So, if you’ve been keeping up with my rambling, you’ll know I haven’t had the best time since getting to Germany.

Battling a chest infection and spending long days in the saddle hasn’t exactly put me in the best mood to be welcomed by a city.

And I’m still not really in a good mood.

Just thought I’d get that out there before I carry on.

But I do like backpacking hostels.

There’s something about the vibe they give off. Everyone here seems to be between things. Young, old, travelling, working, stopping for a night or staying for weeks.

Anyone can stay here.

And A&O is, so far, as good as any I’ve been in.

There’s a large parking garage and a proper bike lock-up, which makes it feel very secure. That puts my mind at ease when I’m leaving a fully loaded bike worth a fair chunk of money somewhere while I sleep.

There are two washing machines and two dryers, which I had the pleasure of trying to get working.

Turns out it’s an app.

Of course it is.

It’s always an app.

The bar and communal area is actually perfect for digital nomads too. Tables everywhere, power sockets everywhere, plenty of places to sit and work.

There’s a pool table and table football.

I don’t know what table football is actually called.

I was told a long time ago that it’s called foosball, but that sounds stupid.

So table football it is.

There’s a fully stocked bar area and some very handy vending machines which seem to stock everything from soft drinks and chocolate to nappies, chargers and even headphones.

Pretty much anything you could need at 11pm when you suddenly realise you’ve forgotten it.

The rooms are yet to be seen, though.

So far, so good.

I decided to take a walk out to the nearest Lidl.

And I was amazed.

Not necessarily in a good way.

They don’t seem to stock things in any particular order.

You walk past the dried food and noodles and suddenly you’re looking at washing-up liquid.

Then the soft drinks turn into cans of 0% alcohol.

Then something else completely unrelated.

It’s like they’ve just thrown everything into the shop and decided we can figure it out ourselves.

The walk back was where things started to get a bit depressing.

It’s hard to believe this is Düsseldorf, supposedly one of Germany’s major fashion and financial hubs.

Because to me, at least in the area I’m in, it looks more like a forgotten part of the city.

Overflowing bins.

Rubbish everywhere.

And, at one point, I watched a guy take a shit in a bush.

And I don’t mean somewhere tucked away out of sight.

I mean the middle of a square-shaped bush.

Like he’d picked the most public bush possible and thought:

“Yep.

That’ll do.”

It’s hard to believe people are happy living here.

Although, to be fair, I’m probably just in the wrong area.

I’m sure there are much nicer parts of Düsseldorf.

But right now?

I’m sorry.

I’m not seeing it.

I think that’s about the twentieth time I’ve heard emergency services go past as well.

But oh well.

That’s the review coming from someone who really isn’t in the mood to go looking for silver linings.

A&O gets a thumbs up so far.

Düsseldorf?

Not so much.

Tomorrow I’m heading for Cologne.

Hopefully things improve.

Because Germany…

We need to have a word.