BLESSED with wonderful autumn sunshine and temperatures into the twenties, I have been enjoying a visit to Xanten and enjoying the warmth of the hospitality of my host family.

I joined the Salisbury Xanten Twinning Association soon after I moved to Salisbury some eight years ago when it was in its infancy, so I have grown with it.

One of the nice things that has developed is that we have become personal friends with German families and a number of us now go individually to see the friends originally made through twinning.

This is now my fifth visit and I managed the journey there without the help of my sat nav, which seems to muddle A road numbers with the motorways.

I can now find my way around the beautiful mediaeval city centre without a map. I revisited my favourite shops, particularly the Tchibo coffee shop and C&A, replenishing my Christmas chocolate and biscuit supplies as well as finding stocking fillers for the grandchildren.

Knowing how much I enjoy typical German home cooking my hosts had organised menus for the week to include all my favourites including plum cake and apple pancakes.

In return I restocked their store cupboard with a variety of home-made marmalades, shortbread for their Salisbury Circle meetings and chocolate fingers for their grandchildren.

My hosts ensure that I don't spend all my time shopping and this time we walked around the lakes on the edge of the city created from old gravel pits: they look so much part of the scenery it is difficult to imagine this was once an industrial enterprise.

We enjoyed a coffee as the sun was setting, with the twin cathedral spires and Roman monuments outlined against an amazingly pink blue and white streaked sky.

I shall visit the world heritage Roman museum again in early summer 2015 when the Salisbury group will be visiting Xanten again.

Due to the generosity of Xanten Council a free visit is always included in the trip.

One of the real bonuses of being part of the twinning association for me as a newcomer to Salisbury, is that not only have I made friends in Xanten, but through our programme I have been introduced to many friendly and interesting people in Salisbury.

Further information about Salisbury Xanten Twinning Association can be found on the Salisbury City Council website.

Irene Kohler

Member of the Salisbury Xanten Twinning Association