{"id":4856,"date":"2014-01-07T16:45:58","date_gmt":"2014-01-07T16:45:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/?p=4856"},"modified":"2017-11-15T14:23:09","modified_gmt":"2017-11-15T14:23:09","slug":"the-top-5-reasons-besides-the-kolner-dom-to-visit-nordrhein-westfalen-on-your-trip-to-germany","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/the-top-5-reasons-besides-the-kolner-dom-to-visit-nordrhein-westfalen-on-your-trip-to-germany\/","title":{"rendered":"The Top 5 Reasons (besides the K\u00f6lner Dom) to visit Nordrhein-Westfalen on your trip to Germany"},"content":{"rendered":"

Having spent a total of sixteen months in what some might call Germany\u2019s “ugliest Bundesland<\/i>\u201d, I would like to dispel that perception by sharing with you a few of the charms of Nordrhein-Westfalen that make me proud to call it mein<\/em> zweites Heimat<\/em>. From classical treasures to quirky traditions, NRW has a lot to offer to visitors interested in activities that might not be featured in their guidebooks. Forget\u00a0Neuschwanstein\u00a0<\/em>and head to the North Rhein!<\/p>\n

1. Duisburger Landschaftspark Nord<\/em> – Duisburg<\/p>\n

Duisburg tends to get a lot of guff from citizens and visitors alike for not being the prettiest of places. This of course added to my surprise when I discovered one of the most beautiful parks I\u2019d ever seen hidden in plain sight just north of this bustling city. This park is unlike any I had been to before, having been designed to utilize an abandoned coal and steel production plant. Visitors are encouraged to climb around the park\u2019s structures, which today are filled with the laughter of families instead of the pounding of industry. In the summer it comes alive with special events like the Traumzeit\u00a0<\/a><\/em>Music Festival<\/a>.\u00a0It\u2019s all part of what led to the Rhine-Ruhr region being named Kulturhauptstadt Europas<\/i><\/a> in 2010! There are of course other repurposed industrial centers to be seen in NRW, but the\u00a0Landschaftspark Nord<\/em> is first in my heart.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0Beethoven-Haus – Bonn<\/p>\n

Did you know that Ludwig van Beethoven was born in Bonn, the former capital of West Germany? Not only that, the house where he was born is open to the public as a museum dedicated to his life<\/a>! It\u2019s definitely worth a visit for any Beetho-fan. The museum itself is laid out very thoughtfully to follow his career as a young prodigy through his tragic hearing loss and death in Vienna as an international superstar. Several instruments are on display, including the viola he played as a youth.<\/p>\n

3. Rhine River Cruise<\/a> – Bonn<\/p>\n

Cruising down the Rhine is a popular vacation activity, with large boats ferrying tourists from Basel to Amsterdam. Unfortunately, with their intensive itineraries, only an afternoon or so is allowed for exploration of the Rhine\u2019s friendly NRW-shores! Simply go to Bonn\u2019s Alter Zoll<\/i> and find the docks to buy a ticket! (Achtung: am besten warten Sie bis den Winter vorbei ist!)<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0Galerie Cinema \u2013 Essen<\/p>\n

In a country with such a large film dubbing industry, finding a movie theater that plays original English-versions of films can be almost impossible (which I suppose could be helpful for people trying to learn German!). Which made it all the more delightful when I discovered the tiny Galerie Cinema<\/a> in Essen where they\u2019ve been playing the same English-language version of Harold & Maude<\/i><\/a> every Sunday on its original 35mm print for over thirty years! Just head over to Julienstra\u00dfe 73 for the most charming movie-going experience of your life.<\/p>\n

5.\u00a0Die Eifel \u2013 Southwestern NRW<\/p>\n

If on your trip to Germany you can\u2019t make it to Bavaria for some Alpine hiking, don\u2019t fret! No self-respecting German is ever too far away from some good old-fashioned frische Luft<\/i>! From Cologne you can hop on a train and within an hour be in my favorite Mittelgebirge<\/i> in all of Germany. Die Eifel<\/i> is a massive area waiting to be explored, filled with medieval towns like Bad M\u00fcnstereifel, ruins from Germany\u2019s Roman past, and a gigantic National Park<\/a>!<\/p>\n

Sieht ihr? Es gibt in NRW mehr als genug zu entdecken. Ich w\u00fcnsche euch eine gute Reise!<\/p>\n

-Mickey.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Having spent a total of sixteen months in what some might call Germany\u2019s “ugliest Bundesland\u201d, I would like to dispel that perception by sharing with you a few of the charms of Nordrhein-Westfalen that make me proud to call it mein zweites Heimat. From classical treasures to quirky traditions, NRW has a lot to offer…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":111,"featured_media":4864,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3,108],"tags":[11931,4420,238447,238445,931,238448,238443,238442,238444],"class_list":["post-4856","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-music","tag-beethoven","tag-bonn","tag-die-eifel","tag-duisburg","tag-essen","tag-harold-maude","tag-nordrhein-westfalen","tag-nrw","tag-rhein"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4856","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/111"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4856"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4856\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9051,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4856\/revisions\/9051"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4864"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}