Dusseldorf: A clean version of New York City!?

Last night and today have been great days for learning about the city of Dussledorf. After I finished typing on Tomorrow's Yesterday Blog yesterday, I rode Lauren's bike back to the Volksgarten and relaxed listening to music under a tree by the lake. Kathryn called me from work shortly after I got there and told me she wanted to meet me there. A half hour later she rode up to me on her bike and took a seat in the shade next to me. We talked for about an hour about our lives and what we had been doing for the past year. We analyzed the differences between cultures and talked about people in general. Our conversation was incredibly insightful to me. It was almost helpful to me more than anything. Kathryn has travelled most of her life and has so many interesting and truthful ideas to contribute to conversations. I love it! The breeze and afternoon sun hit us the entire time we were talking and it felt like fall. It was such a wonderful feeling. A removal from the summer's heat.
After talking we jumped on our bikes and rode home to see Lauren and to get ready to go out to dinner. Lauren and Kathryn took me to the area of Altstadt (pronounced as alt-sh-stat) which is also known as Old Town Dusseldorf. They showed me about three different bars so that I could try the different beers. Dusseldorf is popular for its Altbiers. They are served in 10oz sized glasses and are kind of a dark ale. Altbier is the most popular beer to drink. It is more popular to drink than water. After my third beer on an empty stomach they showed me a fun place to grab a quick Bratwurst. With a quick lesson from Kathryn in german, I ordered the wurst myself. I said, "Halo, ein brotchen mit brotwurst bitte...danke!" I felt special and then I felt full. Before heading home, they took me to their favorite bar called Zwiebel (shwee-vul) for one last Altbier. That beer was my favorite. Zwiebel is a fun 'hole-in-the-wall' type bar that reminded me of someplace you would find in San Diego. A nice unpretencious bar with nice people and good beer. It was great.
Once we came home, the three of us sat on the balcony again and opened three Bitburgers--more beer. I couldn't do it anymore so I gave Lauren my beer to drink and I continued conversation with water. My conversations are better with my coherence, I'm sure. By 2 o'clock we had all decided to call it a night and we went to bed.
Today Kathryn took me out to see more of Dusseldorf. The weather was grey and a bit cold this afternoon so it was nice to walk around and not be so hot. We met up with her parents at a really cute and chic coffee shop near the shopping district in the Altstadt. It was fun to see her parents again. The last time was the summer after junior year of high school! They are very nice people. They are currently living in a northern region of Dusseldorf so they were only a phone call away. After meeting with Kathryn's parents we walked to the train station and began drawing a comparison between New York City and Dusseldorf. New York City is great because it moves fast, offers anything you could want, has a great transpotation system and brings people from everywhere in the world. Dusseldorf is all of this however it is also clean and green. Parks are on every corner, trees surround the streets and the air is always fresh because it drizzles often. If someone made me chose between the two cities in which I could live, I'm beginning to think I would choose Dusseldorf... I reserve the right to change my mind about that later though because NYC is great too but anyway...
Now this brings me to where I am right now. We are all resting a bit but might go out later tonight for more Altbier. Lauren and Kathryn have been such wonderful hosts and tour guides for me. I've been here enjoying the ride!