went for a swim on the 18th floor of the building, normally nobody is around especially at a late Friday night. Not so much this time. Lot’s of people. So after a quick swim and looking at the view we left again. We had one last drink at the bar and headed up to our room. The thunderstorms had started and we had first row seats. Floor to ceiling glass rocks. After watching for a bit I fell asleep.

Frankfurt has been a very nice surprise with a lot of very cool places and neighbourhoods to visit. It’s worth a visit , take a few days and just wander around you will enjoy it.

Frankfurt – day one

Today is our first day in Frankfurt, not your typical city for a citytrip. But mostly big city’s are cool one way or the other, Frankfurt being no exception. The opposite to our surprise.

We started our day pretty late, first stop was breakfast or should I say brunch or even lunch in Nordend. A very cool neighborhood, with lot’s of bars and restaurants. After breakfast we just strolled around and took some pictures.

After the Nordend we decided to check out the city center. Which is a lot busier with all the shops and restaurant chains being there. Not as much fun. Frankfurt was bombed heavily in the war and most of the old city is gone. A bit of it is still there, and partly rebuild which is full of cheap bars and restaurants. Everything is aimed at getting drunk very fast for as little money as possible.

After buying some records we decided it was time to go for dinner. We went to Oostend restaurant which is near the new ECB headquarters at the river. A very nice part of town, except for the ECB building and surrounding perimeter. Which is really out of tune with the rest of the neighborhood.

After a nice meal we walked along the river and there was a nice summer theater and music festival going on. So we stayed there for a while and enjoyed the scenery. Lot’s of people just hanging around and enjoying summer.A very nice place in a surprisingly fun city.Wish we had more of this in the Netherlands.

Walking down the river to the next subway station. With a train every 6 minutes , which is great. We went back to our hotel and had a drink at the bar.

Heidelberg

It’s time to leave the black forest and head for Frankfurt, on the road to Frankfurt there is a nice University city, Heidelberg. Which is a nice break from driving. It was pretty busy on the road today.

So after little over 2 hours we reached Heidelberg. It’s a small city and has a nice vibe. Apart from the bus loads of tourists which remain mostly in the Hauptstrabe and the main square , which is good for the the city population and people like us.

I wonder if they see anything at all, just staring at their Ipads , Iphones and whatever device they are attached to. And don’t forget to wear your headphones at all times. Ow and when you take a picture, make sure that you are on 99,9 % of the picture with a landmark in the background, preferably making some sort of peace sign. Well now you have an idea which type of tourist discovered Heidelberg.

We spotted a nice Moroccan restaurant with really good and cheap food. Very busy place. We then just wandered the streets a bit and stopped for a drink here and there.

It was getting late quickly so we decided to grab a burger at die kuh die lacht and head for Frankfurt. The traffic was mostly gone now and after little under an hour we reached our hotel. Now it’s time for a quick shower and a drink. Tomorrow we will explore Frankfurt.

Schwimmbad

Yes back in the schwimmbad again, got there around 11:15 and just relaxed, swimming a bit and enjoying the shade and the sun. Ate a plate of fries and currywurst, and had a relaxing day. The temperature was about 36 around 15:00. Pretty warm indeed.

So not much action, although I did manage to run to the nearby waterfall and back, pretty early in the morning and the sun was already there in full force. So just an easy run and enjoying the scenery.

They hold a yearly trailrun event here as well, maybe something I would like to do next year.

Tomorrow it’s time for a drive to our next stop Frankfurt. Which promises a little less heat.

Panoramic views

Another hike today, near Freiburg there is a hike along some very nice panoramic views and a ruin. We got up early, and started the hike around 10:30. It was already very hot near 29 degrees.

The first part of the hike was from the monastery to the higher parts, not too steep fortunatly. We took a few pictures and continued. The hike was very pleasent but it got very hot.

