Visit to Germany (06-14/07/08)

Day 7 – Saturday: ‘Museumsnacht’

A quick dash to the garage to find that the spare part had still not arrived so we collected the parts that they did have and were thankful that we at least had air intake for the journey home. The highlight of the day was the Museumsnacht, when the whole town is alive with people until the early hours of the morning. All the museums, art galleries, churches etc. are open for tours, concerts and every other sort of culture. It is THE place to be. We started at the sculpture park on the banks of the river Main and then managed to take in the stonemasons’ school, the Stiftsmuseum (for a talk on the Romans), the Stifskirche (an organ recital), the cloisters (old music) and an art gallery as well as taking in the general atmosphere of the evening. At midnight we made our way to the usual meeting place of friends, the Pompejanum garden, for a final beer.

Day 8 – Sunday: Kleinostheim

We spent a quiet day in Kleinostheim to prepare for our journey home the following day. I had met a German visitor in Leeds Castle a few weeks earlier and it transpired that he lived in the next street to Rosemarie and Frieder. He had told me that he lived in the house with many columns and so I made a quick visit to the street below to look at the Villa Columne. It was quite something! We took Rosemarie and Frieder for lunch in an Italian restaurant. Later Rosemarie very kindly prepared an early birthday table for me with a delicious homemade cake.

Day 9 – Monday: Home Journey

Homeward bound. After saying our goodbyes to our hosts we set off on our journey across Germany, Belgium and France. A short ferry crossing and a drive up the A2/M2 saw us once again in Meopham.