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Published: September 14th 2013
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Not money
The new way - give them something. This guy's notice said "hungry" so Lyn gave him a bread roll. Münster is a beautiful small city. It's known as the bicycle capital of Germany and it's not hard to see what. Dedicated cycle roads and paths criss cross the city, traffic gives way at intersections, bike racks are everywhere, it's a flat and compact city, the area used to have the Netherlands as an integral part until the Dutch became a sovereign state and there are still close relationships, so it must be in the genes as the Dutch are mad cyclists too. Our hotel is a little gem. Not in the main hotel area but warm and friendly service, modern, well sited for the city centre, spacious room. We felt spoilt.Münster was flattened in WWII bombing but has been rebuilt in the old style following original plans. The old town area is a visual feast.
Last writing I mentioned that Lyn's promotional material had gone missing. Problem solved. She will have her stuff in Frankfurt after all. My wallet though, I fear, is gone for good. I have a new one.
What have we done in Münster? Not a lot. Lyn's had another very good meeting with an agent. Her appointments have been going very well after the
Münster
Bikes on the bike ring road. initial no show in Milan so this trip should pan out well for future enrolments. We've walked the streets, been on the tourist bus, taken photos, eaten and drunken and relaxed. We're only here for a day and a half so it's not a lot of time to do a huge amount. Pretty much all you do is get a surface feel for the place and learn a little about its history. I like going to museums and finding out about the places we're in, Lyn not as much but she enjoys it as well. We'll have a look at the Picasso Museum tomorrow. Why his museum is here in Münster I have no idea.
We went to Pissaro and Picasso, in the same building. They were both very sparse exhibitions for what was being charged I thought. Like many of the museums I've been into, all descriptions are in German. I'm well aware we are in Germany and they can display exhibits how they want but when cities are known tourist destinations (and Münster is) they could consider the world's unofficial common language. No english commentary made the exhibitions less informative than they obviously were if you were
Münster
Bikes again. German. The same situation applied in the city museum which I was looking forward to visiting as it covers the history of Münster and surrounding areas from centuries ago. it's a big building on three floors and all in German. So, what I wanted to learn about the history of Münster is still a bit of a mystery. I'm gonna write to the Münster tourist bureau. A platz (square) outside the Piccaso building has been "mosaiced" so that from a height Picasso's face is clear. On the ground it just looks like a mess of different coloured tiles. We couldn't get high enough to see it but it looks great in pictures. As for Picasso, not my thing.
Following which we were on the rails again heading for Frankfurt, a four hour high speed trip and not in a compartment. I'd expected it would be a reasonably full train as Frankfurt is the major international transport hub and financial centre for Germany. In the end we had us and only one or two others in the carriage. Obviously not the businessman's time of day.
We arrived in Frankfurt late in the day, grey sky's, coolish. Our hotel was
The Prinzipalmarkt
Every shop a high end expensive brand. only a short walk from the station but we didn't know that so took a taxi. It's a bit of a dump, this Hotel. Our room is clean which is really all one needs but when the TV cuts out after 30 minutes (it's about 30 years old) just when you're hoping to see some report of the All Blacks on BBC World, the corridors don't appear very clean, the area seems a bit dodgy... This is another Hotwire booking, the first we've had a dog with. I'm probably exaggerating - it's close to transport, our room is clean, the breakfast is ok. We've obviously got used to better than two and a half stars. This is designated three stars. No way.
Over the last few days I've been a bit of a liability as I seem to have picked up a bug which has had me alternately shivering, sweating, yawning and generally lacking any oomph at all, which hasn't been any fun for Lyn. Today she had the international student fair here. It went well she says, with some serious inquiries for HVHS. She was with others from New Zealand including people she knew well from the Wellington
area. Of course, all competing for the same thing but in a polite way. She's out to dinner now with the group while I self medicate to shift this damned bug.
The weather has turned for sure. Each day this week has had grey skies, rain and cool winds. Autumn on the way and not forecast to be any better over the next week.
Tomorrow we are on a plane to Ireland to stay for a few days with son-in-law Stu's brother and family in Skerries. Shaun and Laura are going to meet us at Dublin airport and then we'll drive about 50 minutes to Skerries where, I believe, Laura's extended family make up most of the village we'll be in. Should be fun as we met them all at Pip and Stu's wedding in January 2011.
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Vicki
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Hope you're keeping the name of all the good hotels
Good to get the latest. Definitely need a list of your hotels - since you have mostly had such good ones. We are of course waiting with great anticipation this morning to see the Americas Cup NZ only needing 3 more (as you probably know) and of course you may (or may not) have seen the SA AB game last night - a fairy torrid affair I thought with the number of injuries and yellow cards - one SA cut 2 so was off for the game then Keiran Read and then Nonu - NZ finished with 13 player and SA with 14 final score 29-15. Enjoy Ireland. Love to you both G & V