August in Dortmund, Germany
I managed to miss the biggest show in Germany this year by a few weeks. I'm talking about the 2006 World Cup of course. But I'm finally in Dortmund. This town is located in the North Rhine Westphalia province in Western Germany. The town is the Pittsburgh of Germany - it was famous for Coal and Steel production during the 20th century and had a reputation as a sooty, polluted city. I can testify that such a reputation is undeserved today as the city is green, clean and all that remains of its former industrial might are rusted out towers, silos and warehouses on the edge of town.
I have now been initiated in German office decorum. First of all - when you arrive to work in the morning you are supposed to shake hands with everybody you work with. For my clients this means shaking hands at least 10 times each morning, and possibly more if there are visitors such as me in the office. I also got to experience a German fire drill. Instead of the fire marshal pulling an alarm, which indicates that the drill is in progress, everybody simply walks out of the building at a pre-arranged time. If you fail to receive the memo about the fire drill, you may be puzzled by why all the people are suddenly abandoning their stations and leaving the building. The rest of the drill however - with its meeting points, roll calls and orange vests are just like fire drills in the US.
I'm staying at the Dortmund Hilton, which is 3 stops south of Kampstrasse and the adjacent pedestrian shopping zone of Westenhellweg. The hotel is right next to the Signal Iduna Stadium, home of the Borussia Dortmund football club. In fact, today Dortmund played Mainz in one of the early games in this year's Bundesliga season, and the entire team from Mainz was staying in my hotel. As I was leaving to go to town for lunch today, the entire team flooded out the entrance and boarded the team bus. One of the people in particular, the coach presumably was mobbed by fans that were waiting to snag a photo of an autograph. I hear Mainz tied Dortmund 1:1. Back to the subject of the hotel however, and I regret to report that the hotel isn't very good. There are absolutely no perks for being a Hilton HHonors Gold, or Diamond. I am only staying here because it is a good deal and because I'll make Diamond status at the end of this stay. Aside from the view from my top floor window is quite nice, there is little else at this hotel that makes me want to return.
The restaurant scene in this town is regrettably sparse I must say. It is dominated by stodgy German restaurants that serve sausages, pilsner beer and schnitzel but little else. High end dining in this town is non-existent, as are restaurants that cater to those seeking ethnic tastes are. These are the food highlights of my trip:
Edward's Coffee - an interesting take on the Starbucks style coffee shop concept. Situated inside the beautiful Berswordthalle building adjacent to the city hall, you can find on any given evening a DJ spinning club tunes, tables joined together for poker games and the obligatory guy sitting in a dark corner with the glare from his Mac Powerbook screen as the only light source around him. I had an oversized Cappuccino and a chocolate brownie.
Kyoto Sushi - A lush interior design consisting of clean lines, light maple floors, dark leathers and lots of glass and candles. This is a surprisingly trendy sushi bar for Dortmund, and the sushi is indeed fresh and well prepared and served to you by Kimono-clad waitresses with easily distinguishable Japanese facial features. Nice service, and a bargain as far as sushi restaurants are concerned.
Tam Nag Thai - The only Thai restaurant in town. The Thai food itself is excellent, but they could use a better ventilation system in the kitchen because the smell of frying oil permeates the establishment.
I have now been initiated in German office decorum. First of all - when you arrive to work in the morning you are supposed to shake hands with everybody you work with. For my clients this means shaking hands at least 10 times each morning, and possibly more if there are visitors such as me in the office. I also got to experience a German fire drill. Instead of the fire marshal pulling an alarm, which indicates that the drill is in progress, everybody simply walks out of the building at a pre-arranged time. If you fail to receive the memo about the fire drill, you may be puzzled by why all the people are suddenly abandoning their stations and leaving the building. The rest of the drill however - with its meeting points, roll calls and orange vests are just like fire drills in the US.
I'm staying at the Dortmund Hilton, which is 3 stops south of Kampstrasse and the adjacent pedestrian shopping zone of Westenhellweg. The hotel is right next to the Signal Iduna Stadium, home of the Borussia Dortmund football club. In fact, today Dortmund played Mainz in one of the early games in this year's Bundesliga season, and the entire team from Mainz was staying in my hotel. As I was leaving to go to town for lunch today, the entire team flooded out the entrance and boarded the team bus. One of the people in particular, the coach presumably was mobbed by fans that were waiting to snag a photo of an autograph. I hear Mainz tied Dortmund 1:1. Back to the subject of the hotel however, and I regret to report that the hotel isn't very good. There are absolutely no perks for being a Hilton HHonors Gold, or Diamond. I am only staying here because it is a good deal and because I'll make Diamond status at the end of this stay. Aside from the view from my top floor window is quite nice, there is little else at this hotel that makes me want to return.
The restaurant scene in this town is regrettably sparse I must say. It is dominated by stodgy German restaurants that serve sausages, pilsner beer and schnitzel but little else. High end dining in this town is non-existent, as are restaurants that cater to those seeking ethnic tastes are. These are the food highlights of my trip:
Edward's Coffee - an interesting take on the Starbucks style coffee shop concept. Situated inside the beautiful Berswordthalle building adjacent to the city hall, you can find on any given evening a DJ spinning club tunes, tables joined together for poker games and the obligatory guy sitting in a dark corner with the glare from his Mac Powerbook screen as the only light source around him. I had an oversized Cappuccino and a chocolate brownie.
Kyoto Sushi - A lush interior design consisting of clean lines, light maple floors, dark leathers and lots of glass and candles. This is a surprisingly trendy sushi bar for Dortmund, and the sushi is indeed fresh and well prepared and served to you by Kimono-clad waitresses with easily distinguishable Japanese facial features. Nice service, and a bargain as far as sushi restaurants are concerned.
Tam Nag Thai - The only Thai restaurant in town. The Thai food itself is excellent, but they could use a better ventilation system in the kitchen because the smell of frying oil permeates the establishment.
posted by sdateumd at
11:47 AM
|
0 comments
