Musician, Spitalgasse, Coburg.

This is the same street down which the right-wing protestors marched last Saturday waving their provocative flags for all to see.

Today, a long walk from the fortress above Coburg, the Veste, down to Spitalgasse before catching the bus out of town. The light was failing as I turned into Spitalgasse. I could hear a piano player striking up. To everyone's astonishment his female partner, climbed up on the piano and proceeded to hold a 45 minute concert plus dance routine, on top of the piano!. It was lovely. They were great fun and he, a native English speaker, spoke excellent German. I gave them a couple of euros as real street musicians are a rare sight here and they were good. You will find plenty of music in the form of festivals and brass bands but musicians like these two are harder to find.

Spitalgasse was a much nicer place today than it was on Saturday...strange how streets seem to change depending on what is going down at any particular moment. They are one of the most frequent stages we use when acting out our lives.

Turner painted Spitalgasse in 1840, as he also did the fortress Veste Coburg, and Castle Rosenau, one of Queen Victoria's favourite places. Prince Albert came from Coburg, of course, and in the drawing Turner did of Spitalgasse there's a carriage and a crowd to be seen. I wonder if the royal couple were his subjects and the reason he came to Coburg?