Düsseldorf - Three musts

In addition to the Old Town, Düsseldorf has some unexpected spots which are worth exploring:

• The Japanese Garden: In addition to the Japanese neighbourhood - mostly the street where Hotel Nikko is located - this is a pleasant little garden that surrounds the Japanese culture center.
• Kirmes am Rhein: Drawing more than 4 million visitors annually, this fair is the largest in the Rhein-Ruhr region and one of the largest in Germany (Oktoberfest in Munich is 6.7M).
• Medienhafen: The newest area of the city starts in the Rhine tower and is filled with cool buildings from renowned architects like Frank Gehry.

The Japanese Garden

Ironically close to Enrique's home during these months, this is a romantic little spot perfect to read, enjoy some picnic or meditate. It provides the Japanese expat community in Düsseldorf with a place where it does feel like home, particularly because Japanese traditions are kept. It must be very impressive to attend the 除夜の鐘 joya-no-kane in the middle of Germany. This ritual is performed the last day of the year and consists on striking the bell 108 times, at one minute intervals, to drive away and scatter the 108 fundamental sufferings of humanity.






Kirmes am Rhein
Reminding a lot of any big festivity in Spain, a temporary them park along with beer houses and clubs is set up during the week of the fair. Notable is the age mix, where retired people party together with teenagers - in the same club I mean - until the wee hours. Beer runs freely and one wonders where did the Deutsche ordnung go.











Medienhafen
As a sucker for long walks and big buildings, this was one of my favourite things in Düsseldorf. We walked all the way from the fair and back to Hansaallee where Enrique's staying, it was awesome. Bonus for the drinks by the riverbank on the way back - after all these beautiful pictures, I owed Enrique a beer.  Also featured in Atlas Obscura the twisted Gehry buildings are the star of the modern harbour area, there are 3 buildings with the same structure but different materials (white painted concrete, metallic plates and bricks)