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Lymington Twinners
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Warm sunshine matched the warm welcome given to a group of thirty-three LITA members on their visit to Mosbach.
Many of the LITA members were making their first visit to Mosbach, and were delighted to meet their hosts, while others were renewing longstanding friendships. On the first day the host families entertained their guests themselves, some taking them to various local sights, others planning family parties.
On the next day there was a group outing to the ‘Two Wheels Museum’ based near the former NSU factory and close to Audi’s big car factory. The Museum celebrates transport on two wheels from the oldest wooden ‘hobby horse’, precursor to the modern bicycle, to the latest and fastest motorbikes. In the late afternoon both guests and hosts met up again at a huge church-run centre for people with disabilities, where they saw an introductory presentation about its work, took a short tour and enjoyed a leisurely evening meal in the refectory. After an accomplished musical interlude provided by a local male voice choir, it was time for a quiz with a difference – the ‘tea pot’ game. People took it in turns to describe a word with two meanings, but substituted the word ‘tea pot’ for the word. The rest of the party had to try to guess the word. To make it harder, the English words were described in German and the German words in English.
The third day of the trip was even sunnier and hotter, and both guests and hosts travelled by coach to the charming small town of Schwaebisch Hall, enjoying the scenery of the area on the way. After coffee on arrival, there was the opportunity for a walk around the town centre which boasts beautifully maintained buildings from the medieval to the Baroque.
A light lunch in the shade preceded a visit to the Kunsthalle Art Gallery, one of many fine modern galleries around Europe funded by a German businessman and art collector, Reinhold Würth. This stunning building offered two contrasting exhibitions. One showed items of silver and gold, including many on loan from the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. The opulence, intricacy and fine craftsmanship were simply breathtaking. The second exhibition was of Op Art and Kinetic Art, mainly from Professor Würth’s own private collection of sixteen thousand works or art. The kinetic art works in particular were fun, teasing the eye as the viewer moved past and the picture changed.
On the way back to Mosbach the party stopped at a rural centre selling organic products with a large restaurant for a pleasant supper.
The final day saw the guests and some hosts travelling by coach to the town of Seligenstadt, which has fine half-timbered houses and a nineteenth century monastery building. A tour of the local brewery preceded a delicious lunch, which some people walked off with a tour of the town before the bus took the group back to Frankfurt Airport for the flight home after a busy but most enjoyable visit.
As usual, one of the main pleasures afforded by the trip was the chance to chat with the hosts and compare lives. The LITA guests found that they had many things in common – the raising of pension ages and the cost of housing, while other features were different – more jobs vacant and the health insurance system. Twinning is about building friendship and partnership between towns, and while many of the LITA guests were staying with families they have known for years, the new members returned home looking forward to welcoming their hosts to Lymington in 2016, when we will all celebrate the 20th anniversary of the twinning between Lymington and Mosbach.
Many of the LITA members were making their first visit to Mosbach, and were delighted to meet their hosts, while others were renewing longstanding friendships. On the first day the host families entertained their guests themselves, some taking them to various local sights, others planning family parties.
On the next day there was a group outing to the ‘Two Wheels Museum’ based near the former NSU factory and close to Audi’s big car factory. The Museum celebrates transport on two wheels from the oldest wooden ‘hobby horse’, precursor to the modern bicycle, to the latest and fastest motorbikes. In the late afternoon both guests and hosts met up again at a huge church-run centre for people with disabilities, where they saw an introductory presentation about its work, took a short tour and enjoyed a leisurely evening meal in the refectory. After an accomplished musical interlude provided by a local male voice choir, it was time for a quiz with a difference – the ‘tea pot’ game. People took it in turns to describe a word with two meanings, but substituted the word ‘tea pot’ for the word. The rest of the party had to try to guess the word. To make it harder, the English words were described in German and the German words in English.
The third day of the trip was even sunnier and hotter, and both guests and hosts travelled by coach to the charming small town of Schwaebisch Hall, enjoying the scenery of the area on the way. After coffee on arrival, there was the opportunity for a walk around the town centre which boasts beautifully maintained buildings from the medieval to the Baroque.
A light lunch in the shade preceded a visit to the Kunsthalle Art Gallery, one of many fine modern galleries around Europe funded by a German businessman and art collector, Reinhold Würth. This stunning building offered two contrasting exhibitions. One showed items of silver and gold, including many on loan from the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. The opulence, intricacy and fine craftsmanship were simply breathtaking. The second exhibition was of Op Art and Kinetic Art, mainly from Professor Würth’s own private collection of sixteen thousand works or art. The kinetic art works in particular were fun, teasing the eye as the viewer moved past and the picture changed.
On the way back to Mosbach the party stopped at a rural centre selling organic products with a large restaurant for a pleasant supper.
The final day saw the guests and some hosts travelling by coach to the town of Seligenstadt, which has fine half-timbered houses and a nineteenth century monastery building. A tour of the local brewery preceded a delicious lunch, which some people walked off with a tour of the town before the bus took the group back to Frankfurt Airport for the flight home after a busy but most enjoyable visit.
As usual, one of the main pleasures afforded by the trip was the chance to chat with the hosts and compare lives. The LITA guests found that they had many things in common – the raising of pension ages and the cost of housing, while other features were different – more jobs vacant and the health insurance system. Twinning is about building friendship and partnership between towns, and while many of the LITA guests were staying with families they have known for years, the new members returned home looking forward to welcoming their hosts to Lymington in 2016, when we will all celebrate the 20th anniversary of the twinning between Lymington and Mosbach.
Other exchange visits with Mosbach:
Mosbach Twinners visit to Lymington 2014
Lymington Twinners trip to Mosbach 2013
Mosbach Twinners visit to Lymington 2012
Lymington Twinners trip to Mosbach 2011
Mosbach Twinners visit to Lymington 2010
Mosbach Twinners visit to Lymington 2014
Lymington Twinners trip to Mosbach 2013
Mosbach Twinners visit to Lymington 2012
Lymington Twinners trip to Mosbach 2011
Mosbach Twinners visit to Lymington 2010
Lymington International Twinning Association
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