Meeting strangers

My wife and I have recently returned from a vacation in Europe where we stayed in Martinsthal, a village in the German Rheingau near Wiesbaden. The village’s population is approximately sixteen hundred. It is surrounded by vineyards and a church consecrated in the 13th century.

The Rheingau is one of the important wine growing regions of Germany emphasized by a village of this size having five vintners who produce the local “Wildsau” wines.

Beside the stream running thorough the village is a small park with a playground and small covered events facility. The local vintners schedule the facilit...