While the folks in Düsseldorf are not really known for their exuberance, they seem to do one thing better than in any other German city, shopping.

Düsseldorf is the home of American Apparel’s distribution centre for Continental Europe, high-end retailer Peek & Cloppenburg, and Königsallee, the main shopping artery showcasing the who’s who in luxury goods. It’s quite impressive, considering the city has a population of only 500,000 people.

There’s definitely big money in Düsseldorf and, it seems, a bigger appetite for consumerism as over 7,000 Japanese expats live in the area (source), and every car I saw was either an Audi, BMW, Mercedes or VW.

Cologne’s shopping scene catered more to a different type of crowd – the artists, students and young professionals who seem to make up a big part of the population (unless they were the only ones partying during World Cup and Karneval, the only two times I went there). So this means, fewer upscale shops and a bit more stores carrying streetwear.

Two shops worth mentioning: Peek & Cloppenburg’s flagship store in Cologne, that sells 2K by Gingham T-shirts and reminded me of the Gherkin in East London, and Apropos Cöln, a concept store that’s a bar, spa, restaurant, art gallery, and clothing store. Although a bit dated, here’s a great article on the concept.

Image courtesy of Willkomen in Koeln.

Karneval in Cologne was sheer decadence. Punters were revelling in the streets alcohol in hand. Kölsch, the local beer, was served and consumed with German efficiency. Hour-long queues at pubs began as early as 9pm. I guess you can call it an all-week boozer, but with one notable distinction – everyone was wearing a costume and chanting Kölle Alaaf. Yes the people of Cologne take Karneval quite seriously.

At the first party, Flatmate and I looked like the people who didn’t get the memo. We knew about the dress code, in fact our dear Cologne friends mentioned it quite a few times. We just didn’t realise that EVERYONE who goes out actually wears a costume. Fortunately, our friend’s entourage reacted swiftly painting our faces with lipstick and sharing parts of their costume. I got to be a beauty queen and an FC Köeln fan for a few hours.

For the typical Karneval experience, we simply followed our Cologne friends. We hit the bustling pubs in the Old Town and on Zülpischer Strasse, the student district of Cologne, and went to Herbrand’s, a massive watering hole (capacity of 500+) in Ehrenfeld on the west side.

We also tried a few places that had people more dressed like us, in normal attire: Scheinbar and Hallmackenreuther two low-key yet trendy bars in the Belgium Quarter (streets are named after Belgium cities) and Beat Boutique, an underground club in the Westbanhof station only open on the third Saturday of every month.

Düsseldorf was a different experience. We arrived in the city at 11pm on the first day of Karneval, way too late to enjoy the festivities. Our friend who lives there was already in bed when we called as they had been “celebrating” since noon. So, we just stuck to the usual programme, hopping to places that close really late.

We kicked off at Harpune, a warehouse type venue in Hafen (port), and wrapped up the evening at Nachtresidenz, an opulent club in the city centre that uses a punch card / pay later system.

Although these weren’t Karneval parties, I had a great time. The places were busy but not too crowded, the dancing crowd was in our age group (late 20s, 30s), and above all, they played the electro sound that I love – the one that keeps me going all night.

Addresses in Cologne
Beat Boutique: Hans-Böckle Platz, www.beatboutique.info
Hallmackenreuther: Brüsseler Platz 9
Herbrand’s: Herbrandstr 21, www.herbrands.de
Scheinbar: Brüsseler Str. 10

Addresses in Düsseldorf
Harpune: Speditionstr 15a, www.harpune.com
Nachtresidenz: Bahnstr 13-15, www.nachtresidenz.de

Great city, great people, great time. I would add great memories as well, but I’d have to make an effort to remember the things we did as I’m still recovering from Karneval.

For now, enjoy this song (among others) that was played during this week-long celebration. I was able to pick up the chorus, only because Flatmate wouldn’t stop singing it, but I think he used Viva Bavaria instead of Colonia.