Germany is a surprising place sometimes. Having just finished my evening meal at a little Thai restaurant in Sigmaringen, there is a massive power outage. Not a single light can be seen in the whole town, apart from the little sharp points of light from mobile phone LED’s. There is no moon, and absolute blackness shrouds the street. I pick my way back to my flat, passing little groups who chat and flicker in the blackness, and apart from them there is no light anywhere. For two or three hours at least it must have remained absolutely dark. I don’t know, I went to bed and then to sleep. The power was on in the morning. It is extraordinary that such a technological and sophisticated place can just stop like this. All towns must have been like this once.