Our forthcoming get-together is on Friday, 26th July, from 7pm onwards in the beer garden of Gasthof Köchlin, (www.hotel-koechlin.de), Kemptener Str. 41, Lindau. This will be our second attempt at being able to sit outside there this year, but this time I’m rather more hopeful that it will be warm enough! If the weather is inclement, then obviously we’ll be indoors, but fingers crossed that it’ll be fine – please don’t forget the mozzie spray! For those of you who don’t know how to get to Gasthof Köchlin, you can reach it easily using the Lindau Stadtbus (route number 1, bus stop “Köchlin”). For those coming by car, if you leave the roundabout by the Lindaupark shopping centre, drive along Kemptener Strasse, past the ÖMV petrol station, following the road as it bends left, you will find Gasthof Köchlin at the traffic lights on the left hand side. There is a large car park around the back (turn left at the lights and then left again). They have a good menu if you want to eat.

Thanks to those of you who gave me feedback on our last venue: “Zur Alten Fähre” in Lochau and who said how much they had enjoyed it. I very rarely book the same venue twice on the trot, but I actually tried to do this for this month’s meeting – only to be thwarted by the fact that they have a concert booked on the night we would be there. Because this would make talking to each other nigh on impossible, I asked if I could book it for our August meeting instead, so you now have advance warning: we will be back at “Zur Alten Fähre” on Friday, 30th August, (don’t worry, I’ll send out a reminder with all the details a couple of weeks ahead).

Looking even further ahead, I would like to let you know that I am in the process of organising a guided wine-tasting tour in Nonnenhorn for Saturday, 21st September. It will be led by a fellow ex-pat, Sarah Fischer from Nottinghamshire, and she will be explaining some of the history of the wine-making here on Lake Constance along with a small introduction into the sensory world of wine tasting. We will start with a glass of the delicious local bubbly: “SeeSecco”, then have a tasting with five different wines, plus canapés, with bread and water to cleanse the palate. The cost will be 19€ per person and the duration will be approximately 2½ hours. Hopefully the weather should still be nice and warm, but even if it isn’t, we will be able to go into one of the wineries and take shelter in there! This event will be in addition to our regular get-together on Friday, 27th September, but I’m sure that it’s something that many of you would enjoy, and I hope that enough people will be interested to make it viable. I would be grateful if you could express your interest within the next three or four weeks, as Sarah needs to plan ahead, and also please be aware that I will be taking non-refundable payments in advance, as the food in particular will have to be organised/prepared.

Best wishes, Amanda