Around the World: Dusseldorf Blues

April 8, 1992

Instead of a shower, I had a character building experience this morning.  The shower is operated by pushing a button.  There's no way to turn it off once it's activated.  When I turned the shower on, the water was freezing cold.  Unimpressed with the prospect of starting the day with hypothermia, I decided to skip it and get dressed.  Then, the water started warming up, so I quickly undressed and hopped in. Just as I was ready to rinse all the soap off me, the water cut out all together.

Soapy and half blind, I turned on the shower again and was doused with an unwelcome spray of freezing cold water.  When it finally warmed up again, I hurried to rinse off the soap and stood under the warm water to recover from the cold spray.  Challenge completed, I'm now ready to take on the world, or at least a short train trip to Dusseldorf.

Browsing the postcards in a shop, I am not finding much that I want to do or see in Dusseldorf.  A grocery store provides me with all the fixings for a picnic.  A nearby park has all the comforts required to spend a quiet day watching people.  I'm in an odd mood, a consuming and uninspired, melancholy frame of mind, possibly homesickness.  Calculating the time difference, I figure it's late morning in Toronto, and likely that someone is home.  Maybe a familiar voice will break the gloomy cloud that hangs over my head.

The phone rings and rings.  No one answers.  Odd.

Back to people watching, the constant flow of people rushing off to someplace else, a few people are hurriedly walking dogs in the park.  It's easy to take things, and especially people for granted.  I really miss my family, my friends and the little day to day things that seem so monotonously routine.  I miss having a permanent place to keep my toothbrush.  I miss sleeping in my own bed, listening to familiar music, talking to my grandparents.  My grandparents are pretty cool people, being old only in years.  My grandma is the most empathetic person I've ever met, she has a special gift for understanding people.  My grandad always has a funny story and loves to laugh. It's too bad they didn't answer the phone.  I know they would have been thrilled to hear my voice and talking to them always brightens my day.

Family and friends, cheers from Dusseldorf.  I miss you all terribly and send you my love.  How I wish..., how I wish you were here.

• ¤ •

In loving memory
Patrick Gerald O'Grady

May 21, 1913 - April 8, 1992

Around the World: Koln and Bonn

April 7, 1992

Yesterday, I decided to abandon my plans to visit Frankfurt for the promise of a kitchen at the hostel in Bad Honnef.  It's a small town close to the bigger cities of Bonn and Koln (Cologne) and I can save some money cooking my own food.  As I stroll through the backstreets of Bad Honnef on the way to the train station, I learn that this little spa town has a sense of humour.

I suppose even the folks responsible for naming streets have bad days too.

The Dom, Koln's magnificent cathedral is stunning and massive.  It was the world's tallest building until 1884.  It took over 600 years to complete the cathedral.

The Dom

The foundation stone was laid in 1248.  The east wing was consecrated in 1322 while still under construction.  Work began on the west wing in the mid 14th century and ended with the south tower completed to the belfry level in 1473.  A crane sat atop the south tower for the next 400 years.

After discovering the original plans for the facade, the Protestant Prussian Church and the Prussian State raised enough money to complete the cathedral, hoping to improve relations with the large and growing population of Cologne's Catholic residents.  Construction resumed again in 1842.

Germany's largest Roman Catholic cathedral was completed on August 14th, 1880.


From Koln, I head to Bonn, the birthplace of Beethoven. There is a large bust of the celebrated composer that stands over five feet high in a park and a bronze statue in the Münsterplatz.  I manage to see both before it's time to head back to the hostel before the evening lock out.

Photo courtesy Wikipedia Creative Commons

Returning to the hostel is a bit of a challenge.  Even though Bad Honnef is practically suburb of Bonn, I still have to take the train north to Koln before heading south again to Bad Honnef.  Once at the hostel, I head straight for the kitchen to cook dinner.  I have a craving for something quick, cheap and familiar.

Eat your heart out, Herr Boyardee!

  

Oh, familiar tastes of home.

• ¤ •

"Nostalgia is like a grammar lesson:  you find the present tense, but the past perfect!"

~Owens Lee Pomeroy

Around the World: Heidelburg

April 5, 1992

Everything seemed to be going well this morning.  Enjoyed a filling breakfast and then caught a train headed to Luxembourg, which is opposite the direction I need to go to get to Heidelburg.  The detour wastes a little time, but rewards my mistake with some beautiful scenery.

Heidelburg is a picturesque place to wander through on my way to the castle.  The enormous castle is easy to find, situated upon a hilltop.  The ruins of the castle walls and turrets are decorated in foliage that make it difficult to take a terrible picture.

The castle was spared destruction during WWII because the city itself held no strategic significance other than the possibility of becoming an ideal military post after the war.  Built in the early to mid 13th century, the castle has been repeatedly damaged by lightning strikes, fires, war and time.  Work to preserve the castle was completed in 1890.  Finances limit ongoing restoration efforts to maintaining the castle in its current condition.

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia Creative Commons

From Heidelburg, I caught the train to Frankfurt.  On the way, I realized I had forgotten to collect my hostel card from the reception desk back in Mannheim.  This oversight means I'll be staying in Mannheim one more night.

I don't know why I'm having such terrible luck getting around lately.  Mannheim has this auspicious quality to it that keeps drawing me back to it, like a magnet. 

• ¤ •

"Sometimes it's necessary to go a long distance out of the way in order to come back a short distance correctly."

~Edward Albee