No Koelsch For You!

Have I ever mentioned how much I adore German food? And when I ask that rhetorical question what I really mean is, have I ever gone into deep and embarrassing detail about how much I adore German food? Because if I haven't then I've absolutely taken all the deliciousness this land has to offer completely for granted. Since I've been here I've enjoyed some old favorites--Sekt, Broetchen, Nutella, chocolate, Apfelkuchen--and gotten to love some new things too, like Altbier, Zwiebelkuchen and Leberkaese. In my time away from here I've become something of a foodie, and so it is nice to reclaim all of these favorites with a new eye as to how they are made. I'm very excited to learn more how to make salad dressings, cakes and other such tasties while I'm here and then to take that knowledge back home.
I have been keeping quite busy here, drinking a lot of coffee and going a lot of places. Eva has been helping me get to know Dusseldorf before I actually move there, and now that I've seen so much of it with her I'm super excited to explore it on my own. Last night I got to experience a lot of the night life in the Aldstadt and I've decided that I absolutely HAVE to make some friends my age around here just so I can get the whole package. I learned that if you order an Altbier you'll get it in about three seconds but if you order a juice it'll take ten minutes. Tables are meant to be shared; if you hog a table all to yourself or tell people they can't join you and your friend it's incredibly rude and unfair to those who also want to enjoy the bar you're in. Old 80's music is super popular around here for the late night. And, finally, I've learned that if you order a Koelsch in Dusseldorf you will get no more service. Koelsch is the standard beer of Cologne while Altbier is the standard in Dusseldorf. The two cities have something of a rivalry which makes ordering one specialty in the wrong city somewhat dangerous if you want a second drink. Neuss, where Eva lives and I've been staying, has people that each identify with a different city, depending on the person, because it's pretty equidistant to both. The bus card I have doesn't go all the way to Cologne but it comes close enough that I can probably get there fairly cheap. I went to Cologne a lot more the last time I was in Germany (the cathedral there is breathtakingly beautiful) so I'm excited to see it again, even if I am going to be calling Dusseldorf my home.
Yesterday I went with Gisla and Eva to a fleamarket here in Neuss that I have a feeling I'll be frequenting once I get settled in. It had a fantastic selection of books that I will be able to purchase on the cheap as well as the classic hats that I have been searching for! (For those of you who don't know, I have a penchant for strange clothes and have been itching to start a collection of classic ladies hats that I can wear like some strange ghost from the 1920's.) I didn't buy anything this time because I don't have any money yet but it was comforting how the market could have been picked up from Hell's Kitchen in Manhattan and dropped in the middle of Neuss. Flea markets are something I am very comfortable in and where I tend to score some major deals, and it looked like it would be possible to keep on doing the same even though I am so far from home.
After the flea market we went to another part of Neuss where a festival of some sort was going on. There always seems to be some festival somewhere in Germany and I love it. We looked in all the clothing shops and such; there is a TJMaxx here, which I never expected, except that it's called TKMaxx for some reason I don't understand. It has the same set up and most of the advertisements for it are mostly in English, and the prices are still low. More hats!!! I'm obsessed.
One of the most fun things about the festival was the live music. Four men in dark suits both walked around and set up in a few places to play classic music on their banjo/bass/trombone/saxophone. A bass on wheels! The man who played the bass was the best of them all; he was very old and looked as though he didn't have any teeth left, but played with the same energy and enthusiasm as his younger counterparts. We sat down, ordered a piece of Zwiebelkuchen and a glass of Federweißer, and watched the festival go by and listened to the music in the sun. Bessere gibt's nicht.