Thursday, December 26, 2024

I seem to have moved country

Recent visits to the Altstadt of this town - or any street between the old part of town and the main station - always make me think that I'm now living in another country, that I've moved out of Germany. And why do I get that impression? Because all I can hear the people around me speak is Dutch. 

Last week, I walked along the Rhine from the Altstadt to the northernmost district of this town (from my flat to there - 14.7 km) and I counted 21 coaches in one car park on the river, and most of them from the Netherlands. 

Now, if you think that Germans are tall (you generally have to raise your eyes to look straight at their face), then you've not seen the Dutch. When speaking to them, you have to flip your head back; they are at least a head taller than the Germans. 

Even today, on Boxing Day, with all the shops closed, the centre of town was still flooded with tall Dutchmen and Dutch women strolling around.

As soon as the Christmas markets close, things will go back to normal, and I'll hear mostly Turkish, Arabic, Spanish and Russian again.










1 comment:

  1. The Dutch love Christmas visits to the Altstadt, as well as to Centro in Oberhausen.

    Dag, mefrouw!

    ReplyDelete

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