Essen, Germany

Decided to take advantage of the fabulous weather by going on yet another day trip to Germany, this time to Duisburg and Essen.  Both cities are just beyond Venlo and are located in the Ruhr industrial area, and that's putting it mildly.  There's hardly any 'ancient' structure in it, much less 'medieval'.  I told this to AW when I got back home and he said, 'Naturally!  They were heavily bombed and completely destroyed during the war!'  That would make sense if indeed they were already industrial centres at the time.  I didn't bother to do any research but I can imagine the Allied order to just bomb everything to make sure no new weapons or aircraft are produced.  I am reminded of an anecdote a former police student of mine shared with the class once -- a police cadet from his batch was on patrol duty in Rotterdam with his coach and a German tourist driving around stopped near them and asked, obviously bewildered, 'Where is the old city?', whereupon the cadet promptly and spontaneously replied, 'Your grandfather bombed it during the war!'

Back home, worked on, and finished, what was week 2 of the Culture and Identities MOOC.  The course actually focuses on Europe, and I guess my explorations can be considered as part of some kind of personally motivated European studies.  Needless to say, this is the kind of studying and learning I enjoy.