Arriving at the outskirts of the town of Ladbergen in southern Germany after a long day on our bikes, we had an interminable job finding the hotel which we had booked for two nights. We finally found it.
It was at the end of town and in the midst of modern houses and leafy streets. We were surprised to see that our hotel was a renovated medieval era building and that opposite it was a very old church with a single high tower surrounded by tombstones. Amidst the overwhelming sterility of modern suburbia, these relics of history were a welcome sight. The same could not be said however for the Italian ice cream parlour, a short distance from the hotel….then again, it depended on how you saw it.
Ice cream might be a powerful symbol of well being….. even, a nation redeemed …