Hello, Crafters.
We arrived home at 8 pm on Sunday evening, and successfully unpacked our suitcases in double-quick time – thanks largely to hubby ♥. Yesterday we spent our time getting back into our regular routine and catching up with everything that had taken a back seat while we away. I love travelling and exploring new places around the world, but I do love being home the best!
This is our hotel, the Dorint.
Whilst we were in Dortmund, Hubby spent his time sightseeing and I spent my time at the Conference Centre! Fortunately our flight home on Sunday wasn’t until 5 pm, which allowed us time to get our packing done, and we checked out of the hotel. We left our luggage at the hotel and went sightseeing in the town centre and back to the hotel so we had walked in a huge circle.
This is the bridge behind our hotel that we walked over to get to the Conference Centre.
The weather was dry, but freezing cold – the temperature was 0° – but it wasn’t wet or windy so it was a very pleasant couple of hours. One of the best things that struck us both was that all the shops were closed! In the UK, and lots of other countries we’ve visited, all shopping centres seem to open on Sunday’s and it’s such a shame we don’t have any days when shops are closed!
This is Mongo’s the fabulous restaurant we dined in with a group of eleven demos and two hubbies on Friday evening.
We did come across one shop that was open but we do think we may have gatecrashed a private function! It was almost like a florist shop full of Christmas products like wreaths made with branches, twigs, pine cones berries, etc. The whole shop was like a cave, with decorations hanging from the ceilings, on shelves. There was sawdust on the floor which finished off the atmosphere beautifully.
These decorations were in a shop window, and are almost identical to two swaps I received at OnStage. I’ll share them in the video of swaps I’ll be recording this week!
We felt like gatecrashers when a young guy with a tray of drinks offered us one! LOL! It was a lovely walk to finish off a few days away before we headed off to the airport. I’m sharing a few photographs with you, and hopefully, I’ll be able to get back into my studio for a bit of crafting today!
A lot of the buildings are in colours, which have been carefully selected to be gently bright but not gaudy!
Hubby and I both agree that the style of the green building is “typically German” (in our minds).
Look at the architecture on this building – so much detail, right down to the sundial.
Another stylish building, bright but not gaudy. I think what made all the buildings blend in so well is that there were quite a number of them. The area wasn’t flooded with coloured buildings, but equally, there were enough to make them look “normal”.
Another building with some great detail on it.
There are several buildings that have professional “graffiti” on them, like this one.
I didn’t notice this tree painted on the side of these apartments until Hubby pointed it out!
This painting has been used by Stampin’ Up! in their video about the Dortmund Convention!
We saw several of these rhinoceroses around the town but don’t know the story behind them!
This rhinoceros was outside the Christmas shop we felt we had gatecrashed a private function!
The Christmas Market in Dortmund starts next week! Grrr! It looks as if it’s going to be fabulous!
Two of the little Christmas Shops in the market.
I thought this one with the nativity scene on the first roof absolutely adorable!
Finally, look at the garage door! Close-up below!
This is so delightful!
That’s about it from me for today! I hope you’ve enjoyed this virtual tour of Dortmund! I look forward to being back with you tomorrow, and in the meantime, happy crafting.
JanB. xx
Thank you Jan. SEE YOU TOMORROW.
Many thanks, Debbie. xx
Jan,
Thank you so much for sharing these wonderful photos from your walking tour in Dortmund. My husband was there many years ago on business. He spent 6 months working in Börken, Germany 🇩🇪 and we visited him for 6 weeks.
So happy you and hubby had such a lovely time there.
Sincerely, Suzanne SW Florida USA
Hi, Suzanne. I’m pleased you enjoyed our sightseeing trip. Did you recognise anything? xx
This was how we felt, the gifts we are not able to find in the US. We really enjoyed our chances to experience the markets.
Thank you for sharing. Have you ever had a chance to shop the Christmas Markets. My husband and two of our friends did this for two weeks
some years age. it was a great time, a little cold and even some snow.
Hi, Nancy. Yes, we’ve been to several over the years including Brussels, Lille, Copenhagen and Berlin. We love them because the gifts are different from the shops and great quality! We do wish the Dortmund Christmas Market was a week earlier! xx
Thank you for sharing these photos. I love the buildings, and, yes, the architecture is simply amazing. TYFS
Thank you for sharing the pictures of the town. I love the painting and architecture of the buildings.
It’s a very attractive town with all it’s buildings. I’m glad you like it, too. xx xx
When my husband was in Canadian Military we did two tours in Germany, one in Baden-Baden and the other near Aachen. We saw many quaint villages and towns but somehow missed Dortmund. Seeing your pictures makes me want to take a trip over The Christmas markets are wonderful places to find unique gifts. Thanks for sharing your pictures. Glad you had a good time while there.
It’s such a shame when you get back from your travels you find out you missed a town, or a POI. Looking on the bright side, it’s a great reason to make another visit! Yes, the Christmas Markets in Europe are amazing! xx
Hi Jan,
I’m glad you enjoyed your trip. I live just around the corner, in Essen.
I meant to comment earlier, but you know what it’s like … I was going to tell you about the rhinoceroses (it’s a bit lengthy, sorry for that)!
A number of German cities have a type of animal you will find all over the place in different designs. It’s a sponsorship/marketing thing.
I believe the place which started it was Wesel. There’s an old joke that when you call out the question “who is the mayor of Wesel” at a place with an echo, the echo will answer “… esel”. And “Esel” means donkey. So when the Wesel people got tired of the joke, they turned it around by finding artists who would design individual versions of the basic donkey for local businesses, who would pay for the pieces and proudly display them on their premises or in the street in front of their shop/cafe/…
During the planning phase of the Dortmund Concert Hall the winged rhinoceros was chosen as it’s “heraldic animal” both for the exceptional good hearing of rhinoceroses and for the wings (of Pegasos) to uplift the listeners senses and imagination.
The city of Dortmund bought the rights to the winged Rhinoceros for a major art event in 2005; at one time there were over 120 animals all over the city. And in addition, there were rhinoceroses in the national colours of every team competing in Dortmund for the World Cup in 2006. A lot of the art works have since been auctioned off, but their are still quite a number of them around.
There are more pictures at: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Dortmunder_Nashorn?uselang=de
Best wishes, Stef
Many, many thanks for for the history about these winged rhinocerous, Stefanie. Hubby and I both appreciate you taking time out to give us all this information. Truly fascinating! Bless you. xx♥xx