Our October outing was to the State Parliament of North Rhine Westphalia. Düsseldorf is the capital city of NRW, much to the annoyance of Cologne. This highly interesting visit was organised by our Treasurer, Ms Marie-Luise Zimmermann, who is very familiar with community politics. We were given a detailed introduction to the building, the history and present activities of the state parliament, then guided to the Plenary Chamber where we watched a parliamentary meeting, listening to the arguments of members of the various parties supporting particular points of view. Our final phase of the visit was a personal discussion with the CDU (Conservative) Member of Parliament, Mr Olaf Lehne. It was an opportunity to question a member of Parliament that is seldom provided to the citizens and we took advantage of the chance to ask many piercing questions. The afternoon was rounded off with coffee and cake in the canteen, followed later by snacks and drinks at the KIT Restaurant with a riveting view of the Rhine River. Our thanks to Marie-Luise for such an unusual and interesting event.