February 20, 2009: Bar Hopping in Ratingen

We got up showered and had breakfast. We were out the door by 11:00. I thought it wise to go to the train station and check out the train times. We got there and figured out that the next train to Düsseldorf was at 12:34 so we had an hour before we needed to head out. We spent this time shopping naturally even though most of us were running low on Euros. After our hour of shopping we went to the train station just to figure out that the tickets that I had bought were only good for the 18:34 train. So we had another 6 hours in Amsterdam! We stored our stuff in a train station locker and headed out into the city. We started by doing some more shopping (*insert negative opinions about shopping here*). In the middle of the Red Light District Eric and I found the Cannabis College and got our learn on. Eric and I got a tour of a working marijuana grow-op in the basement. The guy who gave the tour was a connoisseur of the green and told us what he would and would not smoke (he would not smoke 95% of what is available in Amsterdam). He told us about genetics, the lifecycle of the plant and how to grow them.

We left the grow op and decided it was time for lunch. We drew this part of the day out by each eating at a different café/restaurant and the others sitting with them as to keep out of the cold. Eric found something that would change his life after he got some lunch. We went into a toy store and Eric stood mesmerized by a glass orb rotating within a twisted steel frame suspended from the ceiling. After a minute of staring he decided to purchase it.

After shopping some more it was time to catch the train to Düsseldorf. The train was absolutely packed due to Karnival; we were lucky to find seats. At 21:45 we got to my humble abode in Ratingen. Kate and Eric started packing their things and I tried to convince Kate to come out to the Bar for a bit. She had none of it and because of her sub-par sleep in the hostel she was out cold on the couch in no time. Eric and I had a few drinks and headed out to a neat little bar that I learnt of called Café Comic.

Café Comic is a very small bar located in the basement of a bridal store and directly adjacent to a police station. Despite the lame location it is a very neat place with all the walls covered with newspaper and dim red LED lights illuminating the small tables around the outside of the room. Eirc and I ordered some wheat beers and took a seat. After talking for a while we decided to meet some Germans. Eric walked over to a guy with long blond curly hair and asked if he spoke English, he said he did.

This blossomed into a two hour-long conversation that soon included the guy’s crazy good-looking girlfriend. They eventually invited us to go with them to the only other bar in town, Tom’s on the Rocks. The girlfriend who had a name that neither Eric nor I could pronounce had not been drinking and volunteered to drive us. On the way we got pulled over by the Police, because it is Karnival in Düsseldorf, anyways they figured out that all was well and we carried on to the next place.

Tom’s was a good time and colorful conversation was exchanged to a background of rock music. At 2:30 we decided we should call it a night and we headed back to good old 19a to catch some shuteye.