This is an excellent library in Maastricht, set on a lovely square beside the River Maas. The…read morebuilding is modern and welcoming, and feels warm and cosy inside. There is a café in the library, and plenty more nice ones around the square as well, which is all pedestrianised (including bikes of course- this is the Netherlands). I enjoyed being able to sit down with a view of the Maas and read some of the free international newspapers provided in the library, followed by a coffee at the café. Overall, a nice relaxing place to hang out for a while between intense touristing around the city.

the EKO haus is the Japanese house of Culture and Buddhist Understanding. In it, the Japanese…read moreliving in the area are able to practice and cultivate their customs and culture. But also locals can have an opportunity to learn about Japanese culture and actively participate in it. Among the events of the centre there are: Buddhist festivals, tea ceremonies, garden parties with musical or theatrical performances, music events, reading circles for Buddhist texts, exhibitions, courses in traditional Japanese arts, lectures , film presentations, etc. Anyhow, they have this beautiful Japanese garden in the Temple grounds, a peaceful oasis and a must visit in Düsseldorf, makes you think you're in Japan. To get there you can take the U-bahn to Heerdter Sandberg and walk for about 10 minutes. Otherwise you can take a bus to Niederkasseler Kirchweg and walk for 3 minutes (I saw the City tour hop-on hop-off bus also stops here).

A beautiful and serene patch of Japan in Oberkassel - perfectly manicured lawn, landscaped and well…read moreproportioned garden with water features and a temple in the background (which you have to pay to get in but can enjoy from outside). A very peaceful place most of the time, great for a bit of stillness and meditation

Not sure why it doesn't get more attention, one of the coolest museums you'll ever go toread more

Unperfekthaus is a truly unique venue. A multi level creative artistik space, complete with…read morecouches, studios, multimedia rooms, wifi throughout, and buffets for dining and drinking. It would take you days to explore and find all the nooks and crannies of this very cool place. But in any case, you will be relaxed and enjoy yourself. A variety of time based tariffs including all you can eat and drink plans. Crowd varies dramatically based on time of day and day of week, but will always be the crème of Essen's artistic crowd. Check it out!! http://www.unperfekthaus.de/e/

Unperfecthouse is one of the coolest places I have visited anywhere in the world. It is part bar,…read morepart hang out, part art gallery, part bar, and all you can eat buffet serving everything from traditional German food, to Latin food, and Vegan/Vegetarian offerings. I was with a large group from the Uni-Essen and we had the party room on the second floor. The other plus was that the "all you can eat" came with all the beer you can drink as well. This was a cool place to have a party for sure. Now it was mainly university folks but young kids came in and ate, drank beer, surfed the Internet, played music and there are many rooms in this sprawling place to eat, mingle, and basically hang out. The Men's bathroom is famous for its scrolling films on the walls. The website lists all sorts of other things going on in this mixed-use-space, but after hanging out here, drinking a few good beers, and eating all sorts of amazing cheap food, I have to say I was happy our hosts brought us here. All I can say is wow. Now, I have no idea what it is like if you are a solo traveler who happens to be in Essen, but I think it would still be a great bet for a place to eat (take your time) have a few beers, check the email with the free wi-fi, and take advantage of this unique space. If I had the money I would open a place like this in the USA. Think Warhol's Factory without all the creepy people and with good food.

I came here for a wedding reception, and this was a quaint and romantic venue. There's even a small…read moremoat around the castle and a bridge crossing it. The courtyard was made of cobblestone and the green meadow in the background made for a very picturesque scene. One of the large rooms was reserved for dinner and dancing. The room was a pretty decent size holding at least 15 large round tables. There were convenient restrooms and a makeshift coat room. There were actually two wedding receptions happening on the same night, so it's good to know they can accommodate multiple parties. They had a good sound system as the music was blasting! There was also a relatively large parking lot with free parking! They conduct tours (with or without guides) until 5:30pm, but the ticket office closes at 4:30pm. Unfortunately, we arrived after the ticket office had closed. The castle looks like it would be interesting inside, and it would be a quick stopover on the way to somewhere else. Thanks for making the night a charming and memorable wedding reception!

This was a great find. I was looking for things to do in the area and came across this castle…read moreonline and so glad I did. It was wonderful because there was only a few people there and you can basically wander around the castle wherever you want with a book to kind of guide you. There were a couple cool audio rooms that explained more about the castle and lots of fun and games for kids. The castle is very well preserved and I can imagine being even more beautiful in the spring or summer with the mote around it. I had a great stroll around.

Maybe the most interesting off-space in Cologne-Ehrenfeld. This old railway-logistics-building a…read morehuge hall is home of a group Jackinthebox... refurbishing old freight containers (boxes). Their hall is being let to privat parties, art-events and more public parties. Cool surrounding dump and junk and trains and tracks and lovely people!!! Go there, whenever a party takes place or just to check with the formerly unemployed people working there in and on and around their boxes ;)