A Train By Any Other Name is Still a Train

 There was no sleeping in and lounging around before breakfast this morning, we were up and out by 7 am to catch the train to Dusseldorf. Elise and I stopped at a cafe at the train station and stuffed our purses full of baked goods and water for the 4 hour ride there. Within the first 10 minutes we wolfed down our Schoko-Croissants. If there is one thing Elise and I especially despised about Germany it is their love for carbonated water, luckily the 3 bottles of water we bought for the trip were all carbonated. 4 hrs later of cramped legs and mouths as dry as deserts we finally made it to Dusseldorf. The city was not at all what we expected but it was very nice. We cabbed our way to the first apartment, the outside wasn't the nicest but it seemed like it would be more promising inside; we were wrong. The inside was small and cramped, the bed room was a mattress on the floor with two half blankets on it, lamps were ripped out of the ceiling in all rooms and a sink and hot plate with a mini bar fridge acted as a kitchen. We left feeling disappointed, I being so desperate for a place to live almost settled for the shit hole, Elise wouldn't have it. Feeling let down and discouraged we headed to next and last chance for a place. After getting lost and walking around for half an hour instead of the actual 10 minutes, we finally found it. The outside was very nice and new looking, we were greeted by a tall skinny German man who showed us the apartment. It was all we were hoping for, a large kitchen with washing machine and dish washer, two bathrooms, large living room with fold out couch and t.v with cable, the bedroom was large and had two beds and a good closet. We also had a screen door that lead out to our backyard with a porch; our landlord says no one really goes out there except himself and once and awhile some guys(we were sold). Elise and I told him we loved it and he said it was ours. In Germany washing machines are a wee bit different and little bit more confusing such as the temperature of the water isn't cold,warm, hot.. they have actual degrees for the temperature; Elise asked out new landlord if he would show us how to us it properly he jokingly responded "This is the kitchen you are the woman and I am a man so it is your job to know" we laughed and then he agreed to show us. Afterward we had lots of time to kill and we were feeling quite hungry so we found an American bar and restaurant to eat at, turns out it is part of a "smokers club" so after good hour of secondhand smoke and a case of lung cancer we headed to catch our train.