The rainbow never sets

afternoon tea and supper at Walter and Marthas. The following day we took a train to Düsseldorf, where we were going to stay at the Bocter's, our friends from the bus to the Great Wall in China. Crossing the border into West Germany, we saw the infamous tall fence with intermittent watch towers as far as the eye could see. A strip of about fifty meters had been ploughed, a sad reminder, that Germany was still divided and the iron curtain was very much in evidence.

At Hanover we had to say good-bye to Margaret. She would catch a train to München, where she wanted to meet up with her Oma, who was staying at the Goebels, my cousins who had stayed with us during the last years of the war.

For a whole day we sampled life in Düsseldorf, a very elegant and beautiful city. The Bocter's were most hospitable, and we had long talks about their and our China trip.

From Düsseldorf we went by train to Köln, where we caught a Rhine steamer, the most expensive leg of our trip. We had to pay DM.139 ($127) each for just 200 km to Mainz. But we didn't go on a Rhine steamer to save money. In fact that was impossible, as the price for a pot of tea was DM.5. If we had to spend a penny, the charge was 40 pfennig! I was quite annoyed about the latter charge, as if our tickets were not expensive enough! But we tried to cheer ourselves up with a bottle of Rhine wine, however, the atmosphere remained dull. What had become of the beautiful 'stimmung' (aura), where people were singing and drinking, as I remembered it from years ago? Perhaps they had priced themselves out of the market, since only a few people were on board.

At Mainz we stayed at the Koblenzer Hof. It was just two minutes from the wharf, with moderate prices but quite adequate. Some shopping the next morning, before we went on our last train journey to Hanau, near Frankfurt, where we were staying at my cousin's Bernd and Ingrid. This completed the overland journey Hong Kong to Frankfurt.

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It was good to catch up with news. We hadn't seen each other since 1972. Bernd had taken a week off work to be with us. We did lots of things together, went on lovely walks, visited the Town Hall, and Alison went to a typical German market. She particularly liked the most beautiful flowers there.

From Frankfurt we caught a flight to Manchester, where Sheila Nichols, Alison's school friend, met us and took us to her place at Grange-over-Sands, a seaside town in the picturesque Lakes District of England. We very much enjoyed some long walks. We also climbed one mountain with Elspeth, Sheila's daughter, from where we had a breathtaking view of the area. The landscape is truly beautiful. Hills and mountains, green pastures

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