Dusseldorf Day One

Dusseldorf Day One

Today was a stressful day for me.  There’s no real explanation as to why today was more stressful than yesterday except that yesterday when I didn’t know what I was doing I still had more time.  Today when I woke up, I had approximately 5 hours until the taxi picked Tiffany and me up to go to the airport to fly to Germany.

I scoured the internet and eventually figured most of the trains we needed to be on.  The flight was only 2 hours but because we flew a cheap airline, we flew into an airport about an hour outside of Dusseldorf so we had to catch a bus to the train station and then a train into Dusseldorf.  Well, then our hotel is on the very edge of Dusseldorf so we took a taxi there.  There is a train that drops off very near to our hotel, but it was dark and I was ready to be in our room.

Thanks to my friend Hannah’s recommendation, we are staying in a very nice hotel for a really low price and while we might be making up the difference in train tickets into town every day, our hotel room is very comfortable.

There’s a really good hotel restaurant downstairs that we ate at.  One of the things that I love about eating out in Europe is that you don’t get rushed out of the restaurant when you’re finished.  The server brings you your food and then leaves you alone until you ask for the check.  And while it is a problem if you’re in a hurry to get somewhere, it’s wonderful if you just want to sit back and enjoy a nice, long chat with someone.  Which is precisely what Tiffany and I did.  We must have sat down there for 2 hours.

Also, I’m always reminded what a luxury it is to be able to communicate with people when I travel to countries where a lot of people speak English.  It was easy for us to figure out where we needed to go because everyone we asked could understand us and we could understand them.

Tiffany kept asking me why I was so stressed all day and I really didn’t have a good answer for her.  It felt like the culmination of a lot of little things on top of the typically high stress level I’m already at.  It’s difficult to explain but all day I was filled with anxiety and the only cure for it was when I was reading my Bible.  And so, it isn’t fun.  I’m not a typically anxious person so this is very unwelcome for me, but if it drives me to the Word, then I’ll embrace it until it’s gone.

Made it to the train station from the airport! Waiting to board!

On the train - sigh of relief!

Stress is going

De-stressing at the yummy restaurant