Rhine Tower and Medienhafen - Sightseeing in Duesseldorf

We decided to do a little sightseeing in our current hometown today. After all Andrew has vacation this week and that is what you do on vacation. Neither one of us has made it to the fairly modern looking area south of the Altstadt (old town) called Medienhafen so far.

 We promised Sophie that she would ride up in the tallest building she has ever been in to make the trip more enjoyable for her. We also went to Duesseldorf's largest bookstore first with a huge children's book section.

 And on our walk to the Rhine Tower Sophie discovered this fun slide.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rheinturm

 View of the Medienhafen at 168 meters (551ft).

 The Rhine and the Landtag (the Northrhine-Westphalian parliament) below.

 Looking further north up the Rhine. The Altstadt on the right bank.

Unfortunately, we cannot recommend the self-service bistro on the viewing deck. We had imagined something along the lines of Pret A Manger, but were disappointed when all we found was a chips and an ice cream vending machine. 

 I was all the way up there!

...and now I want some ice cream!

The most photographed buildings in Duesseldorf designed by Frank Gehry

Then off to find some ice cream.

Happy Halloween from Irrland (again)

Yes, I know, Irrland again. But the weather was beautiful and Daddy needed to give those slides a try before the park was going to close for the winter next week.

 Kisses for Daddy

 Sophie and I watching Andrew go down the really tall slide.

 And believe it or not - next this is Sophie with Daddy at the top of the really tall slide...

 ... and she did not chicken out. She even went again, but refused to go with me. I guess she felt more secure with Andrew. Fair enough. I would too.

 Then she went by herself on the much shorter Monkey Slide.

 I take that is why it's called the Monkey Slide.

 Grand finale at the "Schwabbelmeer" (Wobble Lake). It is filled with water, which makes running on it a tremendous workout. Here is Andrew running into Sophie's arms.

 And vice versa.

 Sophie and I tried letting us fall onto the Schwabbelmeer.

 Exhausted - showing off our Halloween face paintings (home-made). That is a bat on my cheek in case you couldn't tell.

 Sophie chose a cat and a Hawaiian hibiscus to match her dress. 

Digging into her second or third Halloween muffin of the day. Chocolate with orange cream icing, topped with crackling chocolate chips that popped in your mouth. Nom nom nom...

Irrland!

This post is of special interest for all our friends with kids who are thinking of coming to visit us. We will take you to Irrland! We came here for the first time during our visit in Germany in September 2010. As it was another gorgeous weekend, we headed out for some fresh air and fun for kids of all ages.

 First stop was the cart rental (we learned on our last trip that regular strollers will get stuck in the sand).

 Then a couple of laps on the bike.

 These wobble lakes (Schwabbelmeer) are all over the place. Filled with water, they make for some good exercise.

 Loads of animals roaming around.

 ...including this tall horse just waiting to give Sophie a ride.

 Berit almost breaking the horse's back.

 The fastest slides I've been on. Sorry about the cabbage head in front, but it's the only picture I have of the really steep slide in the background which I went on (without Sophie of course). This one shows Sophie/Meike racing Berit. Oh, and built into the structure is an old airplane, which are also to be found all over the park.

 Again, again, again!

 Climbing the volcano.

 The summit team.

 Another bouncing mountain. Insurmountable with socks.

 Are we having fun yet?

 We missed the pumpkin patch this year, but at least we found a three-dimensional hay labyrinth.

 Sophie walking on the water.

And last but not least: some hot chicks!