Thanksgiving in Düsseldorf

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.  We hope it‘s a safe and happy holiday for you.

We are visiting Düsseldorf, about four hours west of Hamburg.  Friday was our last day of class and we will be traveling for a week of so, before heading back to Hamburg.  Although it‘s not Thanksgiving here, it is the beginning of the Christmas market season and we spent the morning wandering through the streets of Old Town Düsseldorf.  We sampled our first mulled wine and eggnog, complete with souvenir mugs to take home.

Once of the many cartwheeling children

Düsseldorf is a shopping Mecca for anyone with money.  Shops range from Harry Winston, to Fendi, to Michael Kors, and on and on.   There has to be a lot of money around, because the streets are lined with Porches, Mercedes, and Audis.  There is even a showroom for a brand called Sunseeker, selling both autos and yachts.  Very convenient to do all of your shopping in one location!

The Christmas markets seem to be predominantly food related.  Lots of mulled wine, sausages, and hand food.  Since this is the first of many markets that we plan to visit, we figure we‘ll have lots to choose from.  Evenings at the market are more fun since everything is decorated and lots of people are out shopping.  The cold weather makes it feel a bit more like the holidays, although I‘d really prefer to be in some warm weather!

Mulled wine and a Christmas pyramid.  

The Christmas pyramid features figures of local VIPs (politicians, actors, singers, etc.). It‘s a fun jab at the rich and famous!  We have seen only one, slightly bedraggled person portraying Santa, so he doesn‘t seem to play a prominent role in the decorations.

The city is also known for its symbol of cartwheeling children - stamped on manhole covers, souvenirs,  and seen in several different statues.  History says that when the city of Düsseldorf defeated the city of Cologne, the children of Düsseldorf celebrated by doing cartwheels.