I think it's safe to say we were all glad to get to the barracks, if only for a shower and a change of clothes! The mini-bus was very sticky and we were all a bit cranky because we'd been in a disturbed sleep.

We were met by the unit's welfare officer, a great man by the name of Captain Stewart Bridgehouse. He was so helpful while we were there and very funny. He showed us to our rooms, which were at the far end of one of the accommodation blocks. They were basic - two single beds, a wardrobe, chest of drawers and a small sink, but it would be fine. We weren't going to be in the room very often anyway. I warned Fiona from the MOD who I was sharing a room with that I talk a lot in my sleep, but she just laughed!

We went over to the Officers Mess with Captain Bridgehouse, where we dove on a pile of sandwiches waiting for us, and met some of the other Captains who were to become an invaluable help in the next few days, especially Captain David Marsham. He was great at grabbing soldiers with stories to tell!

We then set out on a walking tour of the base, which is called Camp Oxford/ Oxford Barracks. It's really pretty big. Its home to about 450 soldiers, some on base, and some in married accommodation - houses away from the main barracks, but still on the base. There's a huge parade square, a gym, library, petrol station, three messes (Officers, Sergeants and Corporals) and the NAAFI - Navy, Army, Air Force Institutes - an on-base convenience store. This became one of our most visited places for bottles of water to get us through the busy hot days. The NAAFI sells things which remind people overseas of home - like Heinz Baked Beans - and British newspapers and magazines, which are all pretty up to date.

Fortunately there was nothing we could do work wise this evening, so we headed back to the rooms. At this stage we were told we could all move into a guest flat of the Officers Mess, which was in the same building as our first rooms, but meant we were all together, and there was a kitchen and sitting room where we could work. So we harrumphed our stuff down a huge stone staircase and up a narrow concrete flight and decided who was sleeping where. I somehow ended up in a room with a double bed on my own - the two boys from PA shared a room with two single beds and we hauled a mattress from one of the original rooms so Fiona could sleep in the living room. I felt really bad, but she said she didn't mind.

We got ready for dinner in the Mess and headed over to meet the officers, who again were very helpful. We had a wonderful dinner accompanied by fabulous wines, and sat out on the patio for a while until the mosquitoes and bugs started to get to us. It was decided we were going into town with the officers to see the sights (i.e., the best bars), so we went back to the flat and go changed (I thought it was a bit cold for the dress I was wearing so put on black trousers and a smart fitted shirt) and hopped in some taxis and headed for town, which was about a five minute drive away.

The bar of choice was Enchilada. The house speciality is a drink called Lectric Lemonade, which consists of Gin, Rum, Vodka, Triple Sec and Tequila and sours all over ice, with fresh squeezed lemon and lime juice, all topped up with lemonade in a 500ml glass. They were AMAZING! I'm going to have a bash making it at home, but I fear I may kill myself with alcohol poisoning trying to get it right! I've attached the recipe below for any brave souls wanting to try blending their own versions! I made my way through three of these wonderful drinks before I started on water for a while! We went on to another bar called the Beach Bar, which is a big sandy area on the riverfront, between 2 industrial units. It was pretty late and it was only a few soldiers from other battalions who were there, so we didn't stay long until the last 5 of us standing (me and the PA reporter among them) headed back to the barracks just after 2am! I rang Mark when I got in - waking him up, oops - and said good night to him before I crashed out ahead of my 0600 start the next morning!

*****

Lectric Lemonade Drink Recipe

Recipe Ingredients 0.5 oz. Vodka 0.5 oz. Light Rum 0.5 oz. Triple Sec 0.67 oz. Sour Mix 0.5 oz. Jose Cuervo Tequila 0.5 oz. Gin 1 fill Lemon Lime soda Instruction In a mixing glass filled with ice combine gin, vodka, rum, triple sec, tequila, and sour mix. Shake and pour into a glass. Fill up with 7-Up.

Last night I discovered the wireless internet from TMobile on my laptop from work wasn't working in the flat. It also didn't work anywhere else on the barracks which was causing a huge problem. I had a fairly sleepless night worrying about it (and feeling the effects of 3 Lectric Lemonades), and in the morning I pretty much had to beg the photographer from PA to let me use his laptop - which had great signal on Vodafone internet - just to send everything back by email. He wasn't really too happy about that because he said he'd get into trouble at work if he's on the net too long, but I said if there's a problem I'd speak to them (as if that'd make a difference)!

