Düsseldorf

This weekend is definitely the last summer weekend of the year. On Saturday (27th September 2008) we made a day trip excursion to Düsseldorf, Germany which is about 2 ½ hours drive from our home.

It was very hot and sunny, almost no cloud in the sky as you can see from the photos.

We arrived at Köningsallee (King's Alley in English), which is the famous shopping street of Düsseldorf that is comparable to New York Fifth Avenue. All the luxury fashion brands have a store here. Since I wasn’t in the mood of shopping, the stroll along Köningsallee wasn’t that interesting to me especially strolling among/against the crowds.

I was in search for the Rhine River bank and also some historical site, but Düsseldord appears to be a very new and modern city, not much of the historical architecture left.

The late afternoon by the Rhine River bank was great. Lots of crowds gathered at the bar, beer halls, terrace mostly drinking beers and watching football.

We also enjoyed our tea break at a Turkish like Cafe close by the river bank.

It was a pleasant day trip, the sunny weather basically sprinkled an additional atmosphere and excitement in the air.

Passport to the Sun - Valencia, Spain

We just came back from Valencia, Spain yesterday. We made a very last minute and impromptu journey to the sunny destination refusing to accept the fact that the Netherlands is embarking into a cooler prologue, another episode of winter is lying ahead. Valencia – the third largest city of Spain despite of lack in characteristic and great history, the city still have enough to offer.

An experience that bring us back to the future - the City of Arts and Sciences. A state of art and the largest cultural-educational complex in Europe. Strolling at the compound is a very futuristic experience with buildings and architectures that resemble spaceship and the future.

Journey through the Past – In the city center and the old town, there are still enough impressive architecture in a different era – Gothic, Moorish or Renaissance. The most impressive one is La Lonja (as seen below)

Mediterranean sea , the coast is just 2km away from the city of Valencia, which is perfect to combine sightseeing and sun worshipping. The September Sun in Valencia is still very hot and the sea water is equally warm which makes it a perfect combination for sun bathing in the late afternoon

For now, this is the general thoughts of Valencia. More photos and impressions to come....