Jeremy Clarkson once said “Germany is to holidays what Delia Smith is to spot welding”. Although I am normally very fond of Jeremy Clarkson’s work, on this occasion I choose to disagree with him, having spent several very pleasant days staying with German friends in the lovely old town of Hofheim, just west of Frankfurt, and which is the spiritual home of the Baha’i community in this part of Europe, as it is the site of our European House of Worship, which is situated in the Taunus hills just outside the town.
This has been my third visit to Germany in recent years and on every occasion I’ve found my hosts and their friends very hospitable and full of fun – and their fluency in English has put my total lack of German to shame!
And the German countryside is not bad either. Mind you, the Rhine Valley is only a short trip away: the views from the Loreley are spectacular; and the number and beauty of the castles and picturesque towns on either side of the river is breathtaking.
The only problem was the weather. No, it wasn’t the rain. On the contrary, we only had one thunderstorm all week. The rest of the time it was hot and sunny – very hot – sweltering, in fact! So hot and humid that the sweat poured off us. We would have welcomed some rain just to cool us all off.
But guess what! As I write this post at home in England, the sky is grey and cloudy, and the wind and rain make it feel more like October than the end of July. Ah well, time to return to the grindstone to earn an honest crust – and pay for that Rhine cruise I’ve just promised myself!
