Time in Münster
We are finally back after our 11 days and 10 nights in Germany, so I can blog about it properly although in retrospect — internet access was very spotty there so I only managed the three previous via my iPhone via Flickr. Thus, like Billy Pilgrim, Goyablog has come unstuck in time. It jumps back to Münster, where we arrived on the third day after two days in Hamburg looking at bunkers and church ruins and before we went to Aachen. Our one day in Münster was well spent and could have easily turned into two or three. Our hotel was amid several small churches, one at which we attended Vespers just because we could. The clock pictured above was in the cathedral, pictured here:
The city museum, where we learned of the firebombing of the city
was very well put together — and free, sure sign of the place’s wealth and sense of civic boosterism. The city, which was rebuilt after the war according to the original medieval layout and general look, is très quaint, almost too much so. It treads a fine line between organic historical atmosphere and themed environment, but generally pulls it off successfully: winding cobblestone streets, narrow building facades, period ornamentation.
This contrasts with the high-end boutiques behind those facades (okay, so the souvenir postcard display and the “Woolworth” subverts the high-end boutique look). The result is a bit disconcerting, a kind of medieval chic that exudes money rather than the Black Death. Despite my critique of the place, I’d live there in a heartbeat (as medieval retro yuppie), or so I thought until we arrived at Aachen, the inner city of which — around Charlemagne’s chapel and the town hall — had a much more organic feel (despite its own partial rebuilding) and greater mix of pubs, cafés, restaurants, and shops and just as much winds and cobblestones. Münster, however, had the best sauerkraut I’ve ever tasted, at the pub next to the Rathaus here:
It also had a delightful open market on the Wednesday we were there.
We loaded up on licorice and olives and bread and strawberries for our train ride that day to Aachen.