Kreuzkirche Neumünster

Leisurely breakfast, short walk to the bus station next to the Bahnhof, waited for the 10:13 bus to Bad Segeberg, showed the driver the ticket DB had emailed, 42 mins through fields, solar farms, wind farms, woods, villages and an autobahn, walked 200m to the two- carriage local train, and we were in Neumünster at 1135.

It was a 12 min walk to the hotel, which is called the “old steelworks” and was built near where my main 1975 host father (Erhard Meyn, Max's father) had a cast-iron foundry. We then went back into the own to look around, then the hotel and a 10 min walk to see Elke Voss, another former host parent, whose husband, Peter, had had his dental practice almost next door to Max's family's house... NMS is not beautiful, but a quiet wood, blue skies, green trees and gardens and millions of flowers made it different to usual.

At 5:45 Wim, another 1975 host-brother/friend, picked us up and drove us to his family’s thatched cottage in Boostedt, a nearby village. It is in its own small wood and was surrounded by green - and once again the sound of cuckoos. We had dinner with Wim, his sister Jule and her husband Tschorsch - Tschorsch cooked. White asparagus, potatoes, butter sauce and prosciutto, with semolina flummery and strawberries. And to top it off... his home-made Korn.

14,430 steps, 11.1km, 6 flightsRead more