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Sunday 15 July 2012

Day 8 Bonn to Dusseldorf

Wow ! Day 8 already!

Ok, got up, went to breakfast and left at about 8.30.
A bit of a disappointing day until 3pm. The first 15 miles was dry and the rest was super wet. Why does Germany have so much rain? I thought it will be sunny. Although I have to say, when it rains, it is still warm.

We went without stopping into Köln, or Cologne, and had a lovely hot chocolate at the old town bit. Cologne had a spectacular light (fireworks) display last night which saw on television in Bonn, but the aftermath was broken glass galore on pavements. Several times we heard crunching noises and it was just blessings that our tyres didn't go. With the result that we took much longer than anticipated to get out of the city.
As I said, we arrived at 3pm, got our room (fabulous by the way) in this very modern hostel. They even have underground parking facilities! There is a Fair on just on the other side of the road, this side of the bridge,  something we gave a skip.
The huge Fair at Dusseldorf



Walked over a spectacular bridge over the Rhine and off to the Rheinturm. Costs was €8 per person to go to the panorama deck which is 168m high. Gorgeous! See the photos below. After that we went along the promenade to the waterfront where we boarded a Rhine tour riverboat for an hour long trip. Great views and high time to do this as we've been alongside the river now since Basel but not yet ON it.

Our riverboat cruiser!
I want to say something about the German allotments tonight. We've seen a system here where it seems everyone as a small piece of land to plant stuff. Some plant obviously vegetables and some plant just gardens. Almost all of them have summer houses on them, fully equipped with satellite tv if you can judge by the dishes on the roofs. I saw one of the summer houses yesterday where they were just getting ready to host a big BBQ. YUM !

Even if you haven't got an allotment, and you have space at your house, you still grow vegetables. I think they are so self efficient here, it is a wonder that the supermarkets still sell 'gemüse' or vegetables.

The pictures below show the Rheinturn, the bridge we walked over and the Fair on the right hand side. Another show the boat we've been on.

The view from the Rheinturm



Drinking beer at high altitude!


Rhine view from our riverboat cruise


Walking along the Dusseldorf promenade with the Rhienturm in the background

Another riverboat and the big fair on the embankment
More views from the Rheinturm

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