On our way 'ome

A considerably more substantial breakfast this morning, as I knew I wouldn't be eating again until we were airborne on the return journey. So I tucked in to a bowl of cereal crunch, a fried egg (freshly fried in front of my eyes by the griddle chef, or whatever they're called), sausage, schnitzel and potato cakes, juice, coffee and a small slice of delicious chocolate cake.

Since the lectures today were repeats of yesterday, in pretty much the same order, there was little value in returning to the conference centre (although coaches were provided for those who still had business to do), so I elected to take a walk into Augsburg and see something of the town.

A light drizzle greeted me as I stepped out of the hotel and turned right onto (what I thought was) the main street. I'm always fascinated by the subtle differences in local architecture when visiting other countries, but I wasn't prepared for the wonderfully eclectic mixture of old and new buildings as I made my way slowly down Gögginger Strasse in the direction of Stuttgart. This one sported an inscription mounted around the top floor, each glass block holding a single letter. Further up the street a private apartment building carried this unusual mural.

The further I walked the stronger the drizzle became, until after about 25 minutes I realised I risked being caught in a downpour and turned back for the hotel. Altogether I was out for about 50 minutes and didn't see any sign of a shopping centre. A later examination of the town centre on googlemaps revealed that I should have turned left rather than right at the end of the road on which the hotel stood.

I spent the rest of the morning in the hotel lobby, reading, caught the coach to Munich airport at 12.30 and arrived back at Stansted shortly before half past four. I could have done without the four-hour drive back to Manchester through the M11/A14 rush-hour traffic, but since it was the only way to get home I gritted my teeth and got on with it. An interesting experience, all things considered, but not one I'd be in any hurry to repeat.