Mandatory visit

My best friend took me out for a shopping orgy in Duesseldorf, where I used to live and work for a few years. The city is a shopper's paradise. On the one hand it was time and money well spent, but on the other hand it was a rat race. Maybe I am becoming too Canadian because the noisy and impatient bordering on unfriendly crowds were soon to much for me. So, instead we went for a slippery stroll through the Altstadt and along the river Rhine.

Here I am posing in front of a Radschlaeger, which has long been a tradition in Duesseldorf where young folks are doing cartwheel acrobatics for fun and money. The statue can be found in front of the Uerige brewery, a must when in the city to have traditional German food with ALT beer (dark and yummy). Just don't go for the Haxen which is pork knuckles. That's on the menue for Japanese tourists only.

In a very North American way I am now taking a break at a certain coffee chain sporting a mermaid in their logo while reading a German motorcycle travel magazine.

As nice as visiting friends and family might be, more than ever I feel that Canada has become my new adopted home. I am already getting homesick, and crave the relative warmth of the We(s)t Coast. Or maybe I am just missing my two-wheeled companion...?

taken from the Uerige website