Mark and I are back on our travels, this time in Erfurt in Germany for the annual gathering of the Friends of Scouting in Europe. These visits have become a part of the year that I particularly enjoy: a chance to catch up with old friends, make new ones and, more importantly, see something of the Scouting projects that the European Scout Foundation is supporting.
For me, that last part matters. It is easy to sit in meetings, read reports and talk about the difference that financial support can make; it is much better to meet the people involved and see for ourselves what is actually happening. That is what we will be doing over the next few days, and I’ll share some of it as we go. First, though, we had to get to Erfurt — and that proved rather less straightforward than we had anticipated.
We had spent the night at a hotel close to Frankfurt Airport’s Terminal 2 and had the clever idea of using the little people-mover train that connects the terminals to get us to the main railway station. A very helpful, if slightly taciturn, car park attendant put us right: Terminal 2 is currently closed for refurbishment. He did so in perfect English, of course, putting my distinctly limited German to shame. So much for our clever plan, and a rather brisk walk followed.
Our train into Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof was then delayed just enough for us to miss our connection, and the replacement train was itself about half an hour late. Deutsche Bahn, it seems, is no longer quite the model of German efficiency it once was. One fellow traveller told us that he and his friends sometimes have a sweepstake on just how late a train will be. Apparently it adds a little entertainment to the experience.
Still, once aboard our ICE, things improved considerably. It was very comfortable, although rather more crowded than we had expected, and the journey gave us several hours of forests, farmland and small German towns slipping past the windows. After the slightly chaotic start, it was good simply to sit and watch Germany go by.
We reached Erfurt after lunch and at 4.30 gathered in the hotel lobby to meet our fellow travellers. There were lots of familiar faces from years of European and World Scouting events, alongside plenty of new ones. The familiar faces — my own very much included — are perhaps a little older and more lined than I remember them. One of the hazards of belonging to a Movement for a very long time is discovering that everyone else appears to be ageing at exactly the same alarming rate as you are.
Our first proper introduction to Erfurt was a walking tour. We had chosen the one supposedly concentrating on architecture, although in practice it became at least as much a tour of places where our guide — a professional trumpet player — had performed. We learned along the way that he earns rather more from playing at weddings and funerals than he does from concert performances. It may not have been quite the architectural tour advertised, but it was probably more entertaining as a result.
Erfurt itself is a lovely city to explore on foot, with narrow streets, timber-framed houses and handsome old merchants’ buildings. The Krämerbrücke — the famous Merchants’ Bridge, with buildings lining both sides — is particularly striking, while the Cathedral of St Mary and the Church of St Severus dominate the huge Domplatz. At the moment the square beneath them looks rather different, with a large funfair set up for the Oktoberfest celebrations. Gothic spires, flashing fairground rides and food and beer stalls make for an entertaining combination, although I am not yet sure whether we will actually be brave enough to go on any of the rides.
Dinner was in a restaurant close to the Krämerbrücke, where Germany demonstrated that it takes portion sizes seriously. Mark had schnitzel, while I had lamb cutlets and an Oktoberfest beer which was excellent and rather stronger than it initially appeared. Mark opted for white wine, which was considerably less threatening.
We shared our table with friends from Finland and Sweden, and conversation inevitably wandered into the cultural differences between our countries — one of the things I have always enjoyed about international Scouting. Johan, whose home we visited during our Scandinavian travels in the summer, was at our table and naturally had views to contribute. His assessment of the German beer was, I should record, entirely positive.
There was one small disappointment. Mark decided that apple strudel would round off the evening nicely, but somewhere in the communication between our table and our waitress, “apple strudel” became “another glass of white wine”. Mark accepted the substitution with reasonable grace, although I suspect the search for strudel may now become one of the themes of the weekend.
A gentle walk back through Erfurt’s old streets brought our first day to an end: late trains, old friends, new friends, beautiful buildings, strong beer and no apple strudel. Not a bad beginning to a few days in which we will also get beneath the tourism and see more of Scouting here in Germany, the projects being supported, and what the European Scout Foundation and its Friends are helping to make possible.
