So those of you have a misconception of this city will be pleased to know that there is more to this place than the crime and migrants.
Our host is a massive fan of this city, its architecture, the musical scene and just the culture of the whole place.
First impressions… To be honest, on our arrival in Dortmund city centre both me and Lee looked at each other and were like WTF! It was mid-afternoon when we arrived, and after passing some rather suspicious characters, we parked up and it seemed everywhere was covered in graffiti.
So we decided to gently ask our hosts if this was a safe neighbourhood to leave our car in? We were asking ‘are we safe here?’ They both said yes! They explained that there was criminal activity, but the majority was race related, both of them said they have and happily walk down the street at night. OK, that was good enough for us.
So Dortmund… This city under the layer of criminal activity is a stunning place showcasing the best of old, new design and creatively that was felt throughout the city.
It was fantastic we walked through the main city centre, the suburbs and what seemed like the outskirts too. We visited such a stunning protestant Church, from the outside it looked like all the surrounding buildings were completely enclosing it. As we walked in, we were blown away by the stunning view that confronted us. I was in complete ore, tons of tiny details I could have easily stared at for hours.
We looked around the older district too, it was full of these houses that must have been six stories plus tall, they towered of the relatively narrow streets covered in various period design features, curves, carved flowers, one set of building’s even had windows that followed the line of the stairs inside, I’m a massive sucker for this kind of intelligent design and architecture.
We passed a few of the newer buildings, such as the fantastic glass fronted library and the skyscraper with the moving pictures that change daily, they are incredibly impressive, and I would check them out.
We made our way to the famous concert hall Westfalenhallen who hosted Pink Floyd back in 1981. Not far from there was the probably in more infamous Dortmund football stadium (Westfalenstadion), it’s lost on me obviously, but Lee loves seeing the stadium.
It was a great day out, and both me and Lee are very great full to our host taking the time to show us around.
