31December1997

31 December 97
My dear folks,

Jones has gone for a walk while I sit down to doff my cap to you & 1997. We are staying at “our” guesthouse in the village of Diedesfeld in the “heart of the German Winelands”. That’s what it says on Frau Ehmer’s card & it’s perfectly true. It doesn’t add that her guesthouse is supremely comfortable but one soon discovers that for oneself. We have stayed here often enough to stake an interest in the place & have grown fond of its kindly proprietor in spite of being barely able to exchange two words with her. Behind the house, farmers are busy pruning the vines which vanish in serried ranks into the mist flanking the hills. Atop the nearest hill – like a crenelated nipple - is the impressive bulk of Hambacher Schloss which encapsulates much of German history. One km up the road is the village of Maikammer where the best cakes in the world are sold. Three kms down the road is the village of Hambach where (my sister) Cathy & family live. If you were to see only this region of the country, you would believe Germany to be the neatest, most orderly, most prosperous land in the world & with the best constructed houses. Indeed, it may be all of those things though we have glimpsed other uglier urban faces.

Each morning, we compliment Frau Ehmers on her breakfast & wend our way towards Hambach which is a brisk 35 minutes away - through the vineyards, through the new suburbs, down the village cobbled streets, past the ancient wineries, below the church that still tolls each hour, to the door of 24 Am Hauselberg where the Gohdes family live. It is a modern 3-storey house, shared with an adjoining family, with a view down over the vast Rhine plains. Like all houses around here, it is built to last a thousand years. Apart from being home to Rolf & Cathy Gohdes & their daughters, Erica (14) & Anita (nearly 12), it is the domicile of Knoedel the rabbit & Louis the guinea pig, as well as the sanctuary of Mauser & Mauli, rival cats from neighbouring houses which are always imploring to be allowed in.

Rolf & Cathy sleep upstairs in a section designed to serve as a separate apartment. On the middle floor you find Erica’s bedroom (the one with the Bon Jovi posters) & Anita’s (with the posters of rap artists). The one without any posters is the spare bedroom where Mum is staying. The living rooms are downstairs together with everybody’s favourite room, the winter-garden. On the patio are the two life-size sculptured ducks which have also become part of the family.

Now you may be thinking that this is all fine & well but a letter ought to say something about what all these characters have been doing. The problem is that they have been doing very little other than eating & drinking, walking & talking & playing cards. The eating & drinking bit is easy to deal with. At regular intervals, scrumptious dishes of food appear from the kitchen where the plates return & wash themselves in preparation for the next round. It is a wonderful arrangement which I can strongly recommend to any of you who may be thinking of visiting Germany. Walking is more individual affair although the whole family did wander into Neustadt for an hour’s browsing through the extensive shopping malls. We made various small purchases, including a haul of discounted marzipan chocolate & a book of the rules of poker. The girls love the game; Anita’s chuckles of sheer glee at winning & pleasure in counting her loot are something to behold. Mother made a slow start but then came up with a textbook hand at the same time as Anita & I couldn’t for the life of me remember which was the stronger. Hence the urgent need to get a book of rules.

The highlight of our visit has been dinner at Mughler’s Kutchler, a small, family-run restaurant on the outskirts of Neustadt. It’s a familiar venue, one to which we have repaired on special occasions down the years. It is very popular & Cathy had taken the necessary precaution of booking well in advance. We obtained our favourite table, in the nook downstairs beside the blazing fire. Mother led us to understand that Kevin had insisted on being our absent host at the feast & we toasted him & his future good fortune with such a ringing cheer as must have been heard half way to Canada.