Düsseldorf, Germany
April 25th 2007

Ok, I guess this is not my typical "travel for fun" excursion. This actually is my second visit to Düsseldorf. The first one however was just a visit to the Hungarian Consulate and back - that was over three weeks ago. This time, the main purpose was to pick up my visa for Budapest. - I will be traveling to Budapest this Saturday, and need a student visa for my internship in Hungary since I will be living there for almost four months.

Düsseldorf is only a half our train ride from Köln, but the roundtrip ticket costs €18.60. Since I was in no hurry I decided to spend the day there. I went there after class this morning. A friend joined me as well, so we were able to but the Dayticket for €23 for 1-5 people so it worked out cheaper. After getting my Visa, we went to the Altstaadt (old city) for lunch. Ate at a nice Italian restaurant. After lunch we walked to the riverside. There were rows of riverside bars and Ice cream shops. We spent the afternoon at one of the these bars. It was really nice. Ok actually it was very hot and I was complaining about it and I dozed off at the bar for a little bit I think but I actually enjoyed being outdoors, by the river, people watching (when I was awake). It seems that I can never dress appropriately out here. The weather has been so unpredicatble. Days that I think it will be warm and I wear a tanktop, it turns out to be so windy and chilly. And then today I had jeans and a jacket and it was blazing hot. However by evening it cooled down. We found a park and I plopped down on the grass there and took another nap. That was so awesome. I love walking and sleeping on grass. I hate the bugs but its a sacrifice I am willing to make :). So yes, besides getting my Visa, I really did not acomplish much today. I did not study for my big exam on Friday and I did not do any sightseeing in Düsseldorf. Instead I was just like any other local enjoying a nice summer day doing nothing for a change.