In june this year I got an offer to cat-sit in the Barcelona area. The offer was for August, and we all know how flight prices behave in the summer months for sea destinations. So, having in mind the price I had to pay, I was looking for opportunities to see more for the same price. Instead of directly flying Berlin – Barcelona, I decided to take train to Dusseldorf, stay one night there, take a flight from Dusseldorf to Barcelona. Tell me a better girl math situation, I’ll wait.

We arrived in Dusseldorf around 1PM. Train ride from Berlin HBF to Dusseldorf HBF was around four hours. The accomodation Hotel Max, walking distance from the central station was ready, and so were we to explore the city.
Started our one day in Dusseldorf with a visit to Stoak specialty coffee. Great coffee and even better overnight oats. Then we continued through the beautiful Königsallee towards Carl’s Platz. The first difference to Berlin could be spot. No particular bike lanes, but on the other hand the best of the best cars.

Then we stopped at the Market at Carls platz. So many people, dressed trendy, sipping white whine or bubbles. There was some holiday atmosphere in the air. We didn’t join this drinking crowd. Instead we went inside the market and had one of the best sandwiches in our life. Steak sandwich by Don Carne. Just bread and beef, nothing more. I highly recommend it.

Our roat took us to the City hall, where people were happily singing schlager song. Few meters forward in the old town, basketball competition. Once we got to the Rheinpromenade aka at the riverside, there were even more party places and restaurants. I’ve been on one german cruise ship, and the atmosphere was literally the same. Big screens, big portions, big glasses.

We saw what there is to see, the conclusion was it is okay, its clean, there are things to do, but not our choice. Architectural wise, I was really tempted to see the Kö-Bogen building and the area around it. Kö-Bogen is a shopping mall, fully covered in greenery, around it there are some buildings and chilling area, so it looked like you are in Scandinavia. These shopping streets are not something that I like to visit, but if you need something I guess this is one of the streets and places for it.

We passed by the Hofgarten, but thought we probably do not have time for it, because we were impatient to actually se what we came for. The Little Tokyo Dusseldorf, as they say quarter where you can enjoy japanese food and culture. For food I am sure for the culture we didn’t really have time to check.
I do not know if it were the buildings, or the decorations, but this seemed like the most authentic replica of what I’ve seen in Japan. So many Japanese and Korean supermarkets, places you can prepare your own food, katsu places, ramen spots, waiting in line and so on. The only difference is that the food we had in our plae of choice didn’t taste like in Japan and the prices were definitively not following the taste. I was hoping I can get some eel dishes, they were unfortunately not having them. The supermarkets on the other hand were amazing, we bought a lot of treats. There was even a place that replicated the Japanese photo booths. So cool.

Then we took the tram to the second most expected place to see in Dusseldorf. The Media Hafen. The tram ticket was kind of expensive for the distance 3.6 eur but okay we are in Germany. Especially compared to the fact that ticket from Dusseldorf City center to the Airport was 4.5euros.
The buildings in the harbour area were even nicer than I expected.
Especially eye catching was the Innside by Melia Dusseldorf Hafen Hotel, I fell in love with it.
This area had many restaurants and it was great for sunset or boat watching. As a cherry on top we saw the Gehry Bauten buildings. The one on the top photo. The silver one got me I want to live there.
As the sunset was setting we were continuing toward the TV tower, and people watching. Luckily the day was warm and sunny and this one day in Dusseldorf felt like a vacation with a big happy crows of people.

The next day we only had time for coffee. Weird space was the place of choice. They specialize in coffee and cookies.
WE didn’t see everything there was to see from the city, but I think we cowered good amount of the basics. As I was exploring coffee places I realised that they are spread a lot across the city, so probably the other not so central parts are also great to visit for exploring the local’s life. If we had more time would definitively do that.

The airport in Dusseldorf is I think the fourth busiest in Germany. It looked like a nice mall and very friendly, Even though there were more Dutch than German travellers.
Dusseldorf for a day was nice, but I do not know if I want to come on purpose for more. I am on a quest to visit as much as possible different places in Germany, so I think that next time I am doing some girly calculations I’d go for another place.
But it definitively has things to do and see and cover many different tastes.