I don’t know what to say about that photo, except than it’s some kind of carbs paradise! I could happily stay there for hours tasting each bread in the window… then the cookies:

And the best way to work off all that dough is to spend more dough up and down the famous Königsallee (or simply Kö), which is a shopping boulevard some 1km long, bordered by a canal:

On one side there are the imposing bank and office buildings,

and the other endless upscale stores:

The Kö is packed with people shopping for holiday presents on the day that I am here. I don’t make it to the Chanel boutique,

but do make a quick tour of the Hermès store:

Even with champagne flowing inside for giddy customers, I cannot be persuaded to buy a bag not quite on my priority list. After a quick lunch of ramen with vegetarian gyozas (I know, this is not German food at all!) down the street,

I head back to the Old Town. I must say I love the architecture here just as much as what I showed you yesterday:

When you walk around Düsseldorf, especially with young kids, one fun thing to do is to hunt for the 9 pillar saints mounted on advertising columns throughout the city by artist Christoph Pöggeler. They are representative of you and me, just regular people doing mundane things. I only find these four during my visit: a couple at the Burgplatz,

the bride at Citadellstrasse,

Marlis near the Gehry complex from the last entry,

and Mother and Son near the Castle Tower:

The second thing is to look for symbols of cart-wheelers throughout the city. Legend has it that back in 1288, when the children heard that Düsseldorf had won the Battle of Worringen, they were so thrilled they began doing flips in celebration. Eventually flips became cartwheels and ever since 1937 there has been an annual cartwheel tournament in this city:

I hope you’ve enjoyed Düsseldorf, Part Three with me. Next stop, a very historical town and then it’s on to warmer climates.