I took the Intercity Express (ICE) train to Düsseldorf today. The train is no slouch ! .. the electronic speed indicator in the cabin showed 297 km/h (185 mph), at times. It runs very quietly, and even with four stops, it took just an hour an a half one way. The train comes up all the way from Munich, Nuremburg, and then Frankfurt, on to Cologne and Düsseldorf, and its final stop is Essen. The one-way fare does not come cheap at €82, but hey : time is money, right?
Our train was ICE 820, and here it is, just arriving into Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof.Here is the fleet of trains operated by Deutsche Bahn (German Rail) . I see the ICE4 is supposed to top out at 250 km/h .. but our train went faster than that !The modest brick facade of the entrance into the Dusseldorf Hauptbahnhof (main train station).The water is from the Rhine river (it is a canal connected to the river), the tower is the Rheinturm (Rhein Tower), and the weird white and brown buildings that look like they are about to tumble into the water, are apartments designed by architect Frank Gehry.The Rheinturm is a 240.5 meter (722 ft) high concrete telecommunications tower in Düsseldorf, capital of the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Construction commenced in 1979 and finished in 1981.The view from the top of the Rhein Tower. The slanted windows enable views straight down : definitely not for sufferers of vertigo! You will pass out, looking down. The lines of colored light are reflections generated by the tower; maybe it helps the viewer align the view out there with the descriptions inside the tower, or they indicate a specific direction. The rectangular blocks piled on top of one another on the peninsula is a Hilton hotel.It really does not look as if there is ONE straight line in this apartment building. 1. I hope they paid the construction workers extra and 2. one has to wonder if the insides of the building, the rooms, follow the same kooky contours as the outside would suggest !Here’s the second of the three Frank Gehry designed buildings in the Neuer Zollhoff, as the area is called. Construction was completed in 1998.Check out the stainless steel used on the exterior of the shiny building, wedged in between the other two, so that it can reflect the colors in the steel. It looks (to me) like the exterior is holding up well, given that the building is now approaching 20 years of age.Is there one square or rectangular building in the entire Neuer Zollhof? Apparently not! These are offices of some kind, but I did not check the details.How about some very classic architecture from the Altstadt (old town)? I loved this clock tower on top of one of the buildings but did not make a note of the name of the building.And here is what the canal in Koningsallee (the king’s alley) looked like today. It is beautifully lit up at night, and full of color in fall. Check out the little stepping ledges on the sides of the canal. It is to enable ducks and waterfowl to get out of the water and onto dry land.
Intercity Express (ICE) train to Düsseldorf today. The train is no slouch ! .. the electronic speed indicator in the cabin showed 297 km/h (185 mph), at times. It runs very quietly, and even with four stops, it took just an hour an a half one way. The train comes up all the way from Munich, Nuremburg, and then Frankfurt, on to Cologne and Düsseldorf, and its final stop is Essen. The one-way fare does not come cheap at €82, but hey : time is money, right?
