Cornucopia

by John Francis Kinsella

PART FIFTEEN

  WEIHNACHTSMARKT

  Hand in hand they strolled down Hohegasse towards the Dom. It was ten in the morning and Christmas was in the air. With just six more days to go shoppers were out in search of their last gifts or for a stroll in one of the many of Cologne’s Weihnachts markets.

  That Friday morning as the Paris-Cologne Thalys pulled into the Hauptbanhof, Liam glanced at his watch and noted its punctuality, then as the doors slide open he spotted Gisele waiting on the platform. He had barely time to get out of the train when to his immense pleasure she threw herself into his arms, his bags and parcels falling to the ground.

  It was just a short walk from the crowded Hauptbanhof past the towering Dom to the Excelsior where a gaggle of black Mercedes and a Porsche Cayenne attended by a uniformed doorman announced they had arrived at the hotel.

  Liam was pleased to note all the markings of a stylish upmarket establishment, which was confirmed when they were quickly checked in and shown to their well appointed room facing the Dom.

  Later that day Pat O’Connelly and Claire would join them for a weekend in the city, but in the meantime Gisele was determined to give Liam a walking tour of the city centre.

  Weihnachtsmarkt before the Dom

  Clancy was riding high, whatever happened to the British economy he was sure he had backed the right horse by his fortuitous link with Pat Kennedy’s world. Whatever happened in the UK, where sheer size of the City in relation to the rest of the economy meant the whole country would suffer if oil, assets and commodities collapsed, he would be immune. His bank account had grown at a phenomenal rate and having learned by his bitter experience of Ireland’s 2008 collapse, he had wisely parked his money in solid investments.

  But that was not the only reason for his buoyant mood: his Spanish firm was seeing a resurgence of business in the property business. Against all the negative soothsayers’ predictions, the sun was shining again on the Spanish Costas and foreign property buyers were back. Liam Clancy’s Spain was experiencing a renaissance thanks to the disastrous experiment on the opposite shores of the Mediterranean. Tourism and property were booming as Europeans forsook North Africa and Turkey as holiday destinations and second home options.

  That evening, after an afternoon of sightseeing, they caught up with Pat and Claire in the comfort of the Hanse Stube, the hotel’s bar, which had little in common with a typical stube. Christmas was under way and it was time to relax, have fun, and after a couple of happy drinks the two couples set off to explore the Weihnachtsmarkt.

  They joined the crowds of visitors pouring into the square, where a banner proclaimed Gloria in excelsis Deo. Young people, old people, Germans, Americans, Chinese, Japanese, from just about every corner of the world mingled together for the feast, a modern Saturnalia. It was all good fun, a mug or two of glühwein, a piping hot bratwurst, followed by a tour of the town’s bierkellers and brauhauses.