Treff 10 is a community centre in Bad Bentheim with a bar, a small social room and a larger function room.
Last year Ray played in the social room and it was very full. This year, more tickets had been sold and so they put the show on in their theatre.
The venue is very well organised with a lovely atmosphere. Johann manages the centre with Fabian looking after the technical side.
With a number of walk-ins arriving near the start time, the room was full when Ray walked onto the stage.
The last picture shows the seating laid out with the regulation 1.2m gap down the centre
Ray has visited Bad Bentheim many times starting on his first solo tour in Germany when he played a house concert for Rainer. A second house concert followed and then Rainer promoted an acoustic show in the chapel of the castle. Ray returned over subsequent years to play in an art gallery, a museum, outdoors in a vineyard, and now Treff 10 for the second time.
The audience really warmed to Ray’s music as he moved through instruments – guitar, cello, piano and mandolin. Once again, they called him back for two encores.
Travelogue
We began the morning in Winsen with breakfast in a cafe/bakery. The picture shows the variety of breads on offer. All made organically using grain from within a 40km radius of the local bakery. In addition, for a wide-ranging chat, we had the company of Farmer George, now largely retired from a life as an author, translator, actor, director, teacher and farmer.
Saturday’s drive took us onto the A1 autobahn. The motorway varies between either two or three lanes. To save fuel we cruise at 100 to 120 kph. The cost of petrol here is now up to 2.50eu (£2.14) a litre. Sometimes road works and bridge repairs slow us down to two or even a single narrow lane.
You need to be aware of the speed at which the locals drive. I can be doing 75 mph and get overtaken at speed. BMW, Mercedes, Audi are all built for these roads. Thankfully the drivers are good. We almost never see bad driving.
There are many places to stop for a rest on German autobahns, varying from full service areas to simply somewhere for a “comfort break” as shown in this photo.
It’s especially nice when we come off the autobahn and onto the smaller, country roads. Often there is a cycle track running alongside the road. Both travelling and just exercising by bicycle is very popular here and the cycle paths make this safe to do.
A Visitor On Europe’s Roads 
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