2003 Germany: Düsseldorf to Münster via the Autobahn

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2003 Germany: Düsseldorf to Münster via the Autobahn

24 July 2003

Only a few hours after waking in Scotland I'm driving a diesel Peugot on the Autobahn in the pouring rain. It's hot, about 75° F (23° C), and obviously humid. We seem to be driving in and out of a storm front: the sky goes from dark to light, it rains and then it doesn't.

I've been told to take the A3 to A2 to A43 to Münster. I know Omi Marga lives in the center of town, so I know I'll be looking out for signs which say "centrum" at some point. It goes well. I stop at three rest areas along the way to double-check that each of my connections has left us heading in the right direction, and I pick up a country-wide road map (which seems much more confusing than the Michelin map of Scotland).

Most of the way the old autobahn rules are obviously in effect: pass in the passing lane, otherwise move at least one lane to the right. (By the way, it's a bit wierd driving on the right side of the street after three weeks of doing the opposite.) In some places folks cluelessly hang left, gumming up the flow of traffic. It's a pleasure seeing well-designed cars driving quickly: at one point I have the pleasure of seeing a silver BMW fly by my 150 kph (90 mph) as though I was standing still. It's easy to see why the Germans were the ones to come up with BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and VW. They have some roads which need driving :-)

Soon we're in Münster, heading towards the centrum. Then suddenly it all seems familiar, but more in an "I've been here before" way rather than an "I have some idea how to get to where I'm going" way. I drive slower, mindful of the hundreds of bicycles in motion around me. And all in one moment I realize it's Omi's house we're going by, and I swing the car to the left into the underground parking garage.

(Someone remind me to explain what a Frauenparkplatze is.)

After a boisterous re-connection (having not seen her for a few days) we have a most excellent matzoh ball soup with Omi Marga. It's obvious we're all tired, and when Omi's directions don't inspire hope in me (mostly because they're a completely different way of getting to our lodgings than we took a few years back) she calls Karl-Heinz, who tells me more of the same. I write them down, along with his phone number, and head out. The directions are perfect, and in a few minutes we're there.

Rose and I are exhausted, but Lila and Isaac seem to have a second wind. What to do? We head back into town and stroll the kids around for a while. Isaac complains of hunger: of course, it's an hour earlier for his body and we had an early lunch. So we head into RESTAURANT for a very German dinner.

Satisfied, and satietied, we head back home to crash. Tomorrow we'll try to find a playground for the kids.

Have you found errors nontrivial or marginal, factual, analytical and illogical, arithmetical, temporal, or even typographical? Please let me know; drop me email. Thanks!
 

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