So first things first...breakfast! Fiona, our MOD guide was up first and at breakfast for about 0815. I was up just after her and got over around 0835, ordered my cooked breakfast (which I wouldn't normally have anywhere but it was FANTASTIC - sausage, bacon, scrambled eggs and French toast), and had cereal and a yoghurt while I was waiting (there's no opportunity to snack during the day). Around 0900 the PA photographer David came over and said Sam - the reporter - hadn't even stirred yet! He'd had 3.5 Lectric Lemonades and was in rather a bad way when we got back to the flat. I was a tad embarrassed I'd held up better than him because I'd had a few glasses of wine with dinner. So we all had breakfast and went back to the flat, by which time Sam was up although he'd missed breakfast because we were on such a tight schedule. We were met by Sgt Turner who led us about 40 metres across the courtyard to Right Flank's offices. We met Major Christopher Bell who was extremely helpful, and very informative. He showed us photos and video footage of his time in Afghanistan, up near Musa' Qaleh, where he and his men lived out in the desert for five months - what Major Bell called real soldiering! They only spent around 12 days in their Camp Bastion base because they had so much to do. We met some of his guys who were great too - they told us plenty of stories and I had more than enough audio to send back - I could easily have done a one hour special on it! One of the guys from Glasgow was involved in two mine strikes, but wasn't injured, a couple got married a week after they got back from their tour - they'd left the organising to the bride's mum after the bride picked out her dress during her two week R&R! I got to ride inside a Warrior Armoured vehicle, which was...weird! I recorded the first part of a 'wrap' inside it (a wrap is a radio package - the newsreader introduces me, and then I speak, a clip of a soldier, I speak, a soldier, etc), which was nuts because I sounded really loud shouting over the roar of the engine! I did the rest of it outside.
What I couldn't get over was the weight of the helmet! I can't believe I'll have to wear that plus a bullet-proof vest in Afghanistan in 45c heat!

We headed over to meet Captain Bridgehouse for a chat about what support soldiers get when they come back from deployment. They get chats out in Cyprus on their day R&R before they get home about how they shouldn't expect life to be exactly as it was when they left - their wives have been used to running the house and playing Daddy as well as Mum while the guys are away, so they should be considerate about how much their wives do, etc. It was very interesting and shows how well the Army look after their soldiers, for as long as necessary after deployment - if a soldier is feeling down they can have a chat with someone whether it's 12 weeks after they get back (usual time for problems to come to the surface) or 12 years later.

Then it was time for lunch - but I didn't really get any! I had to send stuff back to the office, and had an absolute nightmare! We went over to the Officers Mess and I set up out in the garden to get some peace and quiet so I could work, but the smokers quickly piled out, so I moved in to the lounge, but the battery on my laptop - which had been charging for around 18 hours - ran flat after 15 minutes. I had to run back to the flat (about 500 metres away) peg it back again and try to get on. I phoned my editor while I was on my way to say I doubted they'd get my wrap for one. Needless to say I was totally stressing out - Sam, whose laptop I'd hoped to use had wandered off, and I was trying to edit interviews as well as write my script. I stared recording my voice around ten to two, but got so flustered I kept making mistakes. I resigned myself to the fact it wasn't going to get there for our 1 o'clock news (1 hour time difference) and braced myself for an angry phone call...while I waited I picked at the lunch someone had brought out for me - roast lamb, potatoes, Brussels sprouts, and sausages wrapped in bacon - yum!

Thankfully my boss realised there was nothing I could do, and also that I couldn't wander all over the barracks trying to find somewhere I might get signal. According to the T-Mobile HotSpot seeker there was somewhere a couple of miles away in town - a hotel - where the wireless would work, but that really wasn't suitable!! She said just keep on David's good side and hope he lets you use his laptop!!

After lunch, we went back to the flat and had an afternoon working! I got the wrap all topped and tailed and emailed it back - they ended up using it in the five o'clock news which was fine because it meant I didn't have to put another one together! Yaay! Once we'd all got through our work, we sat out on the steps and chatted for a while. We met Colonel Willie Swinton (actress Tilda's brother) - he's the Commanding Officer for the 1st Battalion the Scots Guards and was just back from Iraq. He's such an enthusiastic guy, and was very pleased we'd been able to come out to the base. It's nice to know what you do is appreciated and that you're welcome - so often people think journalists are scum of the earth and just nosy interfering individuals! But we're not - well, not me anyway!

