Muenster(West)

I find it confusing buying train tickets to Muenster, because it's always referred to as Muenster(West). Why "West" and not "Central"? But here the West is short for Westfalen (Westphalia), to distinguish this Muenster from all others, I guess. I once visited this city many years ago, to visit a former lodger who doubled as a babysitter in the first few months of my son's life. She was a German language teaching assistant when she lodged in our house, and when we visited her in Muenster a year or so after she went back to Germany, she had reverted to her previous life as a student. I wish I could remember her name and that of her boyfriend (I can only remember their first names) so that I could try to find out what became of them.

I had a pleasant enough day in Muenster(West). The city has smartened up considerably since we were there nearly 25 years ago, but I remembered the cathedral and this historic street quite well. This must have a been a wealthy town in the late middle ages/early modern period, although doubtless the survival of these historic buildings is actually testimony to an *absence* of development in the 19th and 20th century, which in turn saved the city destruction in the second world war. In the 20st century, the removal of cars from the city centre, combined with the prevalence of bicycles, makes for a pleasing image.

The return journey did not match yesterday's for the annoyance factor. A member of the host's team gave me a lift to the local airport - Flughafen Muenster Osnabrueck - 30 kms from the city centre, and a short flight to City airport left only a further short hop to Edinburgh on BA. 8.5 hours door to door on the way out; less than 7 hours on the way back.