Actually I had dinner in the new fish restaurant in Duesseldorf Hafen on Wednesday night and dinner facing the Rhine in Cologne Thursday night. Very nice as you say, and the weather was perfect.
Judfing from the business discussions I had, not a lot of work is being done in Germany. Everyone is always talking about the WM.
The only thing that pleased Germans as much as their own team's success is the elimination of Holland.
Hopefully your trip was a success. I have much sympathy for the Dutch, due to good contacts with them. The rivalry has become more and more a friendly one. In the 70´s, 80´s and early 90´s real clashes occurred, but since then it´s more a traditional, humorous rivalry. Just like the relationship Cologne - Düsseldorf.