If you want to get somewhere fast in Düsseldorf you can take the train. It’s called the U Bahn, because there are even bigger trains that will take you from city to city. They're called the Deutsche Bahn.

When we go to Altstadt to eat and shop we usually take the train. You must have a ticket to ride on the train. It’s easy to get a ticket—you can buy them right at the train stop from a little machine. Each train ride to downtown costs 2.20 Euros, unless you buy a 4-er. That’s a ticket for four rides. It costs 7.70 Euros. Can you figure out if that price is a bargain?

Sometimes the train goes underground into a tunnel. Then the engineer puts on the lights inside the train so it won’t be dark. I’m not afraid of the dark. Are you?

Most of the time the train goes on tracks through the city, and you can look out the window at all the people walking and biking by. Sometimes a train going in the opposite direction passes very, very close to your train. Then you hear a “Whoosh!” It's fun to ride the train!

Here’s a photo of some folks getting on the train.

And here is what a train looks like as it whizzes by.

Do you notice anything different about the street? Are the streets in your neighborhood made of cobblestones like these?

In Düsseldorf many people ride bikes. The German word for bicycle is Fahrrad. Lots of folks walk from the train to work or school, but many ride their bikes. Even old people like Grandma Barb ride bikes. And even older people, like Nana, ride bikes! There are sidewalks on every street where people walk, and right next to the sidewalk is a place just for bikes. Sometimes you think you’re on the sidewalk, but you’ve accidently wandered onto the bikeway. Sometimes this happens to Grandma Barb. Then she hears a little “tinkle” from a bike bell on the handlebars of the bike behind her warning her to get out of the way.

I’ve never been in the way on the bike path, I fly!

How does the mail come to your house? Does the mail carrier drive up in a little white, red and blue truck and put it in the mailbox at the end of your driveway? Or does the mail come sailing through a slot in the wall in your living room?

In Germany the mail is called Deutsch Post. The signs for Deutsch Post are yellow, and the mailboxes are yellow too. It’s easy to find the post office—just look for the yellow sign.

You’ll never guess how the mail is delivered in Germany. The mail carriers ride bikes! I’m not kidding. In the morning you will see them brining mail to everyone’s mailboxes. Here are some mail carriers.

And here is what a mail Fahrrad looks like up close.

It’s Sunday. Would you like to see where Grandpa John and Grandma Barb go to church? Right in Düsseldorf is a church where everyone speaks English. That makes going to church a whole lot easier to understand. So Grandma and Grandpa are very happy to have found Christ Church. At this church on Sunday mornings you may find people from Africa, India, Ireland, England, the United States and, yes, even Germany.

To get to Christ Church you walk through Nordpark. That’s a beautiful walk, surrounded by flowers and trees, and it is and a good way to wake up and get fresh for church.
After church everyone gathers for tea and biscuits. The tea has milk in it; that’s the British way to drink tea. Parrots don’t drink tea. Do you?

Can you guess what this sign means? It is inviting you to go to an Aqua Zoo! Do you know what an Aqua Zoo is? I’ll give you a hint. There is one in the Mall of America.

You guessed it! An Aqua Zoo is an aquarium. The Düsseldorf Aqua Zoo is in Nordpark, not too far from our house. On the weekends many families gather around the door to the Aqua Zoo because that’s where the ice cream stands are. It’s fun to watch the pigeons and ducks begging for food from the people munching their treats.

Look at how big this statue is! There are a lot of statues in Germany, and many of them are very, very big. Do you have any statues where you live?

This is one of the entrances to Nordpark, the large park next to where we are staying. Nordpark has many flower gardens, and more than two playgrounds for children. The playgrounds are called Kinderplatz. Nordpark has a large grassy area, and on a Sunday in August Grandpa John will play cricket there! Cricket is like baseball, and all the men of Christ Church will play a game of cricket that day. I hope Grandpa John can hit the ball!

Why are we in Düsseldorf? Good question! Grandpa John is working here on a special project for Ecolab, the company he works for in St. Paul.

All day long Grandpa John talks to people and works on computers. Sometimes he talks to people in other countries in Europe like Austria, the Netherlands, France or Poland. Often he talks with people at his office in St. Paul. And sometimes he has a meeting with a lot of people sitting in a big conference room. Every now and then the people in the Düsseldorf conference room talk to people in St. Paul over a special computer hookup. It’s all very fancy. This is one of the conference rooms. Grandpa John is talking to Nana over the computer. I’m just listening in.

This is what you see from our kitchen window. Right below us is a school, which you cannot see in this photo. That's o.k., because school is not in session right now. The kids have the summer off, just like in America. I know it won't hurt the kids to take time off from school. They are very, very clever. They even speak German!

Here is a look out our livingroom window onto Kaiserswertherstraβe, the street below. Notice how thick and green the trees are in Düsseldorf!