After lunch at the ruin we decided to shorten our remaining hike. We cut a climb which saved us 1,2 km and got back to the car.

A very nice hike with cool views and no other people around, except for some Mtb’ers and some people with campervans.
Hippies mostly 😉

As it’s the resting day for the people at the guesthouse we bought some bread cheese and meats, the plan was to have dinner at the balcony but some persistent wasps and the blistering heat forced us inside. Sort of camping in the room , which was nice.

Tomorrow promises to be even warmer than today , so most likely we will head to the schwimmbad once more.

Hiking im Schwarzwald.

Today we hiked around the town we are staying in, luckily it rained early in the morning so the temperature was nice. We started from our guesthouse and made our way up. We first followed a trail which led us too different water mills, which have been restored in recent years.

The walk was very nice. Great views. After a while we got back to the town from where the second part of the hike started. But first a coffee. From here on it was up a hill and back down again, we only made the error to go down too soon and we ended up back in the town. Not what we had in mind. So we had to do a few extra kilometers to get back. All in all a very nice hike and great wheather.

Now I will get a much deserved beer. And some food.

Dachau and the Black Forest

Today we travel from Munich to the Black Forest. A 4,5 hour drive if all goes well. First we visit Dachau, the concentatration camp near Munich. I have never been to a concentration camp this size.

When we arrived it was already 32 degrees celcius, it was actually very busy. Lot’s of school children which is very important.

The camp itself to me is a daunting place, maybe it was the heat or just being there but I got very sad. Simply because nothing really changed from those days. After WWII we had numerous events where lot’s of people were killed simply for being different. Maybe not on the scale with which it happened in WWII, but on a large scale nevertheless.

Even today. Really really depressing. ‘Never again’ a plaque in the camp says. Well we’re not there yet, not by a long shot.

Still I think it’s very important to visit these historic places. To remember how lucky we are to live in the West, a place on earth where freedom is the norm and being able to express different opinions.

After this stop we went off for the Black forest, a pretty long drive with some slow traffic on the 2 lane roads in the last hour and a half. Beautiful scenery made up for it. We arrived at our Ghasthaus Ratsstuble at around 17:30. Which was good. We had a nice meal and some beers before chilling on our terrace.

it’s going to be very hot tomorrow so we won’t be doing any long hikes just yet. Just walking down to the pool I think.

Munich – Day three

Today our third full and final day in Munich, started out with a nice breakfast at the same place as yesterday, Maria. Very good once again and I got lucky 🙂 , I had the last croissant.

A good start of the day. It was around 30 degrees celcius so we planned a relaxed day walking around and visiting some places we forgot the previous two days.

We visited the Asam Kirche , very cool indeed. Did some shopping, no purchases which is good. We then checked out the surf in Munich, which is pretty cool.

Very skillfull surfers indeed. It’s at the beginning of the English garten and due to some sort of barrier in the river there is a constant single wave.

Lot´s of people watching and very polite surfers. Everybody gets a wave. Awesome. Be sure to check it out when in Munich.

After that it was way past lunch time and we ate at the Goldene bar, which was nice and a terrace in the shade.

Finally we went to see the Keith Haring exhibition. At first I didn’t want to go as it was a bit late in the afternoon but my better half convinced me otherwise. Very good indeed, we had seen an exhibition in the Brooklyn Museum so I was afraid I wouldn’t see anything new. I was wrong. Lot’s of work we hadn’t seen before, which came from private european collectors and lot’s of big pieces. Very happy we did go !

We slowly returned to our hotel and decided to dine in the neighbourhood. Nice meal and a very good bottle of wine.

Munich is a very nice and relaxed place to visit. Especially if you stay away from all the tourist stuff (Basically Altstadt) and like exploring different parts of the city. It’s full of nice parks, restaurants, shops. Lot’s of art and musea as well but we simply didn’t have time. It would take a full month to fully see everything.

Munich is well worth your time. You can easily spent a few days.