A "Free" Day in Germany

         

I cannot make my days longer so I strive to make them better.

      Paul Theroux

Here was the plan: It was to be a "free" day for the Young Ambassadors.

Whatever the host family had planned...that was the schedule for them. The result was a rather mixed bag. As witnessed below.

               

Obviously that is Emma on the right...wearing chain mail and of course the Dortmund Football club emblem of BVB in black & Gold. I think, though someone will tell me...that Sharon is in full battle costume on the left.

Before the soccer match....OK, football match....I wouldn't see much connection between full battle attire and local football game but alas, Hooliganism is a fact of life for passionate European football fans. So Sharon and Emma may have been the best prepared. No there was no trouble, lots of cops and mainly lots of law-abiding football fans. Myself included.

    On the other side of me is Birgit and Frank explaining the finer points of the game. I never could find the quarterback but I am quite expert in spotting "flopping" and their attitude concerning injuries is rather cavalier. In America, if a football player slips and falls, and entire medical team from the Mayo Clinic races onto the field along with a SWAT team to secure the area. In European football, the guy with the first aid kit wants to see actual blood and perhaps an exposed broken bone before he'll venture onto the field. 

               

Michael and Simon were with us. Thanks to Simon for his explanations.

No timeouts. No vendors up and down the aisles. Lots of major-league flag waving. No "Hang on Sloopy" though my cheering section was game to sing along once I started it. And it's probably best not to try the O-H hand signals at a European football game...one never knows how the locals will interpret your arm movements designating O - H. You might be insulting someone's heritage. 

                                

   Kerstin sat on the opposite side of stadium supporting her team.

Alas....it ended a 2-2 tie.   

Nevertheless, I enjoyed it and am ready for an invite to give the blessing at the next World Cup.

                            

Frank & Birgit took me to Münster to see the market and cathedrals.

I should say: they took me to see the best market EVER!

Every person and vendor north of the Alps was in Münster for the wonderful market.

The vendors were not necessarily local farmers who hitched up the horse and wagon and went to market. This is a modern German rather fancy farmers market with meat, vegetables, fruit, cheese, olives....all of which makes Whole Foods look like a 7-11. It was great. The vendors were all in huge portable "food trucks" and trailers which came at 6 am and folded up and were driven out of town at 2 pm.

                         

We never saw Amber and Maike but they were there too and here they are a few blocks from the market with city hall and St. Lambert's in the background. 

     

Here is the town hall where the treaty of Westphalia was signed to conclude the 30 years war in the 1600's and as one source puts it "effectively ending the European wars of religion." (Although it may be noted that it did not end wars altogether.) I stood in the room where the treaty was hammered out and signed.

                              THE room.

          

The planning of Münster was pretty simple...if there was at least 10 square meters of unused space, then they built a huge cathedral.

              

If there was less than 10 square meters, then they put an outdoor eatery and pub along with a brewery.

                       

Münster is a fine University town with upscale shopping and ancient history. It was lots of fun and a chance to actually "touch" history.

   

                 

Case in point:  Can you see the three cages just above the clock on the St. Lambert's Church? Those are to remind people of religious excess.

 The radical Anabaptists  established a communal sectarian government in Münster in 1534. It was an attempt to establish a Theocracy after the Peasants' War.

A number of zealots seized the town and were brutal in their idea of carrying out of God's plan on earth. They were subsequently subdued by proper authorities and their atrocities were met with swift and even more brutal justice as the leaders of the rebellion (including John of Leiden) were drawn and quartered and their remains placed in cages which were hung from the steeple of St. Lambert's. The bones were later removed and the cages hang there as a reminder of that bloody episode.

Have a nice day.

(I think that may have been about the time that residents of Münster decided to turn their passions towards European football. But that is just me speculating.)

                                 

Somewhere in Germany, Megan and Carolin went touring. I will find out where, later.

    Lo and Lena were off touring also in Düsseldorf. 

Earlier in the day, Maike and Amber were with Maike's family.

                         

Christie and Fred were in Amsterdam (I didn't even know that Amsterdam WAS in Germany. I was there last year and could have sworn that it was a part of the Netherlands.)

Sarah, Gracie, James, Trevor, Jana, Nils and others were in the south visiting a stalctite cave and tour a brewery. Emma and Sharon saw a castle.

                   

Frank, Sigrid and I wandered into a few cathedrals...all of which were stunning.

                     

                         

Many of them were damaged or destroyed in WWII and rebuilt to their former glory. In one we happened upon an organ concert. When the organ ended....one could almost hear the sounds of the saints sighing their approval.

                                  

         

Our German hosts have been most gracious and generous with their time and friendship. There is still lots to do....and as you can see, a "day off" does not mean a day to do nothing. It was a great Saturday for all.

                    

       

Peace,  Bob