Here is the view from our livingroom.

Do you see the big bridge crossing the Rhine River? That is the Theodor-Heuss-Brüke.

Our kitchen is very, very little. Do you want to see how little? Take a look!

On Saturday Grandpa John doesn't have to work, so it is a good day for a long walk. We walked about three miles along the Rhine River to the oldest part of town in Dusseldorf. It's called Altstadt. Altstadt means old town.

Here is a picture of Altstadt Grandma Barb took last year. Today it looked a little different. The very, very, old buildings are there still, and the cobblestone streets are too. But the entire place was filled with people! I haven't seen that many people since we ran through the airport in Amsterdam! It sounds noisy and happy.

People from all over the world visit Altstadt. There are many, many shops in the old city center. Some sell music boxes, some sell cuckoo clocks, others sell hats and shirts and shoes. More restaurants than you can count are hiding along the many streets. People are walking to and fro on the cobblestone streets and on the sidewalk. When a taxi goes down the street it must go slower than a baby can crawl; nobody gets out of the way. Everybody is too busy having a fun time. On the weekend the people stand in the street and have something to sip and watch musicians. Today we saw a real German Band. They sounded like this: Ooom Paah Paah! They were very loud with all their brass horns.

In Altstadt there is also a large farmer's market with flowers, fruit and vegetables and even candy. I was hungry after our long walk, and almost flew into the Erdbeers (that's strawberries). Granpa John held me back!

Here is a funny photo of Grandma Barb at the Neanderthal museum. She is trying to fit into a cut out picture of a Neanderthal. I am just trying not to fall on the ground laughing!

Can you look very carefully at this picture? What do you see? Do you see a fountain? Do you see two children doing cartwheels? Good for you!

When you are in Dusseldorf you will see pictures and statues of children doing cartwheels. You can buy dishes, shirts and even statues of children doing cartwheels.

A long, long time ago Dusseldorf became a city. The children were so happy to hear that their little village was now called a city that they started to do cartwheels all over the city square. Now the symbol for Dusseldorf is children cartwheeling.

This picture was taken in Altstadt, the oldest part of the city. Maybe the happy children did their cartwheels where the fountain is now!

A long time ago, way back in the long ages some people lived in Germany who looked a little different than we do. They were called "Neanderthals." The had big foreheads and thick arms and legs. They were very, very strong and could lift things that were almost as big as a car!

Not so long ago some men were working in the dirt along the River Dussel. They were very surprised to find some bones in the dirt. Scientists studied the bones and decided they were from a Neanderthal. Scientists started digging up that part of Germany, and guess what? They found more bones. They decided that the bones were more Neanderthal bones.

As scientists often do, when they made this amazing discovery they built a museum so everybody could learn about their discovery.

I went to the museum with John and Barb. We walked along the River Dussel and saw where the bones were found. The river is little right there--you could almost jump across it. But it is thick with vegetation. There is so much rain in that part of Germany it is almost like a German rain forest! The bridge across the river is green with moss.

In front of the museum is a statue of a Neanderthal. I want you to know what they looked like, so here is a photo of me sitting on a Neanderthal's shoulder. Don't you think he was big? I bet he protected his wife and children like a ferocious lion!

I'm glad I live now--otherwise I might have been dinner for a Neanderthal family!

--

Home in Dusseldorf

We rode in a taxi from the airport to our new home. A taxi is a yellow car. The man driving the car looks mad, yells a lot and drives the car so fast you can hardly hold on to your seat! We sped up to a tall, tall building that is our new home. We live on the 11th floor, and you take a teeny, tiny elevator to get there. I was glad someone could hold me; with the suitcases, John and Barb there was no room for me to stand on the floor!

Our new home is a big apartment. When you look out the windows all along the living room you see the Rhine River. The Rhine River is wider here than the Mississippi River is in Minneapolis. There are big boats called barges going up and down the river. The barges sometimes have 40 or more railroad cars on them, stacked up on top of each other! On the back end of the barge the captain has his car parked, waiting for him or her to tie up the barge so the captain can just drive off the boat.

I was so tired from the plane ride all I wanted to do was take a nap!

We flew in an airbus 330. I was squished into Barb's carry-on luggage and didn't see my 250 fellow passengers. I hear that you could watch a movie on your very own tv, and then eat a tasty meal before you slept all night on the plane. That's right-it took 8 hours to fly over the ocean!

We switched to a different plane in Amsterdam. We walked and walked and walked to find the other plane. And boy was it little compared to the big airbus

Finally we landed in Dusseldorf, Germany. We took a quick taxi ride with John and found our new apartment. I was exhausted.

My Name is Herr Papagei Blau, and boy am I excited!!

I am traveling to a Dusseldorf Germany, a long way from St. Paul, Minnesota where I live.

Here is me ready to go.