Next up was the most important part of the trip - the homecoming of HQ company, who'd been in Basrah, Iraq for the last six months. Needless to say there were lots of very excited children waiting for Daddy to come home. Surprisingly, a lot of the families are English - it's not just Scots who can join the Scots Guards. Many of them join out of family tradition, which is nice, but it means there's a real mix of accents, including a couple of Fijians! We waited for about half an hour and suddenly two huge coaches pulled in and there was a lot of flag waving, cheering and tears. There were hugs, kisses and cuddles a-plenty. It was so nice to see the kids jumping into their Dads arms. I did feel a bit bad sticking my microphone in their faces, but no-one turned me down when I asked to speak to them. I found the soldiers were all pretty happy to tell their stories, which was god, and they went into lots of detail!!

We had dinner in the flat - fish, chips, mushy peas and gravy, which was great. Fiona got it from the Cook House for us (as well as a bottle of wine from the homecoming) and we ate in the kitchen of the flat while we chatted before we got back to work! I did another wrap (about 1m30 long - which doesn't sound much, but it was made up of cheering, my voice in five parts, and lots of clips of soldiers and their families taking to me, which all together meant emailing 15 different bits of audio as well as the script back), and three clips and scripts (what we call cuts and cues) and a few lines about what was happening the next day - the parade.

We were all up pretty late - I don't like using laptops because I find them quite fiddly, so it took me a bit longer to edit audio than it usually would but I got there in the end! I also dozed off sitting on my bed chopping stuff up - the heat of the laptop on my knee eventually woke me up! And because the three of us were using one laptop to send all our stuff back we had to wait our turn, and I was last in the line since David and Sam both work for the Press Association (PA).

So around midnight I phoned Mark to have a chat, did some more work, sent me stuff back and hit the hay around three am. I set the alarm for 0600 and must have been asleep within minutes!

PS: Sorry I write so much, it’s the journo in me!

November 18

I arrived in Munster quite early enough to have the chance to do something, to save some credits I walked and found where Dihia lives but actually she wasnt there at the moment so I sent an sms and badly for me she called back... which cost me to receive.
Anyhow they arrived (with her flatmate) not long after and we had a relaxing moment in their flat, having a short snack and discussing about anything and nothing. Travel, future plan, ourselves...

Dihia and her flatmate were really happy and joyful host I had in a long time. It was refreshing and pretty cool, they were hugely interested and I was actually their first guest.

Later on by the afternoon we took the bikes and went for a ride in the city. Going around in the chilly weather and reaching ultimately the botanical garden by the castle of the city (that is now part of the university). We walked there until it closed and later on I continued with Dihia into town itself. Mainly stopping at the main church to have a look at the astrological clock inside. Then we were more into town while dusk arrived and we contacted a friend from Dihia that lives in Munster with his german wife and that comes from Newfoundland.

It was pretty cool to meet him and he really did his life now there while he is still about my age and studies with Dihia at the social work school. We actually also learned that his wife is now newly pregnant... great news for them.
We stopped at one of the main cafe in town that serves lots of classy cake and where Dihia  works. So we enjoyed the great cake and the look of the old style cafe.

We did a short walk into town before leaving back for the evening meal. I was surprised that actually the whole city is mainly new and had roughly suffered heavily from the war. So the buildings and even the church were re-build at identical but still the atmosphere isn't fully there.
Though the three cages in the church were quite disturbing (made up in middle age to scare the protestant by putting the protestant rebels into those cage to scare any potential invader from the lutherian movement.)

We ended up having a pasta meal with lots of goods and relaxed a bit more. I needed a nap which I did while they were preparing their bags for their trip to Paris the next day.

Later, as it wasnt full feeling to go out we finally took it easy and played monopoly special edition from Munster. Until it was time to sleep.

Muenster is a very nice city in the German State Northrhine Westphalia. In the year 2004 it won the Gold LivCom Award in the category of cities with 200,000 to 750,000 inhabitants. It is also known as the "Bicycle Capital" of Germany because bikes (called "Leezen" by the locals) are the most common means of transportation in the city. Each day over 100,000 Münster residents ride their bikes. In fact, with around 500,000 bikes in Münster, the number of cycles is nearly double the number of residents. It has got bicycle tracks all over the city and a special bike station near the central station (park & ride) and an extra bike wash similar to a car wash. It is one of the biggest university cities in Germany. It got 90 churches and a beautiful center where most of the buidlings had to be rebulit after the 2nd WW in the old style.