My heart really races each time I come home from work. THUMP. THUMP. THUMP. It’s not entirely because I know my sweetheart is awaiting me. I get a pretty good workout on my way home.

I get off the train at Oberwinter and immediately get on a pathway to climb home to ‘Oberwinter Heights’. In a bit less than 300 metres I climb 66 metres. It is a super steep climb. I just put my head down and take a step at a time. I like to pretend I’m slowly and breathlessly taking the final steps of an ascent of Mt Everest. Yes. It’s that steep!

But today it was quite remarkable. It was dark, cold and raining in Bonn when I boarded the train but then the sun dipped beneath the layer of clouds and illuminated the right bank of the Rhine. From the train I could see what looked like jewels across the river. I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. By the time I got off the train the sunshine had moved up the Siebengebirge (the Seven Hills) but then a rainbow stretched from Königswinter to Unkel on the right bank. It was a great excuse to stop halfway up the climb to snap a photo while catching my breath.

I arrived at the gate of our house at the top of the hill out of breath but today it wasn’t due to my fitness level but because the setting sun over the Rhine literally took my breath away.