A winter postcard

I have been having a winter break. No hazardous sporting adventure for me though - I am of the opinion that extreme exercise can be very bad for your health.  I am happy to be a spectator. And it is not everyday that you see a lot of small people with large ears, long beards and wearing pointy hats ski-ing down a roof top, Here in Cologne the poor things are frozen mid-stride.

At first I thought these were Snow White's friends - they look similar but there are eleven, Then I realised that these could the celebrated Heinzelmännchen of old Cologne who once dedicated their nights to aiding the good citizens in their chores until a curious tailor's wife tripped them up by scattering peas and so offended them that they deserted the town and never agin returned to help.  So whilst this year the citizens of Cologne struggled to prepare for Christmas these rascals must have been having a great time ski-ing over the rooftops.  I will create a comfy corner in my kitchen and go to bed early in the hope that a Heinzelmännchen or two, or even a few Brownies, will take up residence.

I was staying with Sue and Klaus whose home is so beautiful and hospitality so perfect that they must surely have a team of secret helpers. Smiling Sue is my second cousin.  Our George grandparents were brother and sister, but we would never have known each other were it not for our shared obsession with family history and the steaming search engines of Genes Reunited.

Our current project is to discover whether our four times great grandmother, Mary Lodge was related to the Williams family of Aberpergwm. There is a well-argued theory that this branch of the Williams family was not only descended from a number of difficult to pronounce Welsh princes, but also from one of the main contenders for the very personage of King Arthur. Now that would be an interesting addition to our family tree.

And - Sue has now found me the name of another living cousin on the Rea side of my family.  I am still having a little trouble tracking him down but it is just a matter of time... What a delight he has in store when he discovers his new family...

Sue and Klaus live by The Rhine, This used to be the diplomatic quarter of the capital of West Germany.  Imposing buildings face out on to the riverside and look over to a fairy tale landscape on the other bank which is a popular destination for tourists from the Netherlands who come searching for hills. Chamberlain once met with Hitler in the white hotel at the top of the hill.  At night the illuminated building floats eerily in the darkness, looking so close.

Klaus's daughter Ana is a secondary teacher and gave me an excellent  detailed commentary on our tour.  A highlight, she promises, is the Carnival season which runs through the winter and culminates in an intoxicated frenzy on Shrove Tuesday.  One for the diary.

 But for now - it is still the Christmas season and in the great cathedral of Cologne light studded Christmas trees stand behind the altar and visitors peer with curiosity at the Shrine of the Wise Men where the bones of all three are said to be entombed. What mishap befell them that they all perished at once and how their remains ended up in Cologne can only be imagined.  I do not recall any account of a final show down with Herod or tale of a further expedition to the West where some boating  accident on the Rhine may have occurred.  However, the spectacular gold casket shines with a brilliance that brings warmth to the cold stone space and one can quite see why Midas wanted more of the stuff.

At the opposite end of the long nave visitors crane their necks to peer at the imaginative, interpretation of the traditional Nativity Crib  The  question is posed "Where are you in this scene ? If Christmas came again, what would you do? - Football fan, council worker, school child? "

But for me, best of all, was the Nativity centre piece of the Market Square the local town of Bad Godesberg. On New Year's Eve passers by were still stopping to gaze in at the fabulously detailed figures, recreated with care and arranged with a compelling dramatic artistry that keeps you walking round the entire installation to find out what happens next.  And then round again, just to make sure.

 

And so back home to England, to my own festive display of the many Christmas greeting cards from my friends near and far.  Each year they arrive they remind me that my virtual world is full with so many family and friends that we could fill a village as busy as the Bethlehem of Bad Godesberg. Little angels everywhere bring hope for the future.   Peace and joy to all.  Penny x