Monday, December 11, 2006

History lesson

I don't know if it's a sign of Christmas Market overdose, or excitement because of the dear friends' visit or just genuine suspense because of Christmas or stress about the business, but I've been having slight problems with my stomach the last few days. When my stomach hurts it seems to draw all my attention to itself, and now it is doing it almost constantly. It is hard to concentrate on anything else. Or is this just another excuse (Ausrede)?

We were even invited to 6 liters of Finnish peasoup, and I was meaning to call to cancel, but I completely forgot driving yesterday from Münster to Bochum, about 60 km, with slight grumbling to accompany me. The backseat and the seat next to me were quiet and peaceful, though. They could go to a restaurant and were even hungry. So thank you for inviting us, Pascale, Ralf, Hilkka and Sauli.

On Friday and Saturday we kept guard at the Bochum Christmas Market and enjoyed (?) the Glühwein. Sedat, Meike, Jarno, Stefan Junior, Julien, Sascha and Katrin, Stefan, Yrjö and Petra and of course the guests from Finland, Juha and Aina kept us company.

The Münster Christmas Market is apparently the second best in the whole of Germany and as Dresden is a bit too far, and Juha and Aina had never been to Münster, so that's where we headed for Sunday. Stefan Junior gave us expert tour guidance and showed us all the three separate market areas. 'Aegidii' was a strange word for everybody and Zwingerkirche had a gruesome history. For the Zwinger, he wasn't completely correct, but it seems to originate from Neuzeit (possibly end of the Middle Ages) and has been a part of the City Wall, a mill, a prison and a place of executions during the war. The church we were looking at at the time as Stefan explained about the Zwinger is the Lambertikirche. In the church tower there are three baskets were some bodies were kept as a warning and reminder. Other torture equipment is available in the City Museum. There are numerous museums in Münster for history buffs.

The word 'Aegidii' could be a form of a Latin name 'Aegidius', for example this war chief.

Münster is a city well worth visiting.

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Suomeksi: Tervon tytöt, isä ja äiti ovat hyvissä voimissa ja nautiskelevat olostaan vanhassa kotikaupungissa ja sen ympäristössä. Toivottavasti te olette nauttineet myös. Terveisiä kaikille täältä sateisesta Bochumista! Keskiviikkona Suomessa sataa lunta, laskeudumme näet Helsinkiin iltapäivästä.

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