Germany

We entered the Fatherland having already covered the Mother Country and Hastings` sister city, so all we need is a trip to the Bronx to hang with the brothers and we`ll have the whole family.

A torrent from the sky had us arriving in the Black Forrest bedraggled and glad to be visiting friend Paul in Kandern, who has a roof, and chairs. Paul and his partner Sarah, along with thier twin girls Sonne and Lucy, live at a community for mentally handicapped people, where the residents live a highly productive life manufacturing various products in workshops of a non-sweaty nature. Paul landed charge of the bakery when the baker "miester" left after some deep political intrigue, so we spent an evening making bread. Only a small batch using 15kgs of flour was required as it was holidays at the community. Much fun was had using all the industrial machinery and house sized ovens.

From there we have follwed the Rhine from its pristine clarity at Lake Constance, through days of industrialism that has us reminiscing of China and turning the river a murky Waikato colour. The Germans have along the way rivaled the Chinese also in terms of helpfulness, and on one day it seemed every time we pulled out the map a local was on hand to give advice based on his or her intimate knowledge of the regional cycle paths.

Our route took us to Freiburg, and onto Schiltach, which was an extremely atmospheric place of half timbered buildings crammed together around various platzes. After the Black Forest had literally taken us by storm - it rained the whole way - we stopped in at Baden Baden, a place Clinton described as "so nice you had to name it twice". It really was worthy of a double naming and could be the flashest place in the world. Without our white linen trousers or pearls we felt a little underdone in sun bleached shirts and jandels. The town centres on two sets of baths, one built on the site of a Roman bathhouse where nudity remains compulsory. Crys of "Is that a house?!" rang out as we came in along a river lined with mansions more like a grand hotel or cathedral. Even the info centre is in a columned building with 14 frescoes on the facade.

Sauerkraut, beer and wurst were had in the Schloss (castle) of Heidelberg. Claud said of the sauerkraut "that was one of the worst things I have ever eaten" and mused that perhaps it was some torture technique perfected in (dont mention the war). Back on the Rhine, it was the aforementioned industrial hell for 2 days before hitting wine and castles between Mainz and Koblenz. Apparently the highest concentration of castles anywhere in the world and a UNESCO World Heratige site. We saw 13 in one day, and that was only between the spear tipped raindrops lancing us in the eyeballs.

Then it was up the Moselle valley for more vineyards, and to Trier, home of Karl Marx and a popular visit for hordes of Chinese. The parallels just keep on coming.