Across Europe

London

Paris

Brussels

Amsterdam

Münster

April 2002, continued

We've been in Münster for a week. Today we're strolling to the nearby market. Omi is having trouble walking, so our progress is terribly slow. [UPDATE: Omi has had both hips replaced during 2001-2002, ninety days apart. She was in the hospital room a few feet from the synagogue. She's completely bounced back, and walks all over the place. We just finished a spell in Gran Canaria with her and she's the most amazing 90-year-old....] Rose appears just in front of Omi; she's probably darting after Isaac.

A bit of history, before we visit the church.

Münster was an ancient, pre-Christian, settlement originally called Mimigerneford. A bishopric since 805 A.D., it had a combined monastery and church; a Minster in old English and Münster in old German (cathedral in modern German). The city charter was granted in 1170 A.D. Ruled by the Anabaptists in the 1530s. The Thirty Years War was ended with the signing of the Peace of Westphalia treaty in the Rathaus (town hall) in 1648. The university dates to 1780 A.D. Most of the city was destroyed during World War II.

This then is the spire of the Lambertus Kirche (St Lambert's Church) spire, in the middle of town. The three cages are those in which the leaders of the Anabaptist sect were displayed after their execution in 1536. (Strangely, there was a noted Anabaptist leader with my own name.)

Of course, some of the best times to be had are in the houses of friends. Here you see Isaac on a rocking horse in a friend's back-yard. Omi sits under the gazebo; we'll all have lunch there shortly.

At another friend's house are dozens of musical instruments for Isaac to play as he pleases. The man of the house baked us two beautiful cakes. I love German afternoon coffee-and-cake time.

This ends the German leg of our trip. On our way back to the UK by train we ride by the Kölner Dom, the great cathedral of Köln (Cologne). This is a big structure. Makes the Cathédrale Notre Dame look tiny.

We head back to London without stopping. It takes us fewer hours than we expect, even with the change of trains.

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