I'll show you my city: AugenGeschenke, WortOrte, DolciGlück and HofKultur

The volunteer center's "I'll show you my city" tours are under a good star, as the last one took place on the only rain-free day of the week. Ida Todisco led the participants through her Offenbach by bike. Twelve years ago, she came from the Taunus with her family and immediately fell in love with this colorful, diverse city with a lot of commitment. As an author, she has already published this declaration of love in several books and organizes her own tours through the city on various occasions.

The first stop was the main customs office, the former federal monopoly administration for brandy on Friedrichsring. The building, which was erected in 1953 and has been a listed building since 2010, showed its best side inside, as the sun illuminated the huge stained glass window. The group was also impressed by the spaciousness of the four-storey surrounding galleries and a large open staircase. Ida Todisco had become acquainted with the building as part of her research for one of her books. At that time, it was still home to the Federal Monopoly Administration, which had to be dissolved for EU legal reasons.

On Rosenhöhe, in front of an inconspicuous garage, the group met members of the Offenbach Tandem Club, two of whom accompanied the entire tour. The club was founded exactly 30 years ago after sighted and visually impaired partners discovered tandem biking for themselves. Ido Todisco has now been a pilot several times and appreciates the communicative interaction on the trip. "Of course, the responsibility for the passenger weighs heavily at the beginning, as they have to have "blind" trust in me." But Chairman Johannes Bosten says: "The most important thing is to enjoy cycling. And then, as a pilot, you have to know that the tandem is slightly longer and heavier than a normal bike. The rest comes naturally after a little practice." The club members meet regularly for Sunday tours. The highlight for the club in summer is the five-day trip to Leipzig.

The title of the tour was "AugenGeschenke, WortOrte und DolciGlück" ("EyeGifts, WordPlaces and DolciHappiness") and so the author took the group to the bookshop on the market square, where she has already given several readings and always enjoys browsing for new books. In Heinrich-Heine-Straße, she looks after a bookcase with others, "because I love WortOrte." After training as a gardener, Ida Todiso studied German and Romance languages and literature in Frankfurt and Milan and works part-time as a teacher "to fill the fridge".

DolciGlück was then served at Il Pasticcino in Karlstraße. Ida Todisco can rarely go past here without having an espresso or a dolci, as the little cakes are called. "And you always meet someone in this Italian corner and I felt right at home." After all, Ida Todisco's father is Italian and she cannot deny her fondness for the Italian way of life. After the dolci, it wasn't over yet, as almost the entire group met up on Mathildenplatz for a glass of wine. Most of them were at the Friday "Aprés midi" organized by "Besser leben in Offenbach" for the first time. "A nice end to a well-rounded tour," says Sigrid Jacob from the volunteer center.