Göttingen

Merlin, a 14-year-old from Göttingen, has been with us this week, part of a group on a half-term twinning deal. We were to have had a second boy, but he cried off at the last moment through illness - which meant that Merlin had to work that much harder on his English.

He wasn't missing anything, he said, being away from home on Halloween. All the action takes place on St Martin's Day, when children process from house to house with colourful paper lanterns made in school, sing a song - the last line of each verse is "Rabimmel, rabammel, rabum" - and get sweets in return. No trickery required. (I have since discovered that the lantern procession symbolises the light that holiness brings to the darkness, just as St Martin brought hope to the poor through his good deeds.)

Merlin's father is Martin (too).

The book Sarah kindly gave me last Christmas tells us that Göttingen "has nurtured 40 Nobel Prize winners". Compared to how many from Cheltenham I was wondering.

"On the Jakobsweg"

During our absence, the hard copy of my latest book arrived from the publishers, Blurb. It's more ambitious than others I have done on similar lines: it purports to be a lightweight guide to the pilgrimage route I walked in April - approximately 500 kms. from Nürnberg to Einsiedeln. I have included maps and a page of resource information, as well as a brief diary - and of course some of my photographs.

The book's aim is to encourage others to think of trying this Camino, one that is little-walked by the English (from what I gather), but particularly rich in Christian associations. Quite apart from these, it passes through some majestic scenery, and the natives are extremely friendly! You can see the whole book via its free online preview.

My photograph shows the front cover: the photograph was taken approaching Steinhausen, known as the most beautiful village church in the world.

Forte and piano

The high spots of last night's choral concert came in the first half, given a cappella by the Merton College Choir under Ben Nicholas (late of this parish). A taste each of Tallis, Victoria, Palestrina and Robert Parsons, followed by four Marian antiphons by four women composers. Of these, Kerry Andrew's Salve Regina stood out, though - as with Giles Swayne's Missa Tiburtina - I disliked the musical scrabble of "in hac lacrimarum valle".

80-odd voices in Gloucester Cathedral make a big sound, which is not always needed, in my opinion, for as subtle and mysterious a work as Duruflé's Requiem. Nevertheless, both chorus (three choirs combined) and soloists were magnificent. My photograph shows Ben Nicholas applauding organist Carleton Etherington, cellist Guy Johnston, mezzo Esther Brazil and baritone Nicholas Morton.

Not a good evening for Brazil though. I caught up later with the first half - it was enough - of their 7-1 defeat in the World Cup semi-final at the hands of the ruthless Germans: the crowd of 67,000 (mainly) stunned to silence.

The Euros

I felt sickened this morning as I heard the election headlines: gains for the far right parties, in France and the UK especially. A vote for UKIP is a vote against Europe, ignoring the force for relative stability and peace that the EEC/EU's been for most of my lifetime. People who know me won't be surprised I voted Green: good to see that it helped Molly Scott Cato get elected in our neck of the woods! (This photograph I took in Ulm last month. The Germans hate Merkel, I was told, but still vote for her.)

Off tomorrow

As you see from the map of one of the German Jakobswegs, this year I'm walking on a pilgrimage route very far away from Compostela. Starting out on the train from Cheltenham in the morning, I get to Nürnberg late at night. After a day exploring Nürnberg, I set off on Wednesday, hoping to be in Ulm for Palm Sunday and then crossing the border into Switzerland from Konstanz.

This is a link to a map showing the Swiss Compostela routes: I aim to get to Einsiedeln Abbey before the end of the month, all being well. From there it's a question of catching seven more trains in order to join up with Caroline at Auch in France.

I view it all with some trepidation at this stage.

Forgotten leaves from the family album

Probably on business, my grandfather evidently visited Germany at some time in the 'Thirties: looking through some pages of an old album passed down to me, I have come across this amongst other images of a parade: arms raised by spectators in the Nazi salute: in another swastikas are flying.

Not many photographs from this side of the family have survived the 80 or so years since they were taken: the spectacle must have seemed significant to both my grandfather and my father, for these to have been preserved.

In the same album are a very few holiday photographs - each of my grandparents taken on board ship: the Queen Mary was launched in 1936, so my grandfather would have been in his 50s at the time. A natty dresser, but unable to conceal his middle age spread.

Football matters

Last night's match between Austria and Germany was slow and not very pretty. Certainly not as exciting as Holland v France last week. We were supporting Austria, a country where I spent three very happy and formative months after leaving school. But though they had more speed and some youthful enthusiasm, they lacked all finishing power. And this was a match they needed to win to stay in the competition they are jointly hosting. Germany for their part were unconvincing, an unattractive bunch, not playing to their potential. Having said this, they will probably go on to win the Championship - but I hope not.

It makes it much easier to watch, with England out of the equation. And on such an unseasonably chilly night, we didn't mind sitting with supper on our knees, rather than being outside at the round table in the garden, which is where one would expect to find us on 16th June.

This alternative football photograph was taken when I was walking near St Agnes in Cornwall last July.