Our train from Cologne was diverted on a very scenic but slow route to Hannover due to works on the high speed line.

We then had a long (due to roadworks) coach journey to Goslar, a peaceful little village where we changed coaches.

But had time for a quick beer and a look around.

This is a bronze model of the town:

This was the imperial palace:

And after a shorter coach journey, we’re now in Wernigerode, our base for the next 3 days.

We stopped at Wuppertal, famous for the unique overhead railway:

Not easy to photograph from a train, though…

Another early start today, and after a short tour of Cologne by coach, we were back at the station.

The cathedral is (still) just by the station:

After a bit of confusion with our train arriving in the wrong place with the wrong coach numbers, we headed off over the Rhine along the “padlock bridge”:

We’re now on our way to Hannover.

We ate dinner in the Bellavue restaurant at the top of the hotel – despite staying in the hotel many times, we’d not been there before. There’s a lovely little lookout overlooking the Rhine:

There’s always something going on in the river or over the bridges!

An early start today, but a really quick journey to St Pancras – 32 minutes platform to platform.

After the usual long wait for our Eurostar, we were soon on our way arriving in Brussels on time.

We’d normally stop for a beer, but there wasn’t enough time before our next train…

A slightly delayed arrival in Cologne but our coach was waiting to take us to our hotel – we’ve lost track how many times we’ve stayed here!

You can just see Cologne Cathedral from our room:

The main task for Sunday was to take down the tent and pull the trolleys of gear back to the car.  We got our act together so that we took one load back before the communion service at ten, and then returned to take the tent down, by which time it was pretty much dry, and take the second load back to the car.

Just time for one more talk from an artist passionate about the provenance of leather, a quick look round the bookshop, and a final cup of tea.

Would we go again?  Probably, but not every year – and even if we don’t, we both agreed that it was an experience worth having.

Saturday, we awoke to pouring rain!  All the same, we went to “Wake up singing”, which pretty much did what it said on the tin.  After a couple more talks, we found the pub – the Jesus Arms – where I discovered that they were serving a cask stout.

Before lunch we attended a laughter workshop, which I enjoyed but I think it left Lucy rather nonplussed.

There was an art walk, which finished at Boughton House, whose grounds the festival was in.  Some of the art was interesting.  The view back towards the site was pleasant, but I didn’t think to photograph the house.

With some trepidation, we went to “Queer and Hymns” at the Hope and Anchor, which had been rebuilt by then.  It turned out to be a telling of the story of Ruth in words and song, and was my highlight of the whole event!

In the evening, we attended the Tenebrae service, which was very moving.  Toyed with the idea of another beer, but decided to be sensible…

Lucy and I spent the weekend at Greenbelt – a festival of arts and faith in the grounds of Boughton House, near Kettering.  Spread over the site were a number of venues holding music, talks, exhibitions, workshops and worship.

We arrived on Thursday evening after a long drive – trouble on the M11 – by the time we had set up the tent, we were exhausted, so we didn’t actually do anything.  The car was a twenty minute walk from where we were pitched.

Overnight on Friday there were horrendous winds, which delayed the start of the festival.  But our tent was still standing, and the day was warm and sunny once the wind died down.

We had considered, beforehand, what we might like to attend.  A few of the events were in the venue called “The Hope and Anchor”, but it had been damaged in the wind, so we found some other talks to attend, between which we wandered around getting our bearings.  The composting loos were a revelation – a much more pleasant experience than portaloos!

The main arena was mostly music – we didn’t actually attend any of the sessions, but as we were walking around, we couldn’t avoid hearing it.  In fact, we couldn’t hear one of the talks we DID go to because the arena was so loud…

In the evening, we attended Taizé worship.  I was familiar with some of their chants, but we both felt that a whole service was rather too much.

A nice, quiet way to prepare us for a decaf tea and a quieter night’s sleep.