Nordrhein-Westfalen

Altbier or Kölsch?

Hector likes both. Since 1997 the region has been explored to its northern and western extremities. The Paderborn area remains the undiscovered part. When Germanwings/Eurowings started direct flights from Edinburgh to Köln we seemed to be there every other month. The declaration that Weeze was near Dusseldorf, as only Mr O’Leary would dare to classify it, opened another avenue to this region. The bus from Köln to Flughafen Hahn also makes another route possible. Howard and Hector even managed a day trip to Deutschland. Arriving mid morning at Weeze, we had three hours in Köln before catching a flight back to Prestwick from Hahn. Sunday lunch in Köln, it could be done, we did it. We shall do it again.

The Mohnesee has been visited twice, the first time we missed the Dam! This put Soest on the map, Brauhaus Zwiebel is a must. Münster was the way to visit Gronau and see the equipment of Hector’s favourite band of all time – CAN – set up in the Rock’n’Pop Museum. Brussel-Aachen was the favoured route for trips starting in Belgium. A certain Icelandic Volcano saw Hector lead a party of refugees back from München in 2010, we spent the night there. Wuppertal and Essen in the heart of the Ruhr have great Bier attractions. Dortmund was temporally a route to this region until easyJet changed their mind. Fortunately, at the end of 2010, Mr Stelios saw the error of his ways and introduced a flight from Edinburgh to Köln. Why did it have to leave so early on a Friday? Presently, nothing, nipping over to Köln/Dusseldorf for a weekend became a thing of the past, far fewer flights.