Yesterday's ferry trip Dover/Calais was very tolerable - made more so with the champagne breakfast in Lanagan's on board brasserie! The drive to Munster was ok - but marred by a holdup on Antwerp's ring road which delayed us for an hour which in turn meant we hit the rush hour at Dussledorf. Ah well - ne'er mind we were only an hour or so later than we anticipated arriving for the last time at Muckermannweg 8.

Today has been a round of admin - like handing back my car anhd phone and the 1001 things one has to do on ceasing to be a civil servant. The civil service is a master at making simple things complicated - the rules and regulations and forms are just extraordinarily nauseating. However after only 3 hours I had cleared the bar and it was plain sailing for the rest of the day. So this afternoon its been packing-up at the house and filling the last cardboard boxes with my meagre possessions. Thank goodness Fiona has been here to direct operations and do all the practical things like unplugging the electrics unscrewing the formerly flat-packed (mainly from (I hate to admit!) from the local IKEA!) and generally dismantling those things which I had others assemble.

So we're now sampling a couple of local ales before setting off for my local Italian, La Gondoliere, for the last supper. Tomorrow (Thurs) we march out of the quarter at 1100 and then it's back to Calais and the channel tunnel train and home to lovely Somerset.

I shall be sorry to leave Munster. It's a fabulous, beautiful and fascinating city, but new horizons beckon and I am excited at the prospect of my new job which I begin with indecent haste next Monday.

So! Aufwiedersehen Deutchland!