More tales from Germany

This weekend the tiny village I am living in is hosting what I have been informed is a giant bachelor party. This would appear to be one of the villages sacrosanct traditions, involving many single men, and like pretty much all of the traditions of the village that I have been informed of, largely appears to revolve around heavy drinking. Cars are being removed from the street as I type, to avoid inevitable damage.

I am pretty sure we won’t be attending the festivities, what with me not being an eligible bachelor. I’ve also been told that the villagers are somewhat traditional in their way, and rocking up with dreadlocks may result in some kind of pitch forks and tar reaction. Although that could make it worth going in and of itself. Whatever happens, as the marquee where the festivities are occurring is about thirty metres from our front door, I am pretty sure we will be part of the action even without lifting a finger. I will let you know how that goes.

We went for a fairly extended walk yesterday through the forests around the rear of the village. I thought I was quite brave with my self belief in heading off in a vague direction and hoping to find my way back on previous walks, but it turns out that my dear girlfriend take bravery to new levels. We walked a fairly long way, largely in the rain, through forested canopies, with no real idea of where we were going or where we were going to come out. Sounds rather like my life actually. Still, often the walk is not the important part, it is the company and the space to converse. I’m not sure why, but I find walking to be an excellent lubricant of conversation, or thinking. Maybe the external stimuli wakes the brain up. Or maybe the extra blood flow sends those thoughts a-tumbling. If you find yourself stuck on a problem, I can highly recommend a good walk to tease a solution out.

So we walked. I am a tremendous fan of the activity, and it’s one of the reasons I am so looking forward to heading to New Zealand. Prior to the New Zealand expedition I am heading over to the UK for a couple of weeks, where I will say hello and farewell to many of my friends, and also introduce Vera to my parents, who I am hoping are looking forward to our whirlwind visit. The corner of the world they currently live in, North Wales, is spectacularly beautiful and quite ideal for walking in, what with it being part of the Snowdonia national park. I can only hope that the weather holds out while we are there so we can conquer a few peaks and get our leg muscles on the road to being in shape for some of those rather higher New Zealand mountains…