Posts from the Road…
March 9, 2001 – Dusseldorf, Germany
Have made it to Düsseldorf. The train connections yesterday were practically mathematical. Since leaving London, we spent no more than 10 minutes waiting for each of the connecting trains. Could not have planned it this well. Apart from Belgian kids singing TV detective theme songs to each other (‘Magnum’, ‘Starsky and Hutch’, etc), it was fairly uneventful.
Düsseldorf is still cool and overcast. A few changes since we left. The former Rex movie theatre has reopened as some upscale bar but kept the “Rex” name. There are some new trams on the road, about one-third larger than the old ones. In Kaiser’s, they have compensated for the meat problem by filling most of the deli case with cheeses.
Been hitting the old haunts. Had lunch at the Balloon coffee bar, built near the location where Napoleon went up in a balloon in 1811. There is no further record of events during the flight, so we are left to guess if he had a drink spilled in his lap or was unable to open the complimentary bag of peanuts.
As those “in the know” would be able to deduce from the title, we made it to Prickynoo last night. Some minor changes (new tables, English menus), but still the same old Prickynoo.
For the uninitiated, Prickynoo is a Thai take-away restaurant that was not far from our old apartment and, not coincidentally, also very close to the place we are staying. The food was as good as usual. Dinner was the typical H6 (mittel-scharf) with a 13 for starters. Joe, who joined us for dinner, ordered 137. If these numbers mean nothing to you, you do not know what you are missing.
And, sadly, there was no Bo.
Editors Note: The note above was sent on the 9th regaling events of the 8th.
March 8, 2001 (Day 1): Dusseldorf, Germany
A light rain fell as we departed London this morning at 10.25am. The clock is now officially running.
The hotel proprietor wished us well when we checked out – she had checked out our website last night before and printed off our itinerary. We confidently made room reservations for 80 days hence.
In hindsight, London rush hour on the Tube with our luggage was good practice. Felt like an amateur hauling our stuff up and down stairs. I suspect we will be old hands at this in a couple months. That said, we were at Waterloo station with enough time for a decent breakfast – ‘decent’ defined as actually being able to sit down to eat it. And pick up an Economist.
Looking around Waterloo station I pondered that the goal was to make it back to where I was standing at that moment. It struck me as odd to be going all that distance only to end up back where I started. Must be an easier way.
Morale is good. Connections today were mathematical despite the leaden weight of our bags. With us, we are carrying volumes of paperwork in the form of visas, tickets, guide books, phrase books, itineraries, handwritten notes from friends containing directions in Chinese, and copies of e-mails hoping that this will get us through the next three months and back to where we are. That is second only to the amount of faith that we are carrying, which – in addition to its value – takes up far less space.
Dinner tonight at Prickynoo with our friend, Joe. It feels good to be home.
On a train, heading east of here
Moonpools and Caterpillars, “Hear”
Where I’ll end up, I’m not quite clear
But I can’t help myself, I must be settling down
Until they stop this thing, I’ll get around
When I hear it’s been done before
And I hear it’s a simple thing
Then I hear it’s quite difficult
And I hear almost everything
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