Day trip number 2!

After a pretty crap week which included having to work on my birthday (something I promised myself I would never do), I decided to try to make the most of it, use my chipkaart and get the hell out of Dodge.

RFID card with an electronic purse.
You add money to the card and pay as you go.
Much easier than paper ticket cards (strippenkaart)

Leaving Eindhoven

Here are the rules.

Eindhoven is a transit hub but not an international one.
You need to go to Utrecht or Venlo to get out of Holland.

Just past Helmond

QR-based ads are all over the place here

Halfway there

Are you reading this sign without valid fare?
It'll cost you €40!

A very German way to travel. Yes, it's totally fine.
They drink beer like soda; it's normal to see someone walking down the street with a beer in hand.

Transfer point. I decided to wander around here for a bit.
Big. Mistake. (more later)

Scare-crow

inside the train station

I wasn't joking about the beer thing.

Not sure what this building is but I liked it

oooh pretty (inside Media Markt)

This is what I was on a mission for.
In the German version, Sally is voiced by Nina Hagen.
As I said, it was a mistake.  I went to Media Markt for this...

...and left with this.

Old rail bridge

Almost there...

Made it!

HBF Düsseldorf

here's the rest of it

Local wildlife

DFR sign outside the train station

"Place of German Unity"

Fountain on Friedrich-Ebert-Straße

From the front

Church at Martin Luther Platz

Statue in Martin Luther Platz

Statue in Martin Luther Platz

The same, from the front

Closer shot of the church.

The whole thing

Main statue facing the church

Well, I thought it was interesting.

Köningsallee

Statue at the end of the canal

Light posts on the bridge over the canal

This guy tried to muscle his way in but they weren't having any of that.

It's nice to see little bit of home

...sometimes.

Horsey

The 20th anniversary of the Reunification is coming up.

There is a national tour running up to the actual anniversary (3 October)
Bands, displays, speeches, etc.

It's also the 400th birthday of Düsseldorf

Sculpture and art around every corner, almost literally

...as well as churches

Museum

Many of the streets are cobblestone

One of the best bands you've probably never heard.

The More You Know.

I couldn't work out why it had a power cord.

I will definitely be back.  So far it's the European city I like most. And I can't tell you how nice it was to actually understand everyone (and be understood myself!).

Tot ziens!