Going to Germany...things to do in Dusseldorf?

[Threedaydream]

I'm so excited!
My mom is going to an "IFT" (Instituite of Food Technologies) conference in Dusseldorf, Germany this fall.
And lucky me gets to tag along!
Does anyone have ideas of things to do in that general region (or a bit further if public transportation is good)? I'll probably be wandering around on my own most of the time because she will be attending the conference.
I'm of course especially interested in horsie things like tack shops, etc.
Thanks!!

[Transplant]

Its not exactly in Dusseldorf but you can take a river cruise on the Rhine for a daytrip which is quite nice.

I lived in Cologne when I did it and had a lot of fun. I think we went with this liner:

http://www.k-d.com/englisch/index.html

[TheRedFox]

Eat, drink and be merry....in any tack shop you can find.

Most importantly, be safe and have a blast!

[LexusBoBexus]

If you like steak or good salad dishes, try block-house...I went there this summer and it was excellent. It's a very beautiful city. Lucky you!
Their site in English:
http://www.block-house.de/bh/en/home.html

[Kareen]

If you are attending a conference your schedule might be too tight to make it out into the countryside. Depending on when you go you need to be prepared for some serious carnival going on there as the Rhineland is basically the center of carnival activity and life there can be somewhat - ehm out of order during that particular time of year often referred to as the 5th season. It officially starts on November 11 and lasts well into February. Not much work getting done in businesses during those weeks. They begin to prepare and during the factual final week around 'Rosenmontag' you can hardly escape it. In fact I know of non-rhineland expats who drive home during this time because they aren't into it. Goes with a lot of drinking, partying and the saying is what's being done during Carnival shall be forgotten even between married couples *lol*.
You can tell I am not from Düsseldorf and to us outsiders it is a rather odd world we don't really understand. But if you happen to be there you might find it interesting to say the least.
Public transportation is decent even bordering reliable. If you are interested in travelling you might want to consider to hop into a Thalys train in Cologne (see the Dome it is very impressive!) and scoot out to Brussells, Belgium our technical capital of Europe which is a really nice city to visit and not very far.
You could also take the train into some of the riding centers of Germany, Warendorf and Münster are within a reasonable distance train-wise and offer a lot (Statestud, DOKR etc.etc.) There are also some major sales coming up, we have Münster-Handorf elite auction on Oct.5 (could meet you there!) and Verden (Hanoverian) on October 10... If you need to find shows worth visiting I can send you some dates beforehand. Might be a nice idea for the evenings?
Have fun and be safe and don't enter Düsseldorf during Carnival without contraceptives! :)

[suzyq]

I used to live in Duesseldorf, and know almost all the tack shops around there :) Will you have a car??

When will you be there? There might be some good shows not too far away.

PM me and we can discuss!

[Threedaydream]

Thanks for the replies guys! I will be there oct. 31- nov. 7th. I would LOVE to go to a show (especially if it's dressage or sj) if there is something going on. Or an auction sounds wonderful too (I visited the keeneland auction in kentucky last fall and that was a blast).

[Threedaydream]

Oh, and I'm also interestid in cool non-horsey things like Museums, etc. :)

[Kareen]

Great! You could attend the Westfalian stallion preselections. It is very interesting to see a big number of offspring from the boys that reproduce. You can find the schedule up here http://www.westfalenpferde.de/english/index.htm If you want to check out shows there will be quite a lot of indoor shows going on around that time. Let me know if you need help.

Have FUN!

[spotted mustang]

my Dad lives there and I used to dread having to visit when I was a kid - I was from the country in Westphalia and this is a crowded, congested area and Dusseldorf is a gray, ugly city. If I was you, I'd rent a car (or ride the train) out of town to check out some of the beautiful horsey countryside around the rhineland, westerwald, sauerland etc; all within a half-day driving from Dus.

[luise]

Ooh, rent a car and go to the nearest Loesdau. It is an incredible tack store! I went to the branch near Munich. It was two stories! I was overwhelmed. I got great horse boots and saddle pads that were inexpensive too.
The nearest location to you is about 30 min away:
Loesdau
Duisburger Straße 399
45478 Mülheim an der Ruhr

[Nootka]

is there a website for the conference? My bf is in culinary arts and looking to get into the "food world". I would love to go to germany if it is ever held there again:D

[Threedaydream]

Yep! Here's the website http://www.ift.org/cms/ it's usually held in different countries... as far as I know. But I think she has gone to Germany for the meeting before... to Bonn I think?

[Threedaydream]

Oops I lied! IFT is another type of meeting that she goes to. I guess this one is a "Codex" meeting.
http://www.codexalimentarius.net/web/index_en.jsp
I think the IFT meetings are supposed to be more fun though!

[Alagirl]

http://www.duesseldorf.de/en/index.shtml
http://www.duesseldorf-galopp.de/wcms/index.php

not sure if they have a lot of horse stuff otherwise, but a track to see the horsies run. :lol:

just add 'pferde' in the google window.

http://www.hallo-pferd.de/reiten/D%FCsseldorf
looky here, riding clubs

not sure where this place is, but the place looks cool:
http://www.reitsport-mcarthur.de/home.html

[armandh]

as in most european cities, as I recall
in the 70s and 80s I went every 4 years to a printing equipment show
there is streetcar [strassenbahn] access to the show grounds and the old city [entertainment area]

ware the hotel sauana [usually nude and possibly coed]