ThrottleMonkey

Given that Man United failed miserably to qualify for Europe this season (shut it!) my brother Jason and I have not had any Euro awaydays. We decided to put this right and booked a weekend in Dusseldorf some time ago. Along with our mate Mark we are off from Manchester Airport on a 7am flight tomorrow morning, returning at 9.40pm on Sunday night.

We have booked into a nice hotel near Altstad (Old Town) which is well known for ....

Quote:... Almost completely destroyed during World War 2, it was rebuilt according to historic plans on its foundation walls, which makes it look like a real historic town. Today the old town is a popular shopping mall and at night and weekends turns into the so-called “longest bar of the world”. Within one square kilometer, you will find about 260 bars, coffee shops and snug brewing houses.

I'll try and add pics if I get any free wifi and am able to - or add them once I'm back.

Really looking forward to this.

Add pics............260 bars..........not a chance.............

Have a great time.

This is the best way to drown your sorrows after following a losing team

(01-15-2015, 01:03 PM)RogerC Wrote: [ -> ]Add pics............260 bars..........not a chance.............

Hard to argue with that logic!

(01-15-2015, 03:23 PM)FraserG Wrote: [ -> ]This is the best way to drown your sorrows after following a losing team

I didn't think I could dislike you any more ... until now.

(01-15-2015, 03:39 PM)Kingy Wrote: [ -> ]

(01-15-2015, 03:23 PM)FraserG Wrote: [ -> ]This is the best way to drown your sorrows after following a losing team

I didn't think I could dislike you any more ... until now.

Oh I'm sure you can

Bloody football

Enjoy the beers matey

As expected - Hotel and free wifi couldn't cope with uploading pics to Photobucket to host here. Add in the 'beer factor' and getting online was never happening. Back and in work now. Dusseldorf is a fantastic place to visit. Will be going back there. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Will get pics and a few words sorted once I get chance.

Ok. Here we go ...

We were on the way to Manchester Airport at 4.30am on Friday. Booked in, bacon butties in the posh lounge and then off on the plane. We were checked into the hotel 5 mins from Dusseldorf main train station late morning ... then off to find Altstad.

Some pics we took along the way ...

We took the scenic route:





Mark (and engineer) and my brother Jason (a knob ... sorry, electrician) found the water pipes a thing of great interest. (Why they were 'overground'). Sad bastids.



End of the canal:



These 'big wheels' get everywhere. The odd little building at the side is a museum but its is closed for renovations.



A bloke on a horse in the centre of Altstad:




And then we chose a traditional pub for our first beer. This is 'Alt' beer (dark beer) and is the local brew. Its served in 0.2l to 0.3l glasses so it is fresh. As you put a glass down empty the waiter brings fresh until you tell him you want the bill. We liked that. A lot!



Barrel changing time. No health and safety here. Three guys hoisted the barrel up.



Whenever we are away we always try to find the quirkiest bar we can and then adopt it as our 'base'. This was the strangest one we found so we popped in each day ...



Yes, there was a hand hanging from the ceiling.



A bloke touching his organ with a monkey.



One of the bars own 'micro breweries' for making their Alt beer. Quite a few places had these on show so you could see the process.



The obligatory Irish bar. Had a great chat/banter with a couple of Dutch blokes who were into their football. The bar had a 'scarf' thing going on ...



Late on Froday night. The three amigos ... or stooges as we were corrected:
(Mark, Jason, Me)



Saturday we went to the Media Harbour. It's had a fair bit of expensive regeneration and it's been done with some architects who think as far out of the box as you can do.



View from the 'Sky Bar'. Yes, of course there was beer involved!



Some quirky buildings.



We loved this one. Stainless steel. Brilliant.







Last one, with the Rhine Tower in the background. Our next destination.



This is looking down from the lower lounge of the Rhine Tower ...



The biggest boat I've ever seen - and a common sight on the Rhine as they still shift an awful lot by boat. They were running 24-7.



Upper lounge now and evening set in. We had a pleasant afternoon drinking a few beers and taking it all in. Oh, and that a rotating floor. Started to wonder just how many beers we had when we clocked moving tables and chairs!






Sunday we went to find an interesting looking building we passed on the way to the Harbour on Sat. Turns out its a big Art Gallery.





We considered paying to do the 'sky walk'. They had nets up and you could walk with open space down to the floor (it was a long way down). After watching we realised people were bored after a few minutes so sacked it and found a very nice bar where we had a few beers, then made our way back to Altstad again and our quirky little pub.




All in all we loved Dusseldorf. Very relaxed place and loads to see without spending a fortune or needing any transport other than your feet and a 12 euro train/tram ticket which covered the three of us.

Looks like a nice place, some lovely scenery. Thats some head on those beers though.

Some great pictures Kingy.
It looks like there's some fantastic looking buildings.