Düsseldorf and Grevenbroich–08/09/22
With a cup of cinnamon tea in hand (quite an odd taste but I really enjoyed it!) we embarked on mission one of the day, dragging our belongings to the train station. Arriving late morning in Düsseldorf, Lea had some meetings to take so I left her, and thankfully most of my luggage, in a hotel lobby and ventured off for some solo exploration of the city!
My meandering began with a stroll through the shopping streets, particularly enjoying the names of some of the shops, a park with plenty of ducks, and the Altstadt, old town. Whilst there weren’t any standout buildings in this area, the town hall was pretty, and the streets had a relaxed and pleasant feel to them, much less hectic than the centre of Hamburg. Continuing my walking tour down the river, this was my favourite area in the city. The promenade runs down from the altstadt to the Rhine (media) Tower, and with plenty of time still to spare I decided to go up the tower to the viewing level, 163m in the air. Learning a very fun fact along the way (the tower has the worlds largest decimal clock on the side of it), I enjoyed the views of Düsselfdorf from above, and supposedly Köln in the distance, although I didn’t spot any of the cathedral, perhaps it wasn’t a clear enough day!
Walking back past another park, I headed back to collect my belongings and grab some lunch with Lea before our train. The area next to the train station is called Little Tokyo, and is full of asian shops and restaurants. We were surprised to learn that this is due to Düsseldorf having a large Japanese population, as many Japanese companies gravitated towards the city after the second world war. We headed to a vegan Vietnamese street food spot just down the road and ate some delicious rice noodle bowls!
Another train later, and we arrived in Grevenbroich, the town that our gig was taking place in that evening. Beyond happy to see that our hotel was across the road from the train station, we checked in, very much enjoyed the comfort of a lovely hotel, and headed off to Kultus das Café, ready to soundcheck. The space was wonderfully set up with sound, lights, and every instrument you could wish for, and a Wurlitzer from the 1960’s that played tunes such as Jailhouse Rock! They had also put our tour poster up around the venue which was very cool to see! Extremely grateful to receive some pizza, we then sound checked and enjoyed chatting with the staff, locals, and concert organiser Stefan. The show was one of my favourites so far, with not only an engaged and warm audience, but great sound and lights too! And after finishing the show with a few songs together we sang another song to claps and cheers for an encore! Not only that but a hat was passed around, and we were incredibly grateful for the generosity shown by the audience!
With the venue emptying out, myself and Lea, stayed to chat into the early morning with new friends, and before we knew it Friday had rolled around. Deciding that sleep would be a wise idea, we headed back to the hotel to get some rest. What a day! Thank you so much to Stefan and Kultus was Café for having us and for everyone who came to see two strangers from the UK perform! My heart is full 🙂
