Armistice

A few years ago, my Mum and Dad came to visit me in the heart of the Rhineland. It was a Saturday afternoon in early September and the towns were buzzing with visitors enjoying the last of the summer wine before the new stuff appeared later in the autumn. It was approaching lunchtime in Ahrweiler, …

Conscious

Two years ago this week, I moved into the place I live now. Ever since I was a student I've been fussy about decor and because this was the first place I'd ever bought, I decided to mark the occasion by painting the walls in the boldest colours I could get away with. The place …

Bargain

Much as I have enjoyed my time in Germany's easternmost city, there has been a flaw in my planning. I have neither a plane ticket nor a train ticket back. Görlitz is the easternmost town in Germany and I live in the far west. Four hundred miles separate me from home but I am not …

East And West

The last leg of our tour of Germany takes us east. So far east that on a clear day you can see the Golden Gate Bridge. Our destination is Görlitz, the easternmost town in all Germany. So far east is Görlitz that half the town now lies in Poland. It is quicker and easier to …

Make Me A German

There are some events in life for which you will just never know what to wear. Weddings and funerals are fairly straightforward. Job interviews too have fairly standard dress codes. For everything else at this time of year you can pretty much dress for the weather. But a naturalisation ceremony? Just what should you